Being Socially Accepted Isn’t Easy
People will do anything to be socially accepted. Being socially accepted is vital to almost every person. As one sees by the example of getting Facebook likes, and on the amount of followers you’ve got on twitter, the good comments you get on Instagram, and the scores you got on Snapchat. Yet, there are people who do not need to be socially accepted. They do not care about social media or what people think about them. This is shown in John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. In Steinbeck’s novel, people go to extreme lengths in order to be accepted and to belong.
George like every human being, needs companionship and his companion is Lennie Small. Lennie has intellectual limitations, but George still values his friendship. This is very evident when George and Lennie are talking and Lennie says,” I got you to look after me and you got me to look after you” (Steinbeck 14). This clearly shows that George and Lennie really like and need each other. George also wants to belong with the guys on the ranch this is demonstrated when Lennie says, “Ever ‘body went into town… Slim George Ever ‘body” (Steinbeck 68). This shows George wants to be with the guys. George originally says “Might look the joint over” (Steinbeck 52). Once he said that he knew that he wanted to be with the guys so he ends up going into town. As much as George likes Lennie, he needs someone more intelligent to talk to. George opens up to Slim about his relationship with Lennie. George says, “Funny… I used to have a lot of fun with ‘im. Used to play jokes on ‘im cause he was too dumb to take care of himself” (Steinbeck 40). By George saying this that means the he trusts him. George would not tell that to somebody else other than a close friend.
Curley’s wife may have a husband and a lot of people on the ranch but she’s still very lonely. In a non-sexual way she flirts with everyone on the ranch. She does it because she needs more companionship. As shown when she says “if he ain’t, I guess I better look somewhere else, she said playfully” (Steinbeck 31). This clearly shows that she needs someone else to be around but the boys on the ranch deny her. Curley’s wife has a bit of cabin fever. She doesn’t like to stay in the house all the time. She says “think I like to stick in that house alla time” (Steinbeck 77). This shows that Curley’s wife has cabin fever and needs to go out and socialize. Curley does not pay enough attention to his wife. This is shown when Curley’s wife says “… and listen to Curley, Gonna lead with his left twict, and then bring the ol right cross” (Steinbeck 78). This clearly shows that Curley doesn’t pay enough attention to her. Crooks maybe be aloof, but he wants to belong on the ranch. Crooks is in a bad time and era for his people. Crooks wanted to belong but he was denied because he was an African American. When Lennie and Crooks are talking Crooks says, “listen, African American, you