Questions On John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

We can all argue back and forth whether George killing Lennie was wrong or not. But the fact of the matter is—there was no escape. George heard “a

The novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck begins and ends in 1930’s southern California, during the great depression. This book is centered around two main characters, George Milton and Lennie Small. George is a short, quick thinking man, and Lennie is pretty much his opposite: huge, clumsy, and mentally ill. The book starts off with George and Lennie walking to a ranch to get work, which they desperately need. Once they get to the ranch, they meet several other folks, most of which suffer from some sort of oppression. There’s a black, a cripple, a woman, and a whole lot of poverty. In Of Mice and Men, oppression is presented as a major issue, one that affects nearly every character in the book to some degree, whether it be through racism, sexism, or ageism.

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

Without Lennie, George would be a loner. Even though George gets frustrated by Lennie 's mental weakness, he also feels compassion for his friend. Lennie offers George the opportunity to lay plans, give advice, and, in general, be in charge. Without Lennie, George would be just like the other hands, but with Lennie, George has a strong sense of responsibility. In the end, he even takes responsibility for Lennie 's death. George also understands that Lennie does not have an adult 's sense of guilt and does not understand death or murder beyond it being a "bad thing." George makes it possible for Lennie — sometimes — to understand at least partial consequences of his actions. Unfortunately, George does not realize how dangerous Lennie can be, and this lack of foresight adds to the downfall of their dream.

He is a representation of the lives of the mentally disabled, which are often controlled by others in order to maintain safety. Throughout the book, many examples of George expressing control over Lennie’s life can be observed, however one of the most clear examples of this control is the scene in which George decides to kill Lennie in order to spare him from his impending doom. This is an example like many others, but it is fundamentally different in that it shows the most extreme of cases, one in which the decision of whether one’s life should or should not end is made by someone else with no regards to the opinions and choices of the person to which this is most concerning, he who has a gun held against his head. This last choice is denied from Lennie, just like every other before

George takes care of Lennie and Lennie is there for George even when George doesn't necessarily want him to be. George knows he could have a better life without Lennie but he can't leave him because he's afraid something will happen to him if he does. Throughout the story however, George’s feelings for Lennie show because he constantly is looking out for him, as shown when he says “If there's any fightin’, Lennie, you keep out of it” (92). Later on, George realizes towards the end of the story that Lennie is what makes him special, showing that he understands he needs him in order to be happy. Even in the end when George shoots him, its to protect Lennie from any pain that would be caused by the other men who are after him, but he is barely able to do it “George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again”(146). George’s dream ends with him protecting his best friend until the end, even if he knows it will end his happiness, because it's the right thing to do in the hard situation he

“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, 106). George made the right decision by killing Lennie because he would have been killed by Curley when he found out that Lennie killed Curley’s wife. George had to kill Lennie because he was stuck in such a position where had no other option. and he even killed Curley’s wife which made George to end up with a harsh decision.

Throughout the story, George acts like Lennie’s dad, always making sure he didn't get into any trouble and scolded him when he was bad. Lennie and George have been partners in crime for years. They travel together and work together every single day. They are each other's family. Now, during the book, Lennie gets himself into some trouble. All of it was totally by accident, however when one of those things was accidentally killing a woman, it didn’t matter if it was by accident. This is where George comes into play. George finds Lennie and tells Lennie that he forgives him. Then he had Lennie look out onto the water and imagine their life together in the future, while George pulls out a gun. It takes a long time, however George finally builds up the courage to kill Lennie so that Lennie wouldn’t have die die in fear or pain when Curley found him. “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. George shivered and looked at the gun, and then he threw it from him, back up on the bank, near a pile of old ashes” (Steinbeck 106). This part of the story is where the reader’s body will be so overtaken with compassion, their heads will be spinning. Only those made of stone will be able to make it through this ending without shedding a single tear. Lennie is George's best friend and is

The novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ mirrors, to a certain extent, how hard it was for people to survive during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The book is based on the men who had lived on the ranches- with the addition of one woman.

Although George appears belligerent toward Lennie. In reality he deeply cares about him, keeping him motivated and being protective of him. Lennie and Curley start fighting and George says "Get him, Lennie.." he was on the side, encouraging Lennie to beat Curley. Then as Lennie thinks about stopping, he looks at George for approval as George yells "I said get him" leading to Lennie losing control and crushing Curley's fist. Curley didn't know Lennie was capable of fighting.

There was a big lack of privacy on the ranch as all the men had to

Before shooting Lennie Steinbeck shows George’s emotions, “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” (Steinbeck 106). George is reluctant to kill Lennie because he is Lennie’s friend but in the end he shoots Lennie because he knows that he kills Lennie right now Lennie will never know about it but if he doesn’t and they get caught then Lennie will die knowing that he is dying. All in all, George and Lennie’s relationship enables them to understand and comprehend each other’s situation and act so that it will be the best for both of them

“‘Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place’”(Steinbeck 13). In the 1930s, a time period known as the Great Depression, a drought and improper farming techniques devastated farmlands. Consequently, many poor, jobless men became migrant workers.

George found lennie first and sat down with him and they talked and talked and talked about their dreams some more when they were in the middle of a deep comvation George pulls out a revolver and shoots lennie in the back of the head as he was dreaming of the future I think that he did that because of the fact he didn't want Lennie heart by people that don't get what kind of person lennie is as a whole and that to me is companionship all in all i learned that have a companion that really cares about you and the way you feel is the greatest

The characters in the novel Of Mice And Men, by John Steinbeck, face many struggles such as loneliness and having to be responsible for another person. All of these workers have a dream but face many difficulties while trying to achieve them. During the great depression farmers had to go from place to place looking for work, they were known as migrant workers.The two main struggles are loneliness and having to be responsible for another person.