From http://www.imgrum.org/user/survivingisalonelything/391529854/1016120137583681283_391529854%5B/caption%5D
How do you human relationships help us develop?
In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck’s main characters, George and Lennie, are a travelling pair of workers. Lennie has a mental disability that prevents him from remembering anything and causes him to panic and lose control of his strength. Lennie could never survive on his own, but George keeps him safe by practicing a routine of telling him about their fantasy of owning a farm together: “‘O.K. Someday- we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs an–’ ‘An’ live off the fatta of the lan’”’ (pg. 14). This is a happy routine that the two characters exercise this a lot throughout the novel, creating that safe space in Lennie’s mind. Steinbeck also uses loneliness as a key theme in this novella, and while George no doubt protects Lennie, Lennie also protects George from isolation: “‘With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys get in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us.’ Lennie broke in. ‘But not us! An’ why? Because… because I got you to look after me, and you got to look after you, and that’s why’” (pg 14). Their relationship sustains them both, and ultimately, George sneers at Lennie that life would be so much easier without him, but one needs human companionship in order to survive both mentally and physically.
I think letting go and moving on is necessary for happiness and peace. However, forgiveness is not. This photo perfectly explains what I am trying to say, forgiveness is for the other person to have peace; But just because I have forgiven someone, does not mean that I am happy or at peace. If someone apologizes and asks for my forgiveness, I will most likely give it to them, but I will not move on right away. Personally, it takes time for me to be able to move on. I cannot forgive someone who does not ask for my forgiveness, and It takes me a long time to move on from that type of situation. On the other side, when I know that I am wrong in a situation, I will apologize. However, it is difficult for me to apologize to someone when they don’t tell me that they are upset or mad at me, and I have to figure it out by myself. As humans, we automatically want revenge, or to “get back at them.” I think restorative justice is something that I wouldn’t be able to do. I don’t usually get revenge, but once someone does something that hurts me, I don’t trust them as much as I used to. However, on a larger scale, for example, the situation in “Walking after midnight,” I don’t know how I would react. If something that big happened in my life, I don’t think I would be able to forgive the person. And without forgiveness, it would be difficult to move on. However, I don’t think I would want to see the criminal executed, or in pain, because that wouldn’t provide me with any closure. Overall, it is difficult for me to move on from a drastic situation, and because I never have been in such a serious and devastating place I don’t know how I would react. I do believe in the idea of restorative justice, and that I could help someone who has done wrong in someone else’s life, but not if that person did wrong in mine.
From http://www.imgrum.org/user/survivingisalonelything/391529854/1016120137583681283_391529854%5B/caption%5D
