Loyalty in Of Mice and Men Essay Sample

Staying loyal to someone is the most important part of any relationship. It creates trust in both parties. During this unit we have read many different plays and stories that have different examples of loyalty to a person. Each story shows different ways people are loyal to one another, whether it is a healthy loyalty or it is unhealthy loyalty to one person or many. There are so many examples of loyalty to a person in social media, with celebrities and their fan bases, or even small creators with loyal followers. As humans we feel this need to have people be loyal to us; otherwise we would feel not worthy enough to deserve someone's loyalty, or we feel jealous when the person we want to be loyal to us is loyal to someone else.

Of Mice and Men  is a story written by John Steinbeck. It is a story of two men George and Lennie and their journey through life. Lennies charter shows many traits of having autism; he is defined as a child in a grown man's body. George is what society would call nowadays as a typical person, he and Lennie had to run away from a town called Weed because Lennie kept touching a woman's soft dress and she called the police. The two men had to try and find a job and were short on money. “..But I wouldn't eat none, George. I’d leave it all for you”(Steinbeck 12) Lennie was willing to give up his kethput for his best friend. Later towards the end of the story while Lennie is having his episode he repeats “He's been doing nice things for you alla time.. If they was any ketchup, why he’d give it all to you” George knew how much Lennie liked ketchup and would rather have it himself. This example shows how loyal George is to Lennie; he would let his friend be happy rather than saving the ketchup for himself. Another example of Loyalty in Of Mice and Men would be when Lennie crushes Curley's hand everyone is more cautious around him “But he never lifted a finger against me” (Steinbeck 40) George knows Lennie isn’t harmful to him. Lennie will listen to anything George says to do, he sometimes can't trust his own judgment so he relies on George to be able to tell him what the right thing to do is. However he knows not to ever harm George because I wouldn't harm the only people close to him. At the very end of the story Lennie and George are in the brush and George retells the story of their dream because he knows how happy it makes Lennie and he wanted leenies last thought to be of something that he enjoyed. George wants Lennie to have a “proper death” ; he wanted to be the one to kill him and not one of the other guys killing him. 

 Fans are one of the most loyal people out there. There are many different types of fans, the scale ranges from being a normal person to an obsessive fan. Some fans will do anything for the celebrities they support. One of the most popular fan groups is BTS Army. Famous Kpop band BTS had their first concert since the pandemic  in Los Angeles. The four day concert brought fans from all over the world to California. Fans were excitedly waiting outside of the SoFi Stadium hours before the concert. “ “Many people have camped out since Thanksgiving,” shared Wendy Flores, who had arrived at 9am herself. Between November 27 through December 2”. The stadium parking lot turned into a convention center, fans were selling merch, giving away physical albums, as well as booths for crafts and other activities. Fans flew out from all over the world for this concert, Some fans flew to Los Angeles  waiting for the restock of tickets. Meaning they flew to California not knowing if they would have tickets or not. This type of loyalty is two different kinds: It is loyalty to a person and it is unhealthy loyalty. Fans are loyal to their Idols however BTS army has the habit of going over  the line. There was a restaurant that the members had recommended and that restaurant was packed everyday. Which was great for the restaurant however if the band wanted to go to the restaurant it would not be safe for them to go knowing there were millions of fans there. This type of loyalty to a person is very unhealthy, you become obsessed with someone you have never met personally. Being a fan is okay and can be a great way to make friends who have common interests. It's important to know when to draw the line of fiction and reality. 

Now for a more personal relation to loyalty to a person. In 2020, during the pandemic, we were trapped inside of our houses for months. During that time I was able to connect with people online. A friend of mine invited me to play a game with a group of her friends and from then on we became known as Tiny Group. We would constantly call each other and play random video games for hours. Around mid August we were finally able to meet each other in person. They all live in the same county. I was the only one who was in a different county, so they all knew each other. We spend the remaining holidays together such as Halloween and Christmas. Then the new year game and we slowly started drifting away from each other, with hybrid starting, they were able to go to school together while I stayed virtual at my school. Once we opened schools in person this year we weren't able to talk as much; they all had classes together and saw each other in real life, so they didn't talk online as much. On top of all of this they are a year older than me so they are graduating this year, which means this is my last year with them before they go off to college. This relates to loyalty to a person because even though we aren't close any more, I still consider them my closest friends. I have all their Birthdays in my calendar and I try to see how they are doing through social media. I feel as a normal person would have moved on and accepted the fact that we are growing apart but part of me can't let go of that and for that reason I would have to say that I am very loyal to the Tiny group.

Loyalty is about trust. It is the foundation for any relationship. All of the stories we have read have some examples of loyalty, both healthy and unhealthy. The different types  of loyalty to a person depend on how much the person means to the individual. Someone who is loyal is reliable and trustworthy. Whether it's to your best friend, a celebrity or a business in our day to day lives we find ourselves being loyal to another person.