George got as much from his relationship with Lennie as Lennie did. Yes, Lennie got into trouble, and George would always tell Lennie when he got angry at him that he'd be better off without him. George could have abandoned Lennie at any time, but he didn't because he did feel it was his responsibility to take care of Lennie after Lennie's aunt died. I think it was more than guilt that George took care of Lennie. Eventually, George had become Lennie's parent, and no parent leaves his child just because the child has been bad. Also, it was only because George repeated the story over and over for Lennie that George came to believe that maybe they could actually achieve the American Dream of having their own piece of land. I don't believe George saw Lennie as a burden or felt he was paying too high a price. At the end of the day, George and Lennie had each other.
As far as your question regarding our obligation to take care of a fellow man, I'm not sure this novel does lend itself to the question of "Am I my brother's keeper?" I'm going to take this question to the discussion board, and I'd love for you to join us there to discuss this issue. You'll get a more varied, detailed response to this enigmatic question from a group of intelligent, enlightened people (well, we're teachers anyway)!
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