Is George Guilty Of Murder

I believe that George, in no way should be punished for killing Lennie. He did it for the right reasons and it was best for Lennie in that situation. The closure George and Lennie hot from this ordeal was better, and easier this way for both of them. This is a little bit of information on way I believe George was justified in killing Lennie.

Although the answer to this question can be defended either way, I feel that George is justified in killing Lennie. Aside form the fact that Lennie has been and will continue to be a hindrance to George in both his personal and professional life, this is not George's main motivation for carrying out such a serious deed. Ultimately, George kills Lennie in a sense of mercy. Lennie, although he may have continued on living a happy, oblivious life, would most likely have found a much worse demise. Due to his lack of cognitive skills and his unbridled brute strength, Lennie continuously found himself in situations where not only did he do something that gets him in trouble or that he didn't mean to do, but angers other people in the process. In fact, when George ultimately does choose to kill Lennie, Lennie was essentially on the run. Curly and the rest of the people from the farm were on a man hunt to kill Lennie and possibly George because of the trouble that he had caused for all of them (mainly the accidental manslaughter of Curly's wife). They certainly would not have been as nice, comforting, or humane as George was in killing him. George did not see an end to Lennie's antics, and so "putting him out of his misery" was a way to protect himself from Lennie, but also Lennie from himself.

Throughout the novel, Lennie is put to the test against obstacles he has to overcome; he always turns to George for the right answer. Lennie trusts George to make the right decision for him. When Curley was fighting Lennie, Lennie was covering his face with his hand until George screams, “Get ‘im, Lennie” and instantly Lennie puts his hand on Curley and breaks the bones in his hand (Steinbeck 63). Lennie can’t think for himself and never truly means to be mean. Lennie doesn’t know how to control his own body, “He was so little… I was jus’ playin’ with him…an’ he made like he’s gonna bite me…an’ I made like I was gonna smack him… an’…an’ I done it. An’ then he was dead” (Steinbeck 87). In other words, it foreshadows that he is too strong for his own mind and that something potentially worse could happen. Sadly, George made the right decision for Lennie by killing him to prevent future suffering and

One of the main reasons why George was actually justified for the killing is because Lennie had hurt others in the past and would most likely continue to do so. When they were in Salinas, Lennie got into very similar trouble when he wouldn’t let go of a girl’s dress. When George was asked by Slim what had happened in Weed he explained, “Well that girl rabbits in an’ tells the law she been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie. So we sit in a irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day. An’ at night we scrammed outta there” (42). This shows us that Lennie is trouble, brings it wherever he goes, and this is why they moved to Salinas. When at the ranch Lennie not only kills his puppy, he also breaks Curley’s hand, showing that the trouble that follows Lennie happens quite often. Lennie smiled with this bruised mouth. “I didn't want no trouble," he said. He walked toward the door, but just before he came to it,

To George and Lennie, having a friend with them is really lucky, but their luckiness didn 't last very long. At the end of the book, George shot Lennie at the back of his head. That was one of George’s two choices: let Curley kill Lennie or kill Lennie by himself. Like a father, George thought it’s his responsibility to kill Lennie to payback the life of

George is guilty of murder because he kills Lennie. He has no solid reason to kill Lennie. Even though Lennie does many things wrong he does not know any better, “Lennie’s big fingers fell to stroking her hair… Lennie had broken her neck” (88-89). George is an evil, immoral, sadistic person who needs to realize that not everything in life is going to be easy and that he needs to learn to cope with difficulty in life. George is nowhere near innocent because he kills his best friend and does not do it for a good reason. Even though Lennie is killing people and animals that is not a good enough reason to kill someone.

Slim insults Lennie in front of George. He replies, “‘He ain’t no cuckoo’, said George. ‘He’s dumb as hell, but he ain’t crazy. I ain’t so bright neither, or I would be buckin’ barley for my fifty and found’” (39). George feels the need to defend and protect Lennie, even when Lennie is not around. George wants to persuade people into thinking that Lennie is a normal farm worker. George finds a way to convince people Lennie is normal, by comparing his own work on the farm to Lennie’s work. In later chapters, Curley picks a fight with Lennie. George encourages Lennie to fight Curley. After the fight, Lennie is worried about if he will be fired and what George thinks. Lennie looks for comfort in George, he replies, “You don’t need to be scairt no more. You done jus’ what I tol’ you to” (65). George pressures Lennie to fight Curley. At the beginning of the fight, Lennie does not want to hurt Curly. Lennie looks up to George for guidance and protection. This trait of Lennie’s allows George to make all of Lennie's decisions. This event is the turning point in George’s feelings towards

George saved Lennie by shooting him with a gun in the back of the head. It was fast and painless, but Curley had other plans for Lennie, “We oughtta let ‘im get away. You don’t know that Curley. Curley gont’ta wanta get him lynched. Curley’ll get ‘im killed”( Steinbeck 94). Candy knows that Curely will lynch Lennie if he finds him. George knew he had to find Lennie before Curley. George decided to shoot Lennie because he knew Lennie would have either been locked up in jail his entire life, or have been beaten up and lynched by Curley. After George shoots Lennie, Slim reassures George that he did the right thing, “You hadda, George. I swear you hadda”(Steinbeck 107). George needed Slim to let him know that it was the right thing to do. Slim gave George closure, because George was in awe. George realized he did the right thing after he followed Slim out of the

Even George, who acted as Lennie’s protector in the novel, lost his temper and lashed out at Lennie in certain situations. "Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you!" Lennie’s lip quivered and tears started in his eyes” (9). In this situation, George failed to realize that Lennie’s mental state was not quite stable, and that the best way to deal with him is to be kind and gentle. However, other characters treated Lennie far worse than George did. Curley was persistently trying to pick a fight with Lennie, not realizing that Lennie did not understand the concept of fighting, and even when provoked would fail to fight back. When Lennie kills Curley’s wife, Curley fails to realize that Lennie committed this horrific crime unintentionally, and instead is blinded with rage. “I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot ‘im in the guts” (96). Curley is too bent on revenge to discern that Lennie’s murderous act may have been unintentional, and is therefore not taking Lennie’s mental instability into

Lennie is unaware of his own strength, and accidentally kills Curley’s wife, which causes George to weigh Lennie’s options. He decides that killing Lennie would be the best option, and, after delivering the killing bullet, Carlson asks George how he does it. George stiffly sits on the bank, and his “voice was almost a whisper. He looked steadily at this right hand that had held the gun” (107). The fact that George acts very calm and quiet indicates that he is in deep shock. The trauma from killing Lennie really deals a blow to George’s energy. George himself would be happy if his friend did not have to die, but he is completely aware of how it is the option that is best for Lennie. Shooting Lennie causes George to experience deep sorrow, anxiety, and anguish. He feels emotionally drained and tired, which he could avoid by just leaving Lennie alive, but he sacrifices his own emotional health to benefit Lennie. If Lennie was not George’s good friend, George would not invest so much of his own happiness. Friends not only have to deal with their own problems, but also have to sacrifice more energy by managing their friends’ as

Do you think mentally challenged people have a chance? In the novel Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. George and Lennie, wanted their American dream, which was to get a farm together. But Lennie, is mentally ill and makes some horrible mistakes.

George knew that Lennie would never be truly happy without him. George knew that if he didn’t get to Lennie first, than Lennie would go to jail . He also knew that Lennie couldn’t live without him, because Lennie depends on George to always be there for him. Lennie humiliated Curley when Lennie broke Curley’s hand. Curley said to the guys around him, “‘I’m going in shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand’” (98). George knew that Lennie would be tortured by Curley because Lennie killed Curley's wife and humiliated him when Lennie broke Curley’s hand and won the fight, so George had to kill Lennie to keep him from suffering. Lennie would either in jail and suffer because Lennie doesn't have George, or be killed and tortured by Curley and suffer because Curley won’t kill him fast. George only had one choice and that was to kill

Outside of George being a man with a lot of common sense and intelligence, he also is very compassionate. Perhaps not as much as Slim, but almost everything George does is impassioned and driven by his deep care for Lennie. There is a lot of debate as to whether George killing Lennie was a selfish act. However, George’s body language in the last moment of Lennie’s life expresses true caring and even love. John Steinbeck’s describes George as stiff and monotonous. He describes George’s actions with Carlson’s gun by saying “The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied” (Steinbeck 106). George was terrified and sorry to kill his best friend, but realized it had to be done. Whether or not it was a selfless act is another story, but there is no question that some of George’s motivation came from a compassionate place. Another place George displays compassion is how terribly he wants to buy the dream farm, not only for him, but

George sometimes visualizes what a better life he would have without Lennie. While they settle down before going to the ranch, George gets frustrated with Lennie because Lennie wants ketchup, but they don’t have any, so George tells him, “‘God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy’”(11). This tells us George thinks about his future, and what it might be like without Lennie. But he knows that Lennie needs him for support due to his mental illness. In part of the story, Curley picks a fight with Lennie and starts to beat him

George knew he couldn’t save him like the other times, so he ensures he dies happy and saves him from the future pain and possibly torture from Curley. This confirms how much George values Lennie as a friend. The theme friendship is one of the core aspects of this novel as the reader sympathies with George shooting Lennie at the back of the head because of their strong bond and it’s gives the readers a powerful understanding of their brotherly