John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men: A Short Story

Near the beginning of the story, George explains to Lennie that if he happens to get in some trouble he cannot get out of, to “come right here an’ hide in the brush” (15). After the killing, and to George’s surprise, Lennie has remembered as he “appears out of the brush” (100). This one specific element of Lennie and George’s relationship is more than a mere coincidence, but emphasizes the way Lennie disregards any command or memory of anyone other than George. When George arrives at the brush, and sees Lennie in a state of shock, he is forced to act. As the lynch mob draws near, George is able to fantasize the farm one last time before “sparing” Lennie’s life. But as George aims the gun at Lennie’s head, he kills the thought of a harmonic life he could have shared with Lennie.

“Lennie begged, "Le's do it now. Le's get that place now." "Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta." And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering.” (Steinbeck ___). At this moment in the book is where George and Lennie’s dream ultimately becomes impossible. Therefore, With Lennie’s death George is now unable to fulfill his dream as Lennie now can never be a part of it.

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

I shivered and looked at the gun, and then threw it away from myself, back up on the bank, near the pile of ashes. Eyes filled with dread, I sank to my knees and covered my face with my hands. The wind whipped back and forth but all I could do was stare at the person who once was my friend. Slim’s voice shouted. “George. Where you at George?”

“Lennie was in a panic. His face was contorted. She screamed then, and Lennie's other hand closed over her mouth and nose. "Please don't," he begged. "Oh! Please don't do that. George'll be mad." … "I don't want you to yell. You gonna get me in trouble jus' like George says you will. Now don't you do that." And she

George steals Carlson’s gun – a ranch worker and blames it on Lennie. George thinks that if anyone is to kill Lennie it should be him. George sets out and goes to the river that was the setting at the start of the book. He finds Lennie and reassuringly talks to him about the place they are going to get to their selves when they have enough money. George tells Lennie about the rabbits he is going to be able to have and their couple of acres of ground. Lennie as usual gets excited about this and cannot tell that anything is different.

“And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The

Lennie is incapable of handling not being able to grasp onto their dream and succeed. Lennie is given the reward of death, he dies with hope and euphoria. George wants him to achieve the dream, but the only attainable way is through death. Because of Lennie?s contentment and joyfulness when his death occurs, he died an honorable death.

“‘Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ‘em.’ ‘Le’s do it now. Let’s get that place now’” (106). These are the last words that filled the air between George and Lennie, their last exchange preceding a pivotal moment in both of their lives. They conversation calms and soothes Lennie, who hopes to finally get the farm that he and George dreamed about for so many years. Yet unbeknownst to him, Lennie would soon be set free from his earthly bonds by his long-time friend; a bullet, shot from the barrel of George’s gun, would enter Lennie’s head and kill him instantly. That bullet was not one of self-gain and moral disrepute, but one of freedom and liberation from worldly restraints. While this remains a hotly contested topic in classrooms reading Of Mice and Men, George’s intentions in killing Lennie were overwhelmingly good-natured.

In order to prevent this agony from befalling his dear friend, George took it upon himself to kill Lennie with a quick, painless death by shooting him in the back of the head. This form of killing someone results in a painless, instantaneous death, as by shooting in the back of the head as done by George and Carlson, the spinal cord is obliterated, instantly killing the victim, so that they feel nothing. George decided to kill Lennie at his very happiest, while he was thinking about their plans for their piece of land. In doing so, George prevented Lennie from causing any harm to anyone else, or himself. He also saved Lennie from any grief or pain from being executed or shot by someone without sympathy, as well as having Lennie know of his death. One moment, Lennie was bubbling over taking care of his rabbits, the next he was dead, blissfully unaware of dying. This is the noblest motive for killing, and one that was highly justified by George, as well as preferable for Lennie. "And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie 's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred and then settled slowly forward to the sand, he lay without quivering."(p. 106)

In this work of literature, George Milton 's faced with a situation of what is right and wrong and which inner sense to listen to. George 's long time friend and mentally handicapped friend Lennie Smalls has just killed Curley 's wife, inside of a barnyard accidentally. Lennie attempts to run away from the whole situation, but George knows exactly where he will be, and that is at the exact spot he told him to go to if there was trouble. As George arrives at the river Lennie was instructed to go to, George realizes he has a great problem, should he kill his long time best friend and save him from the swarming angry mob of ranchers, or turn him in and let them have there way. As George 's inner senses battle, he realizes what he must do and that is to put Lennie out of his misery and self entrapment and set him free once and for all. George makes Lennies death quick and painless as any good friend would, but he can not seem to shake the sense of guilt and anguish he is experiencing. As George lovingly kills Lennie he portrays his bravery and sense of what is right and wrong all by listening to what his inner senses and consciousness led him towards. John Steinbecks use of literary terms enhances the sense of bravery and drama that this scene of a friend killing another brings. The mood that John Steinbeck sets for George 's attitude towards Lennie is

That was it I silently thought to myself as i held Carlson's gun. I held the gun tightly to my chest as I thought about Lennie's body. I had shot him I just killed my best friend Lennie. I sank to my knees wishing there was something I could have done to prevent this. There had to be a better way that this could have ended. Lennie would have been killed either way either by my hands or at the hands of Curley. Thinking about what Curley would have done to Lennie makes me think that what I did had to been the right thing. As I contemplated this the Other men I work with found me and what had used to be Lennie. Curley had ran at me in a complete and utter rage screaming and yelling I’ll kill Lennie I'll kill him for what he did to my wife. But

The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred,” (Of Mice and Men). Through Lennie dying it was a life-altering event because George no longer had anyone to take care of. It shows an experience like this shapes George as a

George knew that it was the best thing to be done to protect Lennie and that if it hadn’t been him someone else would have done much worse. He had remembered a conversation with Candy prior saying, “I ought to have shot that dog myself George. I shouldn’t have ought to let no stranger shoot my dog.” It stuck with him and he knew that the best thing for Lennie was to shoot

Even if George never went through with his threats, it was enough to send Lennie over the edge doing things that are so unforgivable that George would have to kill his only friend. "George gonna say I done a bad thing. He ain't gonna let me tend no rabbits." He moved his hand a little and her hoarse cry came out.”