In Of Mice and Men, if you were in George's and Lennie's positions, whose would you prefer and why?Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Considering the setting of Of Mice and
Men, the position of Lennie is extremely vulnerable.  Without George, he
cannot find work as George convinces the bosses to hire Lennie after he has his friend
demonstrate his strength; he also convinces them that Lennie "will do anything I tell
him," so there will be no problem with Lennie.  On the other hand, George can survive
without Lennie.  In fact, when he is angered, George bemoans his being burdened with
Lennie:

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"...If I was alone, I could live so easy.  I
could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble.  No mess at all, and when the end of the
month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want.....You
keep me in hot water all the
time."

Of course, George only
half means what he says, but he makes the point that he can survive on his own, even in
the Great Depression.  It is always better to be able to survive on one's own--albeit
lonely and alienated--than to have to depend upon others for your survival.  Make this a
third vote for George, a vote for intelligence over brute strength and
child-like naivete, even though without Lennie Small George has no
dream.