Epilogue To John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

After Lennie has inadvertently murdered Curley’s wife, Curley’s lynch mob go out in search of Lennie. George’s decision is almost inevitable to spare Lennie’s life, rather than let Curley and his gang destroy the bit of life Lennie has.

While Crooks, a victim of racial prejudice, expresses his isolation openly, he also socializes with the other workers on the job and while playing horseshoes with them. Curley’s wife, on the other hand, cannot talk to anyone without suffering the consequences of a jealous husband: “I get lonely,’ she said. “You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?” (87) More specifically, Curley’s wife is experiencing homesickness for the first time, because not only did she leave home at an early age to marry Curley, a man whom she does not even like. In fact, she only married him to spite her mother. Not only is Curley hostile and disrespectful towards his wife, he also is controlling. Knowing of Curley’s jealously, the other men fear Curley’s wife and the consequences of taking to her: “Listen, N****,’ she said . “You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?” (80)

Lennie was an excellent helper on the farm. When Curley's wife came to talk to Lennie while he was in the barn she made Lennie mad. Curley's wife became scared of Lennie and he tried to shut her up but then broke her neck instead. When Candy found Curley's wife under hay, everyone tried to find Lennie. George thought that the other guys would kill Lennie or send him to prison and possible be lynched. So George got Carlson's Luger and went to find Lennie. George found Lennie and made Lennie think about their farm. “We gonna get a little place,” George began. He reached in his side pocket and brought out Carlson’s Luger; he snapped off the safety, and the hand and gun lay on the ground behind Lennie’s back” (Steinbeck 115; ch. 6). Then George heard the other guys coming and pulled the trigger. “And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head” (Steinbeck 117; ch. 6). In George’s eyes he had no choice but to kill

Barbara Sher once said, “‘Isolation is a dream killer’” (qtd. in Wishcraft). In his novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck scrutinizes the effects that alienation can have on society. Many characters experience loneliness throughout the novel. He illustrates the results of individuals becoming isolated from their peers. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays characters alienated from society in order to illustrate the harmful effects of loneliness caused by discrimination.

Two hours after George killed Lennie, George was at the bar with Curley and Slim to get a drink, and the three began talking about Lennie, making George start to think if he had done the right thing by shooting Lennie in the head. After the three left the bar, George walked out onto the street and saw Curley's wife walking down the street. George decided to shrug it off and told himself that it was all part of his imagination, and George returned to his house. Three years later, George had built the house by the lake that Lennie had wanted, and George had buried Lennie's body in the backyard. Later, George had decided to go to the bar to get a drink, when he got to the bar he saw Slim and Carley, and Curley's wife all talking with each other. When the group saw George, he was in awe "I thought that Lennie killed you..." he said to Curley's wife, Curley replied excitedly "Nope, i'm not sure how but she is alive!" George was still confused, then Slim said "Stop asking so many questions and come have a drink" George had then began thinking about how the only reason he killed Lennie was because Lennie went too far to save by killing Curley's wife. After that, George had began disconnecting himself with the rest of the group because he had become depressed after he had learned that Lennie wasn't a murderer. Just as George was thinking about how he shouldn't have killed Lennie, he heard a knock on his door, and he went to see who it was, Curley's wife was at the door with Slim, and both were looking sad. George had opened the door for them, and said "What happened?" Curley's wife looked back at him, and informed him that Curley had been murdered. George beckoned the two inside is house, and said "Come in, do either of you want anything to drink?" Curley's wife shook her head Slim walked her inside. The three sat down at a table in George's house "Tell me what happened" George said nervously, Curley's wife replied, "I was having an argument with Curley and he had gotten angry and stormed off, later, when i went looking for him, I found him in the ranch, with an axe wound in his head." Curley's wife started crying and Slim looked at George, "She came to me and told me the story, then asked

Lennie took the life of Curley’s wife, and in rage this migrant worker wanted to seek revenge. For this reason, Lennie’s death was inevitable. In order to avoid a painful death full of misery, George killed Lennie. This action, hard on my client as well, needed to be done in order for Lennie to die peacefully. Before pulling the trigger, Mr. Milton painted a wonderful image in Lennie’s head:

“I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella,” (86) Curley’s wife did not actually like him; she married him to prove her mother wrong. She thought he was too focused on how well he could fight. However, Crooks grew up always being discriminated from against the world because of his color, but even that after a while got to be lonely. Although he did not put his self out for everyone’s attention, he just stayed alone and read his books.

He knows that he has given up the life of a free man. He knows that he

George and Lennie were best friends for a long time—more like brothers. Lennie isn’t the brightest bulb in the box, so George couldn’t really get mad at him when he accidentally killed Curley’s wife, due to the soft feel of her hair—which he truly adored too much that he killed her by accident. “…’I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know’”(101). The two had planned a future together—a future in their own dream ranch. A ranch where no trouble they’d cross or cross them. Right before George put him out from the back of the head with the Luger, he made Lennie think of their future home—their ranch and the rabbits Lennie would tend. “’You…an’ me. Ever’body gonna be nice to you. Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ‘em’”(101). This shows you how much George cares for Lennie, no matter how big the crime is. He’d always be there to help Lennie get right back up to his feet, make him forget all his worries, and move on like nothing happened. I hereby state that I strongly believe George was the right person to kill Lennie, therefore made the right decision to, rather than to let him suffer in the hands of Curley.

Next, Curley would of shot Lennie in the stomach and let him suffer. On page 92 Curley says “I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun. I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot ’im in the guts.” This shows that Curley is going to do whatever he could do to make Lennie suffer. Another example is on page 90 George says “I ain’t gonna let ‘em hurt Lennie.” This means that George didn’t wanna let Lennie suffer so George killed Lennie himself just to get done with

'I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my

As the sun finally slipped down past the Gabilan Mountains, it left the valley in darkness. The trail was scarcely lit by the stars that barely shined through the branches of the towering sycamores. The beaten path was barely visible in the darkness, merely a slightly darker shadow than the tall grass surrounding it.

After George realizes that the mob would torture Lennie, he does something so brave that most people wouldn’t have been able to do, he shoots his friend. The author of this story shows that mentally-ill people were treated lower in social status and were misunderstood. Back then and even today people were prisoners to their own status. An example of this is Curley’s wife and because she was a women, she wasn’t treated with much respect. Since she was put on the back burner, she went out seeking attention even if it would cause trouble for everyone.

Lennie, who is a strong man with mental issues, causes trouble in a town called Weed. He has a big fetish for soft objects, so when he grabs on to a women’s soft dress, he is accused of rape. When George and Lennie get to their next destination, they are in luck when they find good work on a ranch. The people at the ranch do not know of George and Lennie’s past history and accept them for whom they are and the quality of work that they provide. In the book, there is a character who is called “Curley’s wife” who tends to provoke the people living on the farm. When Curley’s wife gets a moment to see Lennie while he is alone, she provokes him to touch her soft hair. Because of his fetish for soft objects, Lennie can’t resist feeling her hair and gets carried away while doing so. Lennie ends up killing Curley’s wife and goes to hide in a nearby hiding spot. In the beginning of the book, George felt burdened by Lennie when they had to flee town due to Lennie’s actions. When Lennie made a mistake again, George was not going to let Lennie make them flee town again. When George comes to the revelation that he will be on a continuous cycle of fleeing town, he decides to kill Lennie instead of being his partner. Because of this, George stops the never-ending cycle of fleeing and is able to continue on with his

`Of mice and men` is written by John Steinbeck, published in 1937. The novella is a reference to the great depression in California and is set in the 1930’s and portrays the way in which despite the consequences of depressed circumstances, human spirit still survives. During the aftermath of the great depression, which was a very bad period, men hoped to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives.