Of Mice And Men Point Of No Return Essay

Of Mice and Men - The Point of No Return The climax of a story is defined as “a decisive moment that is of maximum intensity or is a major turning point in a plot,” (Climax) and is often the point of no return for a character in the novel. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men follows this formula, where the point of no return for one of the main characters, Lennie, is the climax of the book. During this scene, Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife by break her neck. The point of no return in Of Mice and Men affects Lennie, George, and the overall theme of dreams and friendship. Death and mental anguish are both thrust upon Lennie due to his own actions. In the entirety of the novel, Lennie is portrayed as unintelligent and mentally unstable.

Lennie’s point of no return contributes to both of these themes. Dreams are a large part of the novel because Lennie and George’s dream of owning their own rabbit farm is fueling them to keep pressing on and working through terrible conditions. However, George realizes the realism of life and acknowledges the fact that their dream will never become a reality. Lennie, on the other hand, is less realistic and believes that one day he will be able to pet rabbits on his own farm. Before George kills Lennie, he paints Lennie their dream so he can picture it before he dies. George tells Lennie “"Look acrost the river, Lennie, an' I'll tell you so you can almost see it….We gonna get a little place...we'll have maybe a pig an' chickens…”(Steinbeck) in order to bring him hope. From an outside perspective, George killing Lennie looks like a selfish act and wrongdoing. However, George kills Lennie because he knows that it is a better death for his friend than being tortured and taunted by the mob of angry men. George kills Lennie parallel to killing his own dream out of love for his friend. The main themes of dreams and friendship are supported by George’s reaction to Lennie killing Curley’s