Before George, Aunt Clara took care of Lennie. She took him in from a young age.
she is lennies aunt who died which is why george is taking care of him hope this helps
Lennie and George met when George's aunt Clara passed away and Lennie's Aunt Clara died. George was friends with Lennie's Aunt Clara, and Lennie's Aunt Clara had asked George to look out for Lennie after she passed away. George agreed to take care of Lennie and they formed a strong bond based on mutual dependence and friendship.
Lennie tells his froend George he remembers that a lady used to give mice to him. George scoffs. "A lady, huh? (you) don't even remember who that lady was. That was your own Aunt Clara. An' she stopped givin' 'em to ya. You always killed 'em." Lennie's Aunt Clara had raised Lennie from when he was a baby right up until she died, then he and his friend George went out working, and looking for work, together.
All the mice that Lennie's Aunt Clara gave him died because Lennie pet them too hard unintentionally, not realizing his own strength. This led to him accidentally killing them, which is a foreshadowing of the tragedy that occurs later in the story.
Lennie needed someone to take care of him. George and Lennie had been friends for a long time and stuck together. George thought Lennie was a great worker but he just didn't have much of a brain.
They seem to be unrelated, but it is unclear how they became companions. George makes a promise to Lennie's Aunt Clara that he will look after Lennie, and he keeps that promise. When discussing his past with Lennie, George often refers to "your Aunt Clara," which at least indicates that she is not also his aunt. Further explanation is not provided by Steinbeck.
Shared misery and loneliness. Possibly even to have some kind of control of something in his poverty stricken life. It is one of the themes of the whole book. -- Lennie's Aunt told George right before she died to take care of Lennie. It was obligation for George.
When George confides in Slip, he adds the detail that the weed they are smuggling is laced with Fentanyl, making it more dangerous than they initially thought. Slip is shocked and concerned about the increased risks involved.
They both dream to own ther own place and be their own bosses.
George feels that because he and Lennie are family he has to protect him. Also he feel sympathy for Lennie whopossesses the mind of a child. One of the book's themes seems to be loneliness so you could argue that Lennie was also George's companion and they live of each other's strength. (I would give a quote but i can't find my book. The answer is somewhere in chapter 1).
Lennie often gets in to trouble. For example, the pair have to go and look for work on a new ranch because of what happened in Weed, where Lennie was accused of rape. Lennie doesn't mean to do bad things, but he's a 'dum dum' and this often lands him into situations where only George can help him out. George has know Lennie for a long time, and decided to care for him after Lennie's Aunt Clara died. He knows Lennie very well, which is shown when he tells Lennie to go back to the brush if he gets into any trouble.
they were good friends. They are not relatives, but they knew each other . When Lennie's Aunt died, George promised that he would look after Lennie.George starting liking Lennie, so the friendship stayed