Compare/Contrast Old Man and the Sea and of Mice and Men

Compare/Contrast Old Man and the Sea and of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men vs. Old Man and the Sea
By: Niki Kolberg
In reading both Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, one will realize that there are quite a few parallel characters in each. Manolin is similar to George in a way that they both take care of another throughout the story. The old man, Santiago, is parallel to Lennie in that both are the ones being taken care of. Finally, Curley is comparable to the sharks because he always tried to get at Lennie, but obviously Lennie put up a fight, much the like old man. Many more similarities exist between these characters.
Manolin and George both take responsibility for someone even though they are not obligated to do so. “George said, ‘I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot your for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn’t like you running off by yourself, even if she is dead’” (Steinbeck 13). Despite the fact that George was not required to take care of Lennie, he goes out of his way to do the right thing, and he protected Lennie. Without Manolin, the old man would not have gotten by over 85 days without catching a fish because the boy fed and watched over the old man. “’Wake up old man,’ the boy said and put his hand on one of the old man’s knees. The old man opened his eyes and for a moment he was coming back from a long way away. Then he smiled.
‘What have you got?’ he asked.
‘Supper,’ said the boy. ‘We’re going to have supper.’
‘I’m not very hungry.’
‘Come on and eat. You can’t fish and not eat’” (Hemingway 19) Manolin fed Santiago because he knew the old man had no food of his own. Lennie and Santiago are related through this in the fact that they are almost completely helpless.
The two weaker men were both unable to provide for themselves, but to different extents. Lennie relied on George much more than Santiago relied on Manolin, but it is the same basic...

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