Mercy Killing In the book Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, two men travel together to escape their pasts. They arrive at a ranch in the Salinas Valley with hopes to achieve their ultimate dream; to buy a place to call their own. Lennie, who is a simple-minded man, and George, who is just a typical guy are brought together and make a lasting friendship out of the loneliness of each man. While spending time on the farm George and Lennie meet some friendly characters, but because of some accidental deaths their dreams drift away. Foreshadowing may create a literary theme. Lennie is a massive and powerful man, but is dull-witted, George on the other hand is scrawnier and not as mighty. Both are hearty individuals …show more content…
That’s nice.” (Steinbeck 91) After a while Curley’s wife told him to stop, “You stop it now, you’ll mess it all up,” (Steinbeck:91) Lennie panicked and instead of stopping he grabbed hold of her hair. She started screaming and yelling and he then covered her mouth and nose and told her to be quiet. Lennie was panicking and did not know what to do, he was scared of getting in trouble from George, “Oh please don’t do that. George’ll be mad.” (Steinbeck:91) “He shook her’ and her body flopped like a fish,” (Steinbeck:91) Then all a sudden she was still, he let her go and she fell to the ground not moving, for Lennie had broken her neck. Lennie did not realize what he had done, but he knew it was not good. After the farm hands and Curley found Curley’s wife dead in the barn they all set out in search for Lennie “When you see ‘um, don’t give ‘im no chance. Shoot for his guts.” (Steinbeck:97) Lucky for Lennie, George knew where he would be hiding, back at the bush where George told him to go if he got in trouble. George ran ahead of the group and found Lennie in the bush. Lennie told George what he had done and George tried to tell him that it would be all fine. Lennie gets George to tell him about the future again and then George takes out Carlson’s lugar that he had taken and shot Lennie in the back of the head. He believed he was
George and Lennie were best friends for a long time, more like brothers. Lennie is about as bright as a 2 watt bulb, so George couldn’t really get mad at him when he accidently killed Curley’s wife while feeling the softness of her hair. “…’I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know’”. The two had planned a future together—a future in their own dream ranch, a ranch where no trouble would ever bother them. “’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’”. Then after he tells him about the rabbits that Lennie is so fond of, he shoots him in the back of the head where he knows it will not hurt him, and Lennie will not know what hit him. This is the peaceful alternative to what Curley had in store for him. Curley's exact words were "shoot the bastard right in the guts." George's euthanizing of Lennie makes the mentally incompetent Lennie die with dignity. Had Curley gotten to Lennie first, Lennie would have suffered. This shows you how much George cares for Lennie, no matter what he does or the crimes he commits. 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 strongly believe George was the right person to kill Lennie, and made the right decision in doing so, rather than to let him suffer in the hands of Curley.
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.
There is only one way an author can get their readers to cry, laugh, and love or just enjoy their master pieces. That one way is through the uses of literary devices such as similes, metaphors and personification. These are the small things that brings the author`s thoughts and ideas alive. The author`s ability to use literary devices through the book helps in direct characterization and lets readers get a better understanding of Lennie and George, the two main characters Of Mice and Men. It also helps in keeping readers thinking on their feet and constantly questioning George and Lennie`s next move while in Salinas, California. John Steinbeck, in his novel Of Mice and Men, makes use of similes and foreshadowing to keep readers in touch
In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Lennie and George have both similarities and differences that are revealed throughout the storyline. These comparisons and contrasts are used to explain their unique friendship and dependency on one another. The story begins with the description of their physical and intellectual differences and establishes their roles of who is the dominant one. The story shares the obstacles that have stood in the way of them obtaining their “American Dream” to own land, even if they if they have different motivations. The story concludes with the difficult choice that George makes to end Lennie’s life himself, out of his love for his friend.
George eventually finds out about the death of Curley’s wife so he sets out and kills Lennie by the river. Lennie dies a gentle death, thinking only the happiest thoughts. The moment before he died, his mind is filled with their farm and there rabbits and there dream. Steinbeck reminds you that Lennie is still as gentle as he ever is, despite the fact that he killed
Steinbeck introduces Lennie by physical description and it gives us an idea of how powerful he is compared to George. “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders” (Steinbeck, Pg. 2) In this quote, the author is trying to make the reader
From the beginning, George tells Lennie to avoid Curley and Curley’s wife. There are multiple uses of foreshadowing that the reader can understand that John steinbeck is leading this to a tremendous event in the end. “"If he tangles with you, Lennie, we're gonna get the can. Don't make no mistake about that. He's the boss's son. Look, Lennie. You try to keep away from him, will you? Don't never speak to him. If he comes in here you move clear to the other side of the room. Will you do that, Lennie?" "I don't want no trouble," Lennie mourned. "I never done nothing to him." "Well, that won't do you no good if Curley wants to plug himself up for a fighter. Just don't have nothing to do with him. Will you remember?" "Sure, George. I ain't gonna say a
In the novel “ Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, is a fiction book that lets the readers know about two ranch hands who go together everywhere and they end up coming to a ranch to earn money for the dream they have to own some acres but they ended up having to go through some hard times which made it to never happen. Steinbeck wants us to know that dreams aren’t real, because they aren’t achievable, they don’t take actions to make it happen. Steinbeck uses foreshadowing and symbolism to express the theme by creating suspense and emotional connections to the characters and their dreams.
Any good person does not want to watch a friend to be hurt, and George is no exception. George is most worried for Lennie when Curley says ‘“i’m gonna shoot the guts outta that big dumb bastard myself, even if i only got one hand.”’ (steinbeck 48). this is when Curley, Slim and Carlson are getting together to find Lennie and hurt him and kill him. George thought
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men tells a story of two very different friends how both share the dream of one day buying their own farm. George and Lennie are both two workers that take temporary jobs at different ranches. That the new job that they get to meet Candy, the old “swamper” who cleans the bunkhouse; Slim, the “prince of the ranch”; Crooks, the African American stable hand. Then there is also Curley, the boss’s son and Curley’s wife, women that is desperate for the attention. Throughout the story, Steinbeck uses a lot of foreshadowing to prepare the reader what is about to occur. The plans of the characters going “askew,” the death of Curley’s wife, the loss of the farm dream, and the death of Lennie; are four clear examples of Steinbeck’s
In the book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to clue events throughout the entire book. The book follows two migrant workers, George and Lennie, while they are working on a ranch in California, during The Great Depression.During the book George and Lennie meet five other characters; Slim, Candy, Crooks, Curley, and Curley’s nameless wife. Foreshadowing, the literary device used to hint an event.Foreshadowing is used in the title of the book using allusion, Lennie’s obsession with soft things, the idea of the American dream, and the parallel of Lennie and Candy’s dog’s death.
well George, George is Lennie's caretaker, best friend etc George has authority and power over Lennie ever since they were kids cause he was always so troubled with his disabilities. George drags Lennie around and bosses him around to do things for him. George doesn't have the strength to match lennie but mentally he is much smarter than lennie. George of does not have power over his spending limit because he always goes out to a whore house and waste the money George is very cautious on things so he would usually have power to control the situation. George has power over lennie but he isn't very responsible with his money and gets sidetracked very easily but is always very cautious on the situation he's in.
George was not going to be able sit aside and watch while they would have tortured him. Steinbeck describes Curley’s plans for torturing Lennie by writing, “I’m gonna shoot the guts outa that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im.” (98). Although some argue that they might have put Lennie in the laws custody, George thought that locking Lennie away in a mental asylum was even worse than shooting him. If Curley had tortured Lennie, Lennie would be like a small child and would not be able to grasp what was happening and why George was not stopping the
The book Of Mice and Men was a great, exciting book. The author, John Steinbeck, used foreshadowing to give hints to many big events that come up in his book. The two main characters in the book, George and Lennie, travel together to different ranches to earn money. Lennie is a big bulky adult who acts like a child most of the time. When Lennie’s Aunt Clara, who took care of him died, George told her that he would take her of him. Steinbeck uses foreshadowing by using an allusion to the poem To a Mouse, creating Lennie’s obsession with petting soft things, and creating the idea of the American dream.
Lennie is unquestioning in his loyalty to George. We see this in George’s anecdote about the Sacramento River. “‘Jump in.’ An’ he jumps”(P66) Lennie has a childlike obedience. Steinbeck shows us this in the fight between Lennie and Curley. Earlier on, George tells Lennie to not fight with Curley, Lennie remembers this and due to his childlike obedience, his “hands remained at his sides; he was too frightened to defend himself.”(P91). Once George tells Lennie to “Get him”(P91), Lennie immediately crushes Curley’s hand completely. Most mature people would know whether they should break the rules or not, because they wouldn’t get as badly hurt, but with Lennie, it is a different story. It is this childlike obedience that Steinbeck uses to show us how George needs to act as a parent towards Lennie.