In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck attempts to translate ideas on ethical dilemmas and complex aspects of human nature into a story about the lives of two field hands who travel around together during the Great Depression. George and Lennie, the two laborers, are different from other men in the book. George is of average intelligence, while Lennie is mentally handicapped. Since they have known each other as long as they can remember, George takes on the responsibility of caring for his disabled friend. When Lennie accidently kills the small, soft beings he loves to pet, George warns him not to let it happen again and attempts to watch over Lennie even more to try to prevent more serious problems. However, when Lennie is left alone he inadvertently causes the death of Curley’s wife; a deed that cannot be overlooked by George and the other men. They chase after the runaway killer, and George is forced to decide how to respond to the predicament. George incorrectly chose to kill his best friend out of what he thought was mercy. Lennie deserved to live because he was a very happy, productive person despite his shortcomings, he had a dream to look forward to with George and Candy, and he only brought about death due to his handicap.
Lennie’s death was harmful to others because he was a man who had been content with whatever he had while still helping get things done on the ranch. His strength let him do work nobody else was capable of. Slim mentions this amazing quality while talking privately with George. Slim said, “’Say, you sure was right about him. Maybe he ain’t bright, but I never seen such a worker….There ain’t nobody can keep up with him’” (39). Lennie was a very efficient worker, so his death makes it harder for the...
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... killing Curley’s wife, but his disability makes that very hard for him.
Lennie only killed Curley’s wife because he cannot make good choices on his own due to his mental disabilities. Whenever Lennie does do something reprehensible, he feels very bad about it and makes sure everyone understand that he did not mean to do it. Lennie does this after he fights with Curley. John Steinbeck writes, “Lennie smiled with his bruised mouth. ‘I didn’t want no trouble,’ he said” (65). It is never Lennie’s fault. Slim and George also converse about Lennie’s faultless nature when they say, “’He ain’t mean,’ said Slim. ‘I can see Lenne ain’t a bit mean.’/’’Course he ain’t mean. But he gets in trouble alla time because he’s so…dumb’” (41). The murder of Curley’s wife is just another instance of Lennie’s stupidity getting the better of him. It was no reason for George to kill Lennie.
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.
George felt though an extremely difficult choice, killing Lennie himself was the right decision. Curley was gonna get his revenge and George did not want that because he did not want Lennie to die painfully. “‘I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot him in the guts.’”(Steinbeck 96). When Lennie killed Curley’s wife, Curley wanted to give him the most painful death. Curley wanted to shoot Lennie in the stomach which wouldn’t kill you at first, Instead you would bleed out slowly and painfully. George didn’t want Lennie to suffer so he knew he had to get to Lennie before Curley did and kill Lennie the fastest and least painful death he could which he did. Lennie would be arrested and thrown in jail for
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
The novella Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck introduced the reader to the character George. George is faced with the difficult decision of whether or not to kill his best friend. His best friend, Lennie has a mental disability that resulted in his brain not fully developing. In the 1930’s no one respected people with a disability. George had to constantly run around trying to get Lennie out of trouble and he never had time to himself. Finally when Lennie was getting hunted down by a lynching party for the second time, George thought maybe it was best if Lennie wasn't around anymore. George was devastated that he would no longer have his companion by his side but he could no longer look after Lennie. His decision was tough but he killed Lennie out of love.
What truly led up to this, and how would the story have gone differently if George had not killed Lennie? As aforementioned, they lived in the Great Depression, a time where achieving the American Dream was almost impossible to do, especially with all the farms being lost in Oklahoma. Most of the character's perspective of Lennie was that he was most simply a passive aggressive retard. Later in the novel the reader notices that he is incredibly strong which serves to positive and negative effects in the story.
This is because Curley only is hunting Lennie down to kill to keep his macho up and not all because of Lennie really killing his wife. For example, right before Slim, George, and Curley head out to find Lennie, Slim suggests that Curley stays with his dead wife but Curley refuses by saying, “‘I’m goin’,’ he said ‘I’m gonna shoot the guts out of that bastard myself…’” (98), and it uncovers how much he did not care about his wife's death, or her life in general. and saw the death as an opportunity to kill Lennie. Another up to snuff example of that was Curley saying, “‘I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun. I’ll kill the son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot him in the guts’” (96). This presents how Curley did not even bother to report Lennie to the cops to get the time that he deserved but his first thought was to get his shotgun and shoot him in the guts. Not just only was it Curley and his wife's fault for Lennie’s death but so was one more
Lennie’s unintentional mistakes resulted in the sudden end for him, but was done in the best way possible. As Lennie would’ve been subjected to a life of loss, running and suffering, George correctly made the decision in euthanizing him. While contemplating whether or not to euthanize him, George knew he very well could but it wasn’t the easiest decision to make on his part. If George wouldn’t of made the decision he did, Lennie would’ve had to run for the rest of his life with no account of what happened or what to do due to his mental illness. He would’ve been seen as a criminal and hunted down like animal which is inhumane and cruel. Although his mishaps weren’t meant to be as extreme as they were, the consequences were foreshadowed throughout
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about the friendship between George Milton and Lennie Small, who travel together due to the fact that Lennie suffered a childlike mental illness and someone needed to take care of him. Lennie only listens to his friend George, no matter what George may say. This novel shows characteristics of their true friendship and George's compassion towards his companion. George shows acts of love and kindness out of sympathy for Lennie, yet he also seems to show an unconscious effort to make up for Lennie’s mental impairment.
John Steinbeck wrote a story about two men that only had each to depend on. Many of George and Lennie's struggles come from things they cannot control such as Lennie's mental issues. George and Lennie are very poor and they work on farms together, but they have to move a lot because Lennie always does something stupid. The greatest tragedy in Mice and Men was when Lennie was left alone with Curley's wife. She was the reason why Lennie ended up being killed. She knew of to manipulate others to get her way and that is what she relies on most of the time.
Lennie is dangerous because At the end of the story Lennie kills Curley's wife. He also kills a mouse and a puppy. On page 91 the book says “She struggled violently under his hands. Her feet battered on the hay and she writhed to be free… And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.” People are scared of Lennie and it affects the story because he is constantly hurting and killing animals and humans and throughout the the story he dosen’t change. This affects the story because Lennie isn’t sympathetic because he doesn’t know how to be sympathetic. He gets confused a lot and doesn’t know what to do when something bad is happening.
Lennie has the mental capability of a 6 year old. This limits most every part of his life. Lennie's weaknesses make it difficult for him to have social contact outside of George. He misreads social cues which get him into trouble. He also doesn't know how to be fragile, as much as he loves to pet mice, he usually pets them too hard and kills them. He doesn't only pet mice to hard either. He ended up petting curley's wife so hard he broke her neck and killed her too. Him having this weakness of not being smart causes a lot of issues throughout the story. “He heard Lennie’s whimpering cry and wheeled about. “Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you.” Lennie’s lip quivered and tears started in his eyes,” (Steinbeck 9). Having the words like whimpering and blubbering show how weak Lennie really is. Those words seem like they are meant for a baby, and not a big tough guy like Lennie. His mental capability is a big defining part in who he is which then means it's a big part of his weakness.
Steinbeck uses Lennie to represent vulnerability through his mental illness and how it held him back from the world. “Yeah? How'd you eat. You ain't got sense enough to find something to eat.” (12). Because Lennie has little to no common sense he forgets almost everything. Therefore, he can not rely on himself to live resulting in George taking care of Lennie. Towards the end of the book George has to make a very tough decision for Lennie, “An' s'pose they lock
George, a migrant worker, working on a ranch, is portrayed as the tragic figure or character in Of Mice and Men because of his hubris, epiphany, and overall downfall at the end of the book. In of Mice and Men, being a ranchman, George is very lonely because of the loss of family, friends and overall relationships. Because of this, George begins to have ambitious dreams about a dream ranch where him and his best friend Lennie would own their own ranch. This ambition and dream becomes George’s hubris, or blindness, which also is a motif throughout the book. Being caught up with this, he does not realize that Lennie is becoming more and more destructive. For example, Lennie kills Curley’s wife by accident in the barn. George is looked at as Lennie’s best friend and overall savior. Without George, Lennie would most likely have no job and suffer from extreme loneliness. George has an epiphany, pr a spiritual compromise, when he realizes how much trouble Lennie has caused. This also is the climax of the story and causes George’s downfall because he realizes that the only way Lennie will stop being destructive is to kill him, himself. This is happens to be Georges downfall because he is emotionally compromised in the sense that he ...
In Of Mice and Men, Lennie’s loss of innocence, which occurs in the form of his death (Steinbeck 106), impacts George both negatively and positively in ways that he loses his best friend, he loses hope on his dream, and he will have an easier life with no burden. A negative effect of George was that he loses his best friend. Lennie was all George had “because I [Lennie] got you [George] to look after me, and you got me to look after you …” (Steinbeck 14). The death of Lennie causes an impact on George in that he now has no one to be with. With Lennie gone, George is also unable to fulfill his dream of having his own ranch. Although George said that he never really believed that he would own a ranch, Lennie’s optimism gave him hope for a chance that it might come true (Steinbeck 94). Now that the optimism is gone, there is no reason for George to fulfill that dream. One of the positive effects that George has is that his life will be easier. Because Lennie had mental issues, George was always saving him from getting in trouble, such as when Lennie spoke to the boss when he wasn’t supposed to (Steinbeck 22). Even George said himself, “’If I was along I could live so easy … I could get a job an’ not have no mess.’” (Steinbeck 103). Along with an easier life, George will also have no burden. Lennie is always accidentally getting in trouble and George has to keep covering for him. George even says, “’Yeah, you forgot. You always forget, an’ I got to talk you out of it.’” (Steinbeck 23). With Lennie gone, George just has to fend for himself and, therefore, his life will be easier.
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.