I think that Lennie is dependent on George because he is not very smart. I think Lennie has a mental sickness because he forgets stuff really fast and is not very smart. He depends on George because he is smarter and knows what to do. George is like Lennie's mom and Lennie is the child. He depends on George to feed him and teach him what is right and what is wrong. He needs George for protection because they are fugitives from something that happened in Weed.
George keeps Lennie around because they are probably brothers and he needs to take care of him because on his own Lennie would not make it out in the world. George would probably like to get rid of Lennie sometimes but he must really love him because he puts up with everything he does. He is getting tired of taking care of him probably because he acts like a 5 year old. He forgets things and they became fugitives because Lennie did something in Weed. I think the true reason he keeps Lennie around is because deep inside he really loves and feels sorry for him.
