How are George and Lennie different than other ranch workers? Cite a line of text from the chapter that supports your statement.

Steinbeck depicts the difficult lives of
migrant workers who travel throughout the country working arduous jobs during the Great
Depression. Unlike typical migrant workers,andtravel together and keep each other company. The
vast majority of migrant workers have no family, travel alone, and live unfulfilled lives. They
do not own property, have no place to call home, and struggle to make a living.

In the opening scene of the novella, George and Lennie arrive at a peaceful riverbank,
where George yells at Lennie for carrying a dead mouse and criticizes him for complaining about
eating their food without ketchup. Lennie responds by saying that he will simply leave camp and
live in a cave, in an attempt to make George feel bad for yelling at him. Lennie then requests
that George repeat their dream of one day owning their own homestead. George begins by
saying,

Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the
loneliest guys in the world. They got no fambly. They don't belong no place. They come to a
ranch an' work up a stake and then they go into town and blow their stake, and the first thing
you know they're poundin' their tail on some other ranch. They ain't got nothing to look ahead
to...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 gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not
us.

George's comments emphasize the difference between
their lives and the lives of other migrant workers. George and Lennie's close friendship and
camaraderie are what make them different. Instead of experiencing a lonely existence, George and
Lennie travel the country together, and their friendship significantly improves their lives.
George acts as Lennie's guardian and protector, while Lennie provides George with much-needed
social interaction. Both men benefit from their friendship and face difficult obstacles
together, which would be significantly harder to face if they were alone.