Right And Wrong In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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.

The author, Steinbeck, uses his own personal experience to “serve as an inspiration…” (Johnson 1) when writing this particular story. His past experiences also helped him for the future. Lennie, of all characters, is the least dynamic. He undergoes a significant amount of change and develops throughout the story. He has been isolated with George throughout his life. His sole purpose in life is to make George happy and to own a farm with George and take care of the soft rabbits. Lennie is the most innocent and defenseless. He also is the largest and strongest, which does not help in certain situations. Lennie is the protagonist in the story. He gains the readers sympathy by his intellectual disability and helplessness. Lennie murders things by accident such as the mouse in his pocket, the puppy and Curley’s wife. He enjoys the touch of and somehow uses those murders and experiences to scare him from doing it again. George’s opinion means the most to him.

They start talking and she asks Lennie if she wants to feel her hair, for she claimed that it was soft. Lennie grabbed her hair and her words were verified. His grip grew tighter. He would not let go, for he was too panicked to do anything. She thrashes under his grip and when Lennie finally lets go, she is motionless on the ground (Steinbeck 91). Lennie had killed Curley’s wife by snapping her neck. Lennie did not mean to kill her, but his action of not letting go of her hair had caused the downfall of Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife dying caused Lennie to run away from the ranch and hide by a river. Lennie left, trying to avoid George. Lennie said, “I shouldn’t have did that. George’ll be mad” (Steinbeck 93). Lennie left the ranch after killing her, knowing how mad George would be, because they could get let go or killed when her corpse was found Lennie went to the Salinas River, where the story begins. George knew that he would be there, for he told Lennie to go there. George came to where Lennie was, and shot him in the back of the head by tricking Lennie. Lennie’s choice to run resulted in the downfall of himself, which was avoidable. He was going to be imprisoned in the ranch if he stayed; instead his actions meant impending death. Lennie not letting go of her resulted in the death of Lennie and Curley’s wife, due to the carelessness of Lennie.

At the end of Of Mice and Men, George has to make the grim decision to shoot Lennie in the back of the head before the other men kill him because Lennie accidently killed the bosses son, Curley’s, wife. “George said softly, ‘I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would. “(Steinbeck 94). This shows that George has always hoped that he and Lennie would have a farm and live their life together, but when he sees that cannot happen, he becomes very depressed. This makes him learn the self-knowledge that without Lennie, he is the man that he has always said he was not. With this thought, he knows he has surrendered his dreams, and they cannot be sustained without Lennie. This reveals he has found the impossibility of living the American dream despite hard work and that dreams are no place in a harsh, unloving world. As well, in the end, Slim is the only man that can see that George has gone through the terrible loss of his best friend. This event shows George the real need for friendship in the world, which he needed to distinguish himself from other

The concept of good and evil traces back into the ancient Zoroastrian faith and is one of the most universal themes in literature today. One author whose works embodies the essence of these two forces is John Steinbeck. Steinbeck incorporates the nature of good and evil through several characters in two of his most renowned books novels: East of Eden and Of Mice and Men. Throughout these two stories, Steinbeck uses characters of evil-- Cathy and Curly’s wife, characters of goodness-- Samuel Hamilton and George, and characters who are a mix of the two-- Caleb and Lennie. With the representation of these two opposing forces through characters, Steinbeck displays how human nature is comprised of good and evil.

His love of soft things instantly overwhelms the rest of his thoughts. His mental disability causes him to forget everything George taught him: about not going near her, about how she is trouble. Even though he didn’t want any trouble, her hair reminds him of the rabbits. As soon as Curley’s wife starts to get uncomfortable and asks him to stop, Lennie can’t. Curley’s wife is suddenly in horror, so she yells out for help. Upon hearing this, Lennie instantaneously cups his massive hands around her mouth and nose, knowing what consequences will follow if he gets caught in trouble again. Lennie’s childish actions causes Curley’s wife to start suffocate until he eventually breaks her neck. It takes a few moments for Lennie to react to what he has done an then he remembers whar George told him to do if he got in to trouble, “Lennie if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush” . This is the only thought he can think of at this point, so he sets out for the river.

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

For instance, George told Lennie if anything ever happens to meet him at the brush by the river. This shows George’s nurturing instincts toward Lennie. Although the act alone was tough, when someone loves someone so much they often do things to protect them even though it hurts. Critics say that if George loves Lennie as much as he said, he could have avoided killing him. His love for Lennie is evident after he witnesses Candy’s reaction to his dog’s death and Candy’s words “I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog”(Steinbeck 61). George takes it upon himself to make sure Lennie dies with happy thoughts. He makes sure Lennie leaves the earth with happy thoughts by telling him about their dream house with animals and farmland. “An we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens… an’ down the flat we’ll have a … little piece alfalfa” (Steinbeck 105). People think that George and Lennie could have escaped from the men on the ranch but, even if they did, deep down George knows the American of which they had dreamt would never come true. George knows in his heart he could not let the men on the ranch kill Lennie. He knows this based on Candy’s experience with his dog. George wants to make sure Lennie does not die alone and in

This is what most consider the climax of the novel. From what the novel says about Lennie, he is someone that is not so bright. Countless times George has to tell him to be quiet or not to do something. George is not the most gentle man either, this is shown through how he treats animals. The first incident is when Lennie has a mouse. “That mouse ain’t fresh, Lennie; and besides, you’ve broke it pettin’ it.” (Steinbeck pg. 9) Because of the shear size of Lennie, it does not take much force to apply pain to something. This being said, him even petting a mouse in his pocket kills the poor rodent. The second incident of Lennie being rough around animals is with Slim’s pups. When Slim speaks of having some pups Lennie takes interest fairly quickly. Slim allows Lennie to hold one and eventually take one. Later on in the novel, Lennie is in the barn while the other boys play horseshoes. Little do they know, Lennie had killed that pup Slim gave him. “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 pg. 87) The final incident where Lennie shows some bad behavior is when he kills Curley’s wife. These events all end in tragedy, the untimely death of Lennie. George and the others knew that it was the right thing to do. George decides he should be the one to do it, with Carlson’s gun. This leads the reader to believe karma was involved in Lennie’s death. All of the lives he took eventually made it so he had to be too.

Some people have to face difficult decisions in their life. In fact, some people have to make decisions between life and death. In John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are best friends and migrant workers during the Great Depression. Many characters face discrimination in the story including Lennie, Crooks, and Candy. Lennie is a tall guy who has a mental disability which makes it hard to distinguish between right and wrong. Crooks faces racism everyday, while Candy deals with ageism. On the other hand, Curley is a small man who is very intimidated by men bigger and stronger than him. George acts as Lennie’s caretaker and best friend. But, George realizes he has to make a life-changing decision when Curley threatens to hunt

His mental disability had caused the dream they had created to be ruined. Curley, the man on the ranch who picks on Lennie, currently has a wife that is very isolated and lonely and loves to talk to Lennie since he is a very warm and soft loving man until she had told Lennie to feel her hair. Lennie wouldn't let go and Curley's wife was struggling to get out of Lennie's grasp. "And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck" (Steinbeck 91). This quotation explains how Lennie had ruined the dream because he had killed a woman and would be expelled from working on the ranch, leading to not making any money towards their life dream. Since George knew the dream was over, and that it wouldn't happen, he had to find Lennie. Since Curley had picked on him and had made fun of him, Curley was already after Lennie to kill. George knew this was all happening and knew he had to find Lennie before them to tell him the dream one more time before he was going to die. George had found Lennie on the creek side in the forest and told him about their dream one more time. Then George had Lennie at gunpoint. "His hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 106). This quote from Of Mice and Men explains to the reader that Lennie had ruined their dreams once and for all since he had done terrible things to halt the dream. George had to put Lennie out of his misery since he was already going to be killed. George wanted to share their dream together one more

George and Lennie were best friends for a long time—more like brothers. Lennie isn’t the brightest bulb in the box, so George couldn’t really get mad at him when he accidentally killed Curley’s wife, due to the soft feel of her hair—which he truly adored too much that he killed her by accident. “…’I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know’”(101). The two had planned a future together—a future in their own dream ranch. A ranch where no trouble they’d cross or cross them. Right before George put him out from the back of the head with the Luger, he made Lennie think of their future home—their ranch and the rabbits Lennie would tend. “’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’”(101). This shows you how much George cares for Lennie, no matter how big the crime is. 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 hereby state that I strongly believe George was the right person to kill Lennie, therefore made the right decision to, rather than to let him suffer in the hands of Curley.

He bent the pup’s head up and looked in its face, and he said to it, “ Now maybe George ain’t gonna let me tend no rabbits if he finds out you got killed.” After the quote is written into the book, Lennie continues to talk to himself and the dead puppy. Curley’s wife walks into the barn. The quote is foreshadowing for Lennie kills mice, then his puppy, and it will progress into something even greater. Lennie’s killings will progress seeing the fact of his killing mice, to a puppy, to Curley’s wife.

Sometimes the hardest situations in life force you to make a difficult decision and that is exactly what George has to do. The book “Of Mice and Men” is a story based on 2 men, George and Lennie in the 1930’s. George and Lennie are traveling farm workers. Most travelers don’t travel with others, but Lennie and George have a different situation. Lennie is mentally challenged and a family friend of his, George, promised Lennie’s aunt Clara that he would take care of Lennie and do what is best for him while they are out working. Although some would argue that George did not make the right choice, George’s decision to kill Lennie was right due to the fact that Lennie would have lived a harsh life in prison, Lennie might have suffered in a mental institution and leastly Lennie wouldn’t have had the right medical attention to help with his gunshot wound.

They dream of living on their own on a farm. Lennie says, “An' live off the fatta the lan', an' have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we're gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that George” (Steinbeck, 1937, 14). Lennie’s dream is to tend the rabbits while George tends the rest of the farm, but they do not have the money yet to go buy a place to live. They need to go make some money first, so they find a job at a small farm. The ranch agrees to take the two in only because of Lennie’s huge build. George needs to keep Lennie in line though, so they can quickly earn the money they need, and then leave the ranch. George is afraid that Lennie will mess up their opportunity at the farm because Lennie cannot control his strength or actions. A few days later the dream ends, and George loses all hope. Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife, and Curley wants revenge. George knows that there is no chance that Lennie will make it alive, and he knows his dream is over. George has to make a decision of either killing Lennie painlessly himself, or letting Curley do it however he wants. George makes a tough decision, and decides to kill Lennie himself. Steinbeck says, “And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought back the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head.