Understanding What Sacrifice Is About and How It Affects Human Relationships, Essay Example

Sacrifice is a word that defines the condition of giving up something in exchange for another. Most often than not, sacrificing involves the undesirable trait of letting go of something important for the sake of recognizing the values of others. In establishing and keeping important human relationships, sacrifice becomes the strong wall of foundation that increases the value of such human connections. The story of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a good story about loyalty, friendship, and sacrifice. In the being of George, it could be understood that friendship grows deep within the being of a person based on loyalty and the worth that one gives towards that special relationship he shares with another. Lennie and George are two friends with different characteristics and attitudes towards life. In the plot of the story, Steinbeck made it a point for his readers to understand who the said characters are and what their characters impose with regards the process by which they respond to the requirements of keeping their relationship as friends intact.

Lennie has been described to be the weaker individual compared to that of George. This difference does not only lie upon the physical attributes of both individuals but most importantly on their characterization and attitude towards how they take care of each other and respond to each other’s demands. Although at some point, Lennie may have thought that he has been giving up so much for George’s convenience for so many times through letting go of his mice or at least letting go of his desires to have a personal pet, it was George that gave about larger sacrifices that did not only affect their friendship, but also his own life.

One particular characteristic of Lennie that showed his weakness was the fact that he cannot keep a good job. He usually gets one and then immediately loses it due to different mishaps. For this reason, George decided to work with him and find a way to make him a better employee. The employment that they found worked well for a while and in fact, Lennie was responding effectively to it for a while. However, it was that one time when Lennie felt touching the dress of a young girl due to the softness of the fabric of her clothes that the said work was lost. The girl felt scared and decided to tell their boss about it which made not only their coworkers, but the whole town furious about Lennie. George could have just stayed and let Lennie go which could finally set him free away from the responsibility of babysitting his own friend. However, knowing that there would be nowhere that Lennie could go to, George sacrifices his job’s stability to protect his friend.

This was the first time he tried to sacrifice for his friend’s safety and protection. However, this was not the last. When Lennie and George lived away from town and knew some people from another place where they chose to reside in, Lennie finds particular individuals whom he did not have specifically good connections with. After all the advices of George about being careful when making friends have not affected Lennie’s vulnerability to making friends with others who could lead him to making wrong decisions. Later on, the things feared by George finally happened. Lennie Kills Curley’s wife and was later on being sought after by Curley himself. George wanted to flee, however he knew that if he did so, Lennie’s life would be in danger. He assumed that somehow, if Curley does not kill him, others would. So he decided to shoot Lennie in the head while his back was turned and his long-time dream of having his own farm stay in his memory before he releases his last breath.

The ending of story was quite extreme. It was as if there was no other way to let Lennie go about and George to become free. However, it should be taken into account that George’s decision was specifically based on how he felt for his friend. He wanted him to finally incur peace of mind, a realization that Lennie has never recognized ever since they have become friends. Lennie’s uncontrolled reactions most of the time gets him into trouble and somewhat brings him into several mishaps from where George has to save him from. In all his actions, George shows how much he cares for his friend and how much he is willing to do to ensure his safety.

Thinking that Lennie would be killed by some other people later on, George made the hardest decision in his life, to put the life of a dear friend in his hands and free him from the possible scourge that other people might bring him instead. This was a hard decision to make, but he knew he had to do it to make sure that his friend would not be in the hands of those who are ready to kill him without dignity while letting him suffer all that he has done. George simply took the higher ground and make sure that his death would be a peaceful one.

True, people do all the uncanny things for the sake of saving the relationships they most price. Understandably, the emotional dictation that is usually received by one from his personal perception of matters makes it easier for him to come up with decisions that would require him to sacrifice his own desires and his own life just so to be able to save his friend’s safety. Sometimes, it is because of these instances that people get involved with the most crucial decisions they have to make in their lives. No matter what the case is, it could be realized that sacrifice makes every relationship gain higher worth and higher value especially for those to whom the sacrifices are dedicated to. Friendship is only one among the many relationships humans share to which they pledge their loyalty to and to which they are ready to give sacrifices to just to gain the worth of such special connections with another.

References:

Tracy Barr, Greg Tubach,, ed (2001) [2001]. Cliff Notes: On Steinbeck’s Of Mice and men. 909 Third Avenue, New York City, New York: Wiley Publishing.

“Mice, Men, and Mr. Steinbeck“. The New York Times: 7. 1937-12-05