Pain In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

780 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Psychological effects of mental ill health

George watches his longtime friend, Lennie, that he had travelled with and taken care of, “lay without quivering” (Steinbeck 106). In Of Mice And Men, Lennie is afflicted with a mental illness and George sticks by his side because of his issue. He forgets things very easily and the illness ruptures his judgement. George is always taking care of him, getting him out of the ‘bad thing’ Lennie has done this time. A little guy named Curley and his wife are stirring up trouble for George and Lennie. Curley is always watching Lennie under a microscope, and his wife has ‘the eye’. One day Curley’s wife, while seeking someone to talk to, tells Lennie to pet her hair. He does as she says, but soon she starts to cry out because he will not let go of her hair. Lennie accidentally snaps her neck while trying to get her to be quiet. Lennie immediately runs away and George follows him. George reminds Lennie of the dreams they have had together. To put Lennie out of his misery and struggles with getting into trouble, George picks up a …show more content…

Some people want to choose how much pain they suffer through. Brittany Maynard is one person who found a way out of her pain. After telling the world she was going to die by assisted suicide Brittany Maynard said, "I'm not killing myself. Cancer is killing me. I am choosing to go in a way that is less suffering and less pain" (Briggs). Maynard had had a severe brain tumor, and it caused her months of tremendous pain. When the opportunity came to have a peaceful and painless death, she took it. As seen in Of Mice And Men, George knows how much Lennie suffers. Lennie cannot remember basic things, his judgment is impaired. And time and time again. Lennie gets himself into trouble. Being his friend, George cannot bear to see him suffer anymore. Therefore, he lets Lennie go free of his illness. George did not mean it in any other way than to help a friend

Show More
Related

  • Decisions In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    As we journey through life, we must make difficult decisions, even when few options exist and the situation is grim. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the decision George faces after Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife is complicated, as none of his choices are good. The importance of his relationship with Lennie forces George to look at the big picture and act in Lennie’s best interests, even though the action he must finally take will result in a weight that he will carry forever.

    Read More

  • Themes in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lennie Small, a mentally impaired man, is first introduced to us traveling with George. George, however, is not related to Lennie. Lennie travels with George because no one else understands him like he does. Lennie says, “Because…because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you…” (Steinbeck 14). Lennie believes if George ever left him that he could live in a cave by himself and not bother anyone again (Steinbeck 12). Lennie realizes he would be alone without George, but he never has known anyone else to depend on but George, and from that, they have a bond, a friendship. This shows Lennie’s need for his relationship with George.

    Read More

  • Dignity In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    For several years you have been taking care of your grandma, who has been suffering in the hospital. You pray that she gets better. But day after day, you see the hurt in her eyes even though she tries to fight through it. You know that she won’t get better until you put her out of her misery and end her life. But once you know she is gone you will miss her deeply but it will be better for her and all her pain will go away. In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, one of the important characters, George, faces a similar struggling situation with his best friend Lennie. Lennie murders the wife of another important character, Curley. George has to make an important decision that will affect the rest of both

    Read More

  • Archetypes In Of Mice And Men

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lennie dreams of living on a wide open ranch with George where he tends to the fluffy little rabbits he loves so much. Nevertheless, Lennie sadly never reaches his ultimate goal as his flaw finally becomes his fatal flaw. Lennie kills Curley 's wife by shaking her so hard that her neck breaks. He does not kill her on purpose but Lennie does not know his own strength. He is only shaking her like that because he wants her to stop yelling. Curley 's wife observes that Lennie is "jus ' like a big baby" (Steinbeck 99) and invites him to stroke her soft hair. Lennie begins to feel her hair and likes it very much indeed, which leads him to pet it too hard. When she started to complain, he panicked and started to try to silence her. He was afraid that George would not let him be part of the dream anymore if Curley 's wife got mad at what he did. So he 's shaking her to try to protect his part in the dream but he kills her and the dream too. Lennie observes that he has "done a bad thing" (Steinbeck 100) and covers her body with hay. Lennie is hiding in the brush where George had told him to hide when he got into trouble. George finally emerges to get Lennie while he is an emotional mess. He then tells Lennie to take off his hat as he continues to recount "how it will be" (Steinbeck 104) for them. He orders Lennie to kneel and pulls out Carlson 's Luger. As the voices of the other men in the search party near their location, George tells Lennie one more time "about the rabbits,"(Steinbeck 106) tells Lennie that they 're going to get the farm right away, and shoots his companion in the back of the

    Read More

  • Mercy Killing In John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    If one is suffering and nothing can save them then having them continue suffering is a waste of their life.If someone will end up having a much worse death than necessary or where he may harm others who are trying to kill him a mercy killing will be the safest and least cruel way for him to die peacefully. And finally the group with the sufferer is limited by the one suffering but if his suffering is taken care of then the group starts to function better. George's reaction to stop Lennie's suffering by ending his life was the only logical choice. Just as in the quote “In quixotically trying to conquer death doctors all too frequently do no good for their patients’ “ease” but at the same time they do harm instead by prolonging and even magnifying patients’ dis-ease.”(Kevorkian ) maybe it is best to have a person suffering be peacefully and mercifully relieved of his ailments without having him continue suffering and hurting

    Read More

  • Human Experience In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Steinbeck explores human experience in the novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ in friendship, loneliness and marginalisation. He does this through the characters as explained thought the paragraphs below.

    Read More

  • The Vulnerability of Innocent Characters in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Due to child like qualities, Lennie is a person which would be easy prey and a vulnerable person. Lennie is a vulnerable person who is quite dumb. His has an obsession for touching soft thing and this will often lead him in to trouble. But poor Lennie is an innocent person who means no harm to anybody. When he and Curley get into a fight Lennie is too shocked to do any thing. He tries to be innocent but, when told to by George grabs Curley’s fist and crushes it. George is Lennie’s best friend and Lennie does every thing he tells him to do as demonstrated in the fight with “But you tol...

    Read More

  • Compassion In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    265 Words  | 1 Pages

    Compassion might not seem like a big deal but it’s something that everyone one wants and needs. When Curley's wife repeatedly tells Lennie it's ok for him to talk to her. This shows that because Curley doesn’t talk to his wife very much, so shew wanted someone to talk to. Curley is the boss’s son so everyone is afraid to converse with his wife. Another example would be Candy is heartbroken about his dog being killed. It shows that dog's or pets can show love and compassion, just as a relationship with a human. While everyone is in the bunk room Candy says " I ought to shoot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to let no stranger shoot my dog (Steinbeck 58). The quote shows Candy had sympathy and compassion for his dog. Now the quote

    Read More

  • Theme Of Dreams In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    1148 Words  | 3 Pages

    Curley’s wife represents her broken dreams of becoming an actress. Lennie and George represent a dream in progress, it is uncertain if their plans will work out as intended or plummet before takeoff, even Crooks and Candy see the appeal in Lennie and George’s fantasy and join them. The dream in progress gives hope to Lennie and George and continued to even after losing previous jobs. Curley’s wife is constantly restricted, she married Curley so that she would no longer be alone but now is in the same state as before, just on a ranch of men. She tries to talk to the other men but she is then seen as "jail bait" and avoided, making her even lonelier. Her dream of being an actress has failed because she chose a quick way out and married Curley. She is now living in her failure and has no longer a dream to aim for. Perhaps the most important part of the story is the the part in which Lennie has accidentally killed the puppy given to him by Slim, and is grieving over him in the barn, “This ain’t no bad thing like I got to go hide in the brush. Oh! no. This ain’t. I’ll tell George I foun’ it dead.” He unburied the puppy and inspected it, and he stroked it from ears to tail. He went on sorrowfully, “But he’ll know. George always knows. He’ll say, ‘You done it. Don’t try to put nothing over on me.’ An’ he’ll say, ‘Now jus’ for that you don’t get to tend no rabbits!” (Steinbeck, 85) He feels powerless to his own strength, he believes that he will never achieve his dream because of his mistake. George and the other men are out once again and the only person who comes to his emotional aid is none other than Curley’s wife. “Don’t you worry about talkin’ to me. Listen to the guys yell out there. They got four dollars bet in that tenement. None of them ain’t gonna leave till it’s over.” “If George sees me talkin’ to you he’ll give me hell,” Lennie said cautiously.” (Steinbeck, 85) He

    Read More

  • Loneliness, Powerlessness, And Dreams In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 3 themes in “Of Mice And Men” are loneliness, powerlessness, and dreams often fail.

    Read More

  • How Does Steinbeck Create Tension In Chapter 2 Of Mice And Men

    151 Words  | 1 Pages

    Chapter 2 starts out in the bunkhouse. Lennie and George just got new jobs and they were just told were they would be staying while they work there. In this chapter we were introduced to Curley’s wife, most of the workers here did not like his wife. Then, when George and Lenny were introduced to Curly he looked like he could start a fight with Lennie, because Lennie is big guy and Curly isn't he feels he needs to prove himself. After, George promised Lennie a puppy since one of the workers had a litter of puppies. Following, the workers suggested that they get the swamper a puppy since his dog is so old he can barely walk. Finally, in chapter 2 Lennie asks George to talk about how their future life will be like, this is because it gives

    Read More

  • Lennie Smalls: A Man With No Chance

    1587 Words  | 4 Pages

    With his disability, he needs something to feel connected to. He loves to pet furry and soft things. In chapter one in “Of Mice and Men”, Lennie and George are walking along a dirt road, on there way to a ranch. George discovers Lennie playing with something in his pocket. Lennie states to George before the dead mouse was taken away. ““ I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along”” (Steinbeck 6) . In order to prove that Lennie is not smart enough to fulfill the American Dream, Steinbeck creates Lennie to seem as not normal as possible. Steinbeck places Lennie in a state, where he does not understand right from wrong. He does not know nor understand, that playing with a deceased critter is not only gross but unacceptable as a

    Read More

  • Child's Dream In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since the beginning of the book, Steinbeck characterizes Lennie as a man who sees the world through the perspective of a child, as if it is a dream. Lennie is a big guy, but he acts like a baby. In the beginning of the story, after George threw the dead mouse Lennie was petting, Lennie was “…‘Blubberin’ like a baby!” (9). This juvenile action demonstrates Lennie’s immaturity and childish

    Read More

  • Lennie's Passion for Soft Objects in Of Mice and Men

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    Curley's wife, an accident that seals his own fate and destroys not only his dreams but George's and Candy's as well. In the beginning Lennie used to pet mice that his Aunt Clara used to give him, he would always end up killing them because he didn't know his own strength. Lennie never killed any pet or person purposely; he pets too roughly and kills them accidentally. An example of his rough tendencies is in the first chapter (page7) when Lennie wants to keep a dead mouse and George wouldn't let him Lennie says" Uh-uh. Jus' a dead mouse, George.

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men - The Importance Of George

    1823 Words  | 4 Pages

    George’s relationship with Lennie has made him selfless; his conversations, with and with out Lennie, are generally revolving around Lennie, although in the case of their dream-ranch George seems to find fulfilment for himself as well. Due to these altruistic tendencies that he shows throughout the novel, a danger is bestowed upon George; he tends to care for Lennie far too much, and too little for himself. In occasional moments, he escapes his sympathy and compassion for Lennie, and realises the burden that he causes. This usually results in George taking his frustration out on Lennie, which can often harm his simple mind, leaving Lennie upset and forced to confess to his own uselessness, and George feeling guilty for what he has caused. We can learn very little about George through his actual conversations, which made it necessary for Steinbeck to focus the novel on him in particular, and let the reader gain an closer insight on him through his actions. Generally, he seems to be caring, intelligent and sensible, but is greatly worn by the constant attention Lennie requires. This illustrates a major theme in Of Mice and Men, the dangers that arise when one becomes involved in a dedicated relationship.

    Read More

More about Pain In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Open Document