In the period of the 1930s in America there were lots of forms of discrimination: one of them was sexism. Women were not seen as equal to men: they had fewer rights than men, were paid less and most of them were only allowed to take care of domestic chores. In that period of time, women started realizing how submitted they were to men, so they began having ideas on how they could improve their lives and gain more independence. They had their own American Dream.
First here are the events leading up to lennie’s untimely death. Well lennie and george find a ranch but there is tension between curley and lennie because of his size. One day curley's wife and lennie are in the barn alone and lennie accidentally broke her neck killing her so lennie runs off. Curley sets out to find lennie and this is when george killed lennie. You might be saying the events don’t make it right. Well curley would have killed lennie one way or another.
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.
But Lennie, perfecting his craft one incident at a time, messes everything up. Lennie’s biggest fear was not being able to tend the rabbits when they get their own land, and he loved those rabbits. Lennie grieving over killing his puppy starts conversing with Curley’s wife, a decision he should have never made. Lennie got caught in an unbelievable predicament with Curley’s wife, he was holding her mouth shut while pulling her hair, getting angry at her tell her to shut up, because he does not want to get in trouble. Because, if he did he would not be able to tend the rabbits. As she continued to scream, louder and louder as seconds went by, Lennie with his harmless intentions did not know what to do, so he shook her to get her to shut up but unintentionally broke her neck (Steinbeck, 91). Lennie knowing what to do if he ever did something bad, escapes to the hideout that only him and George know about. Eventually, everybody finds out about Curley’s wife when Candy found her dead body in the barn. At this moment, George knew he had two decisions that would change his life forever. He would either side with his new friends and find Lennie, or escape with Lennie and find another place to work. George makes the right decision and sides with his friends, but he knew they wanted Lennie dead, so he decided to do it himself. George met up with Lennie at their hideout and told him to look the other way and envision everything good about the farm, not wanting to harm Lennie he made sure he was as happy as he could be at that very moment. As George started to describe the farm to him, he put the gun to the back of his neck and pulled the
Secondly, it was also justified when George killed Lennie, for George knew that it was necessary after what Lennie has done. When George later found Curley's Wife's dead body, he hesitated for a minute but he knew exactly who had killed her and there was no turning or running away from that. In the novel "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck, he reveals “George had put on his blue denim coat and buttoned it…Curley cried. 'He got Carlson’s Luger. ‘Course we’ll shoot ‘im.” George said weakly, “Maybe Carlson lost his gun." (Steinbeck 48). This shows that George is lying about Carlson's gun being lost because George knew had it with him as he walked out of the bunkhouse wearing a coat, meaning he could have hidden the gun. This also foreshadows a later where George might use the gun on Lennie thanks to all the pressure that
Lennie would never be able to survive without George, Lennie would be miserable alone and scared.Lennie would have been tortured by Curley if George had not killed Lennie.Before George killed Lennie says "I remember the rabbits,George”.George and Lennie would not been able to get away since last time they had a head start . Lennie would suffer regardless with George even if he came to see him in prison.Lennie has no way out in this so George did the right thing by putting Lennie out of his misery by killing him.Curley would not just kill Lennie he would have made him suffer by torturing him because Lennie had humiliated Curly twice.
Lennie is an innocent, unknowing of what's going on around him type of person. All he really knows is that he likes things that feel soft and that is what ends up getting him kill. He is so focused on not having George mad at him and not letting him tend to the rabbits that he accidentally kills Curley's wife. “"Don't you go yellin'," he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.”(xx) Lennie just killed Curley's wife and he has done a lot of bad things but never murdered someone. This is the last straw for George and when he hunts him down in the woods, he kills Lennie because he is at a loss of hope for Lennie. Lennie has a tendency to kill small animals by accident and
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.
Because Lennie is confused he grabs her hair and tries to make her stop yelling. But because Lennie does not know how to control his own strength, he squeezes Curley’s wife’s neck too hard and crushes her spine. Lennie then flees the ranch because Curley wants to kill him for what he did to his wife. So Lennie is not brutally murdered by Curley, George finds Lennie and, because he cannot get him out of trouble, shoots Lennie. Lennie’s uncontrollable strength and ignorance destroyed his, George and Candy’s dream
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
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
Even if George hadn’t killed Lennie, Curley would of killed Lennie himself, and Curley would of torture Lennie before killing him. Curley had always hated Lennie and he wouldn’t of hesitated to kill him. His anger had excited the other men, making them want to kill Lennie too, “Curley carried a shotgun in his good hand… Whit said excitedly “I ain’t got a gun”(97). They even sent the dogs after him. If George hadn’t shot Lennie, he would of been torn apart by ferocious dogs; it would of been really painful for Lennie. If the dogs didn’t rip him apart, Curley would of done it himself. George knew that and that’s why he shot Lennie himself. He wanted Lennie to have a peaceful death. He made Lennie comfortable and happy, then he slowly raised his gun and shot him, Lennie didn’t even feel a thing. What George did to Lennie was best for him; he
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
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
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.