Steinbeck And Etgar Kerets Of Mice And Men - 1394 Words

Is love or loss the ultimate sacrifice? Is companionship necessary? These questions are addressed in both George Steinbeck’s and Etgar Keret’s works, where they come to the same conclusion, but the way they do so differs. In Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Crooks seeks companionship but pushes people away, much like Sergei in Keret’s â€Å"What, of this Goldfish, Would You Wish?† and how he craves interaction while wanting privacy. Both stories are comparable in that Sergei and George both end up having to sacrifice loved ones for the greater good, they contrast when the conclusions are analyzed. In both of these works, the need for companionship is necessary for a full life. The reason they don’t have the companionship they need is because they†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœLong as you won’t get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down.’ His tone was a little more friendly† (Steinbeck 69). His isolation make s him irritable, but when he relaxes and realizes that Lennie is an outsider as well, he decides to let him come in. He trusts him and decides to open up to him: saying that â€Å"‘A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya,’ he cried, ‘I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick’† (Steinbeck 73). This shows Crooks’ take on loneliness and the damage he suffers because of his loneliness. Steinbeck shows Crooks’ desire of a friend, but also shows his fear of abandonment. This can also be seen in â€Å"What, of this Goldfish, Would You Wish?† where Sergei, a Russian Jew, chooses to avoid society because of his childhood and the KGB taking away his adolescent privacy. Sergei indicates his need and craving for solitude, sees outsiders as threats, and values his alone time. With the introduction of Yoni, Keret shows Sergei†™s bitterness at first glance, â€Å"Until one day some kid with a ring in his ear, looking a bit homosexual, comes knocking. Hard like that - rapping at his door. Just the way Sergei doesn’t like† (2). This shows that he has an initial prejudice against Yoni from appearances alone, which keeps him from giving Yoni a fair chance. His loneliness makes him paranoid and not able to see what people’s true intentions are,