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TheaMcDarrah
OConnor
HonorsEnglish3
11February2016
DeathandFriendship:ImportantThemes
DeathandFriendship,twohugepartsofapersonslife,alsoaffectthesetwonovelsina
veryprofoundway.

TheRedPony
and
OfMiceandMen
byJohnSteinbeck,aworldrenowned
andbrilliantauthor,sharetheseimportantthemes.
Bothnovelshaveaprotagonistwhosufferthe
lossesofpeople,oranimalsinthecaseof
TheRedPony
.Thesetwonovelsalsohavemajor
charactersthatdieandarethebestorverycloseorimportantfriendsoftheprotagonist.The
themesofdeathandfriendshipplayanincrediblyimportantpartinthesetwoshortnovels.
Friendshipisoneofthefewmajorthemesinbothnovels
.In
OfMiceandMen
,it's
LennieandGeorgeandwith
TheRedPony
it'sJodyandhispony,Gabilan.Bothfriendshipsare
introducedinthebeginningofthestorybutunlikeLennie,Gabilandiesearlyinthebook.
Guys
likeus,thatworkonranches,aretheloneliestguysintheworld.Theygotnofamily.Theydon't
belongnoplace.Theycometoaranchan'workupastakeandthentheygointatownandblow
theirstake,andthefirstthingyouknowthey'repoundin'theirtailonsomeotherranch.They
ain'tgotnothingtolookaheadto."(Steinbeck113)
ThisquoteisGeorgedescribinghowLennie
andhimselfaredifferentfromthecommonranchersbecausethey'refriends.Healsomentions
howtheranchersdon'thaveanythingtolookforwardto.So,Georgeissayingthathethinksthat
heandLenniewillbefriendsforever.Sadly,thisisnotthecaseandGeorgeendsupbringingthe
friendshiptoaclosebykillingLennie.
ThoughGeorgeandLenniesfriendshipisdefinitely


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complicated,it'sstillamajorpartofthenovel.GeorgeismostlyonlyfriendswithLennie
becauseofapromisehemadetoLenniesaunt,Clara.Anotherstrongfriendshipisthatofthe
oldmannamedCandyandhisveryold,smellydogthatfollowshimeverywherehegoes.This
friendshipisjustlikeLennieandGeorge's.Thisisbecauselikethedog,Lenniebenefitsnobody,
notevenGeorge.LennieisalwayscausingtroubleandgettingGeorgefiredfromjobs.Candys
dogissmellyandislikedbynobodybutCandyhimself.GeorgeislikeCandybecausetheyboth
endupbeingthelastonestandingintheirfriendships.JodyandGabilansrelationshipis
different.JodylovesGabilanbecausehewasthefirsthorsethathegottotakecareofandlove.
Friendshipasathemeshapesthesetwonovelsandeventsintheplotinamajorway.IfGeorge
andLenniewerenotfriendsin
OfMiceandMen
thenonlyfew,ifanyeventsthattookplacein
thebookwouldhaveoccurred.JodysloveforGabilanhadalessprofoundinfluenceontheplot.
Despitethis,friendshipisstillaverypresentthemeinbothnovels.
Deathisanotherveryimportantthemeinthenovels
TheRedPony
and
OfMiceandMen.
Eventhoughthesetwonovelssharedeathasacommontheme,theactualdeathsinthestorytake
placeintwoverydifferentways.Deathappearsfirstin
TheRedPony
whenGabilanisleft
outsideovernight,becomesgravelyill,anddiessoonafter.Thistragiceventhappensearlyinthe
story.GeorgeandLennie'scaseisalmosttheopposite.GeorgeendsupshootingLennieinthe
backoftheheadbecausehealwayscausestoomuchtrouble.Notonlythis,butGeorgeshoots
Lennieattheveryendofthebook.
LenniecriedoutsuddenlyIdontlikethisplace,George.
Thisaintnogoodplace.Iwannagetouttahere.
ThisquoteisawarningaboutLennie'sdeathin
thebeginningofthestory.Hetalksabouthowtheranchisameanplaceandthisismostlikelya
foreshadowingoftheeventsthatweretocomelaterinthenovel.
Gabilan'sdeathwasmoreofan


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openingsceneto
TheRedPony
whileLennie'sdeathwasmoreliketheclosingof
OfMiceand
Men
.Regardlessofthetimingandhowthesetwocharactersdeathtookplace,bothoftheir
friendswerelessthanhappyaboutthedeaths.
Thetwomajorthemesofdeathandfriendshipgohandandhandinthesetwonovels.
They'relinkedsubtlythroughouttheplotlineofeachstory.Forexample,in
OfMiceandMen
Lennieisnottheonlyoldfriendwhodies.Candysolddogthathelovesverydearlyisalso
killed.Candylovestheolddogverymuchbuteventuallyheisputoutofhismisery.Thisevent
isaforeshadowingofLennie'sdeathbecausetheywerebothkilledbybeingshotinthebackof
thehead.Notonlythat,butbothLennieandthedoghadonlynegativeeffectsoneveryone
aroundthem.Similarlyin
TheRedPony
,anotherhorsenamedNelliehastobekilledinorderfor
progresstobemade,inthiscase,thecoltbeingborn.TheNellieeventismorecloselyrelatedto
thedeathsin
OfMiceandMen
thanthedeathofGabilan.ThisisbecauseLennie,Candysold
dog,andNellieneededtodiebutGabilandiedofnaturalcauses.
Overall,thetwothemesthataremostpresentin
TheRedPony
and
OfMiceandMen
by
JohnSteinbeckaredeathandfriendship.
Boththemes,demonstratedthroughplothappen
multipletimesthroughoutbothnovels.Eventhoughtherearemanyexamplesoffriendship
throughout
OfMiceandMen
and
TheRedPony
,themostprofoundbyfararethatofLennieand
GeorgeandJodyandGabilan.SimilarlywiththedeathsinthesetwostoriesGabilanand
Lennie'sdeathsarethemostimportantandrelevanttothedevelopmentofplotandcharacters.


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WorksCited:
Steinbeck,John,andWesleyDennis.
TheRedPony
.NewYork:Viking,1945.Print.
Steinbeck,John.
OfMiceandMen
.NewYork:Penguin,1993.Print.