No journey reaching paradise goes exactly as planned, however once it’s reached, it only comes in as a benefit. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, this novella displays the life of two men named George and Lennie. It is set in the year of 1936 when the Great Depression is in its peak. These two average american men are trying to survive on their own looking for farms to work on the west coast. They have been working towards their goal of owning a farm one day. Their initial plan is to find a job and save up their life's earnings to afford their paradise. Later on in the book, they achieve hope when a farmer named Candy offers them half of the value of the farm. However, after working for long, tireless hours, George realized his paradise …show more content…
He decides to ease Lennie’s death by shooting him at the thought of taking care of his own farm leaving him to his paradise. Presently as Lennie is hiding away, George finds him and calmly sits right beside with a luger hidden in his pocket. George still gives the hope to Lennie of owning a farm when he unintended all the harm he caused by imagining him to look right “acrost the river” and imagine as if “ you can almost see it.” (51). Lennie is back next to the Salinas River dreaming of his paradise. Curley is on the find for him since Lennie coincidently killed his wife. As always, Lennie's world cannot comprehend being a reality because of his innocence. George wants to keep it by making him imagine his paradise as there is no possibility left of Lennie still achieving it. As Lennie's imagines the farm, George “reached in his side pocket and brought out Carlson’s Luger” and the “hand and gun lay on the ground behind Lennie’s back...at the place where the spine and skull were joined.” (52). Lennie is now in danger of being lynched by Curley. If he is killed this way, it would signify that he has done wrong not being able to go to heaven. George did the compassionate thing for him. He believes that shooting Lennie in a happy thought is for the best as “Ever’body gonna be nice to you. Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ‘em.”(_) He believes Lennie's paradise will be waiting for him in his heaven if he is shot at the thought of his hopes and dreams. He won't have to go through brutal reality faced his way. George slowly “steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied.” Lennie's Paradise of Heaven had finally arrived to him portraying how George shot Lennie was positive. This displays how death can be a
George and Lennie were lifelong friends and had varying personalities even from the start. Lennie thought about how his Aunt Clara said he should have been more like George. At the time when the story took place, the two men were travelling together, and had been for some time, working and then moving on to search for the next job they could find. They were like many other men in search for work, except it was rare for men to travel together. George felt a need to take care of Lennie because he was somewhat slow. George was an average man of the time. He was a good size, nice, but firm, and he had aspirations to be more than just a nomadic laborer. Lennie, on the other hand, had always been a little different. He was big, goofy, clumsy, but sweet. They were also both good workers. George was concerned with working and getting his money before they got into trouble and had to leave camp. Lennie was the one who normally started the trouble. He was a hard worker and lived to appease George, but he got distracted easily which angered George. George told about how they would own a house and a farm together and work for themselves. Lennie loved to hear the story and think about the possibilities, even though nobody knew if any of it was a possibility. George and Lennie's differences in part led to George's inclination to kill Lennie. Despite their dissimilarity, the two men needed each other probably more than they realized.
George also knew that Lennie had dug a hole for himself and could never get out. He knew they were looking for Lennie and wouldn’t stop until they killed him. He decided to do it himself in the kindest way he could. It’s like when Candy said about his dog, “I should of shot that dog myself.'; meaning it would have been kinder to the dog. Lennie was lying down, facing away from George and didn’t know he was going to be shot. He didn’t know what was going to happen, just like Candy’s dog.
That ain’t no good, George.’”(Steinbeck 97). Because Lennie killed Curley’s wife, he committed a felony. George wanted Lennie to be thrown in jail at first. He wanted Lennie to be arrested because he thought it was the best thing for Lennie but then Slim told him it would not be good for Lennie. It would be bad for Lennie because Lennie would not understand his rights because he’s mentally challenged and locking him up in a cage would just hurt Lennie. George then realized he needed to kill Lennie so nobody would mistreat him. George is protecting others from Lennie.”’Lennie-if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before…’”(Steinbeck 15). George has been with Lennie for many years and he knows how Lennie will never learn and he will keep committing bad stuff. George knew something was going to happen at the ranch because Lennie has always done something wrong. George tried to prevent something from going wrong but he couldn’t. As a result he had to put down Lennie so he would not hurt anyone ever again. George felt the hard choice of killing Lennie was the right decision for George because Curley wanted to get his revenge, Lennie would be mistreated in prison and he was
This passage comes from the fourth chapter in Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. George and the other workers are “gone into town” (69). Lennie, Crooks and Candy are the only men remaining on the ranch. This excerpt characterizes Crooks and promotes the themes of loneliness and dreams. In addition, this passage characterizes Lennie and reinforces the theme of companionship.
George kills Lennie because he did not want to witness Lennie being hurt or killed carelessly, run off by in his own and not being able to take care for himself, and Lennie’s mental disorder will never change how Lennie reacts to certain situations. Many believe taking the life of another without consent is unacceptable but in certain situations like George’s, he has to decide due to Lennie’s mental disorder that was leading him into unpleasant situations. George is an admirable character who choose to protect and do justice to his distressed friend,
After Lennie makes his mistake of killing Curley's wife the other characters want to brutally kill him being led by Curley but George who realises that this is a cruel way for Lennie to die and that he can’t save Lennie he decides that Lennie must have a merciful death. The reader infers when Curley says “ ‘I know who done it,[...][It was lennie].I know he done it. [...] I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun[...]I’ll shoot him in the guts’ ” ( 96). In this quote we understand that Curley plans on killing Lennie but in a more painful way than Lennie deserves. Thus George realizes that Lennie is about to be killed in a horrific way so he intervenes and kills Lennie in a peaceful way. This shows that mercy killing is to be done over the horrific way that Curley wants to take out Lenie. Because Lennie would have a much worse death than needed and Lennie could have put up a fight, George completes a mercy killing as the safest
In fact, near the ending of the story, he unintentionally snapped Curley’s wife’s neck trying to quiet her (91). Failing to recognize his own strength, Lennie accidentally took her life, proving that he was perilous. By shooting Lennie, George prevented Lennie from accidentally injuring or killing anyone ever again. His verdict was correct in view of the fact that he sacrificed his friend’s life with the intention to protect the lives of others. Furthermore, George’s decision protected Lennie. As a punishment for his deeds, The workers wanted Lennie executed. George realized this and told candy, “Curley’s gon’ta wanta get ‘i'm lynched. Curley’ll get ‘im killed,” (94). In consequence of killing Curley’s wife, Lennie unknowingly put himself in harm's way. Curley’s motive for wanting to kill Lennie was spite and revenge. So, instead of allowing Lennie to be murdered alone and afraid, George took matters into his own hands and made sure his friend died knowing he was cared for and full of hope. Through it's ironic, George’s choice protected Lennie from the malice of others, thus keeping him unafraid and unharmed. However, others may believe
Dreams and hope are all worth while but in the book it shows how hard it is to get your dreams. In the book Of Mice and Men the first scene is of them fleeing from their job. The job was contributing to the dream but since there was conflict they had to run otherwise there would be no dream. When they get to there new job a worker over hears their dream and wants to get in on it. “you know a place like that?” said candy. Said on page 29 on the ipad. So they agree and they're way closer to their dream then they ever thought they would be. “George spat on the floor disgustedly. “We got ten bucks between us.” Then he said thoughtfully, “look, if me an’ lennie work a month an’ don’t spen’ nothing, we’ll have a hundred bucks. That’d be four fifty. I bet we could swing her for that. Then you an’ lennie could go get her started an’ i’d get a job an’ make up the res’, an’ you could sell eggs an’ stuff like
As George tells Lennie about their dream farm, he prepares himself to kill Lennie. George tells Lennie, “Take off your hat, Lennie. The air feels fine” (104). George knows he has to kill Lennie soon but he wants Lennie to be in a happy place when he dies. He does not want Lennie to be scared and to die slowly and cruelly as he would with the men of the ranch; with George, Lennie’s death would be fast and painless. George begins to hear the footsteps of the other men. To prevent the men from killing Lennie, George decides he has to kill Lennie himself. The scene is almost parallel to when Carlson shot Candy’s dog and Candy regretted that he did not kill his dog himself, but allowed a complete stranger to do it. As George talks to Lennie about the dream farm, “...[George] raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head...He pulled the trigger...Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering” (106). Unlike Buddha’s saying, “No one saves us but ourselves No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path”, George saves Lennie when he kills him. He saves Lennie from being killed by strangers, such as Curley, and being put into jail and abused. The men from the farm finally find George and notice Lennie lay lifeless on the ground. Curley sees Lennie dead, but does not understand why George is so upset. Curley says, “Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?” (107). Unlike Buddha’s saying, “No one saves us but ourselves No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path”, In the film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Chief Bromden suffocates his good friend and mentor, R.P. McMurphy, after he gets a lobotomy and becomes a human vegetable. The Chief admires McMurphy, but
In the end Lennie caused a big conflict by killing Curley's wife. This lead George to kill Lennie for his own good. If George wouldn’t of killed Lennie, Curley would have killed him in a more brutal way by making him suffer. George and Lennie could have ran away but Curley wasn’t going to give up until he found them. If they would have ran away they both would have been lynched. Killing Lennie was a big decision George had to make, but it was the best for Lennie. Even when Lennie died George managed to make him happy by telling him the story of their dream farm and their plans for it. George was a good friend so he did what a good friend would do in that
After Lennie gets into the debacle with Curley’s wife, he runs to the oasis described at the beginning of the book. George fears the men will tear Lennie apart and murder him. He also knew he would be institutionalized, or “caged” if he survived the attack. He had the moral clarity that let him see that killing Lennie was the best thing for him. When George kills Lennie, it’s a kind of mercy killing.
After Lennie kills Curley’s wife, George realizes that by protecting Lennie, he inadvertently caused a woman’s death. The act of killing his friend is heroic in nature because not only is he helping Lennie avoid a more painful death, but he also remediates his previous actions and stops any chance of future incidents. Standing at the lake, George raises the gun and his “hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger” (106). Not only is this considered a tragic act because George killed his friend, but he is also killing his hopes for the future. Though their dream of owning their own ranch is mentioned multiple times throughout the novella, George finally allows himself to seriously consider it when he says, “‘We’ll fix up that little old place an’ we’ll go live there’” (60). Unfortunately, now that Lennie is dead, George will be forced to live with these shattered memories, something the other ranchmen don’t experience. This tragedy also demonstrates the harsh reality of the American Dream. The ideal that everyone can achieve their goals if they work hard enough is ripped from George when he pulls the gun’s trigger. Even though they were so close to attaining their fantasy, this aspiration was ultimately
George shoots Lennie because he sees what the other people on the ranch would do to Lennie. After asking Curley if he could not shoot Lennie, Curley tells George that, "'I’m gonna shoot the guts outa that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im'" (50). This shows that the others on the ranch weren't going to consider that Lennie was disabled, and Curley would try to make his death very painful. This gives George a motivation to kill Lennie: so he could make his death as painless as possible. This makes the reader have sympathy towards George. Additionally, the result of George killed Lennie, who would be the closest person to George to die at his hands, leaves George devastated that he had to do something like that to his best friend. Even though it is the best option and if I were in that scenario, the thing I would do, it understandably still makes his feel heart-broken. Ultimately, the whole book has made me feel sympathy towards George, but the ending makes me feel so much
Lennie to take care of. The next day George convinces the farm boss to hire
George understands that he can’t hide Lennie from the world forever and that the natural order of things is that the strong pick off the weak, and he will eventually have to let Lennie go. This motivates him to seize reality, meaning he had to kill Lennie, which itself was a sign of tremendous growth in himself. Killing Lennie had many effects on George; one of them being that he became one of the men he’d tell Lennie stories about. George believed that he and Lennie were not like the other migrant workers – travelling alone and spending all their earning on a whim. When George would te...