The Role Of Tough Decisions In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Justice! What does it mean to be justified? Tricking your best friend? Betraying and ending his dream? Gunning him down from behind? Well, in the book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, two men, George and Lennie, shared and worked for the same dream until several problems occurred, when eventually their dream lead to Lennie's demise. It was justified when George shot Lennie because Lennie made multiple poor mistakes, it was the only necessary thing to do. Many people argues it was unjustified to kill Lennie because they could have escaped together, however Lennie is a nuisance and tends to cause trouble

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.

Barbara Sher once said, “‘Isolation is a dream killer’” (qtd. in Wishcraft). In his novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck scrutinizes the effects that alienation can have on society. Many characters experience loneliness throughout the novel. He illustrates the results of individuals becoming isolated from their peers. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays characters alienated from society in order to illustrate the harmful effects of loneliness caused by discrimination.

Picking up the book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck holds a different feel then putting it down. Leaving the reader pondering the true theme of the story. A tale among two friends is the mindset most would assume before reading the book but digging deeper you start to realize the dark truth. The story starts with both Lenny who’s large and unaware of his own true strength and George who’s skinny and quick witted. The tale takes both characters and presents them with challenges. Lennie has a mild mental disability which often leads both of them into a lot of trouble. While George must take care of Lennie and always get him out of trouble. Two characters who travel together would be envisioned to be best pals but what awaits them is a rude awakening, George says “Lennie just come along with me out workin '. Got kinda used to each other after a little while” (Steinbeck 3.12).

Individuals have had to do something they do not want to do at least once in their lives. It could be something small, or something to a bigger extent. In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, many characters struggle with loneliness because the novel is set during the Great Depression when many people found it difficult to make a living. This is one of the reasons why many readers find it odd that Lennie Small and George Milton travel together in these desperate times. George and Lennie look out for each other at every place they go. At the Tyler Ranch, Lennie’s disability causes him to get into trouble, big trouble. George has to make the toughest decision of his life: kill his friend or let him die a painful death. George decided to kill Lennie because he would not be able to allow Lennie to experience misery. George Milton did not kill Lennie Small out of hate, but out of friendship.

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

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.

Michael Jackson once said, “We have to heal our wounded world. The chaos, despair, and senseless destruction we see today are a result of the alienation that people feel from each other and their environment.” Michael Jackson postulates how our hatred for each other--which is derived from competition to survive--makes a hostile environment. Naturalism is a theory that states that an organism’s survival is based on competition, which can eliminate those with detrimental or unappealing traits. The novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck conveys the idea that competition causes a society to become prejudiced, merciless, and alienated.

John Steinbeck’s story, Of Mice and Men, is a book about two friends, George and Lennie, who travel around the country working together. George is a small man who is in charge of taking care of Lennie, his big huge friend who is mentally disabled. This in itself helps to provoke sympathy from people reading the book due to his increased responsibilities, however there are more things that occur to make us sympathize with George. When things happen to Lennie, like when Lennie gets into a fight and depends on George for instruction on how to handle things, is another important example of things that happen in the book, making George’s hardships apparent, which make people have an increasing amount of sympathy towards him. Also, at the end of the book, George is pushed to shoot Lennie because of the bad things he accidentally did, which had extremely bad criminal consequences.

People shouldn’t let their choices be made for them, but instead should make their own decisions and not listen to everything they hear or everything they see. With the guidance of a homeless man, Willie found the key to happiness was to believe in himself and make his own decisions. Willie is talking to a homeless man, and he is asked his names. “‘What’s your name’”... “‘Willie’”... “‘That’s a boy's name, what’s your grown up name’” “‘William’”(Avi 214). This quote means that Willie is getting treated like he is mature and can make his own decisions. He doesn’t need his mom to choose for him. This is important because it makes Willie feel more grown up, and he feels like he no longer needs him mom to choose for him, and he doesn’t need the people on the box to tell him how much to eat.

Analyzing decisions made in Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, shows how characters can make harsh decisions that are extremely impulsive and not justified at all. George has always been spared of the loneliness, but because of his rush into making decisions, he will now live the same way as all the other migrant workers. Lennie has always been a friendly giant, he means no harm and many times he will cause unwanted drama because of his strength. Lennie did not try to kill Curley’s wife, it was simply a result of his strength. Additionally, George will forever lose hope of having the American Dream, something that Lennie has kept burning in both their minds for a long time.

A reader finds many examples of loyalty and obedience impacting eternity in the choices of Wormwood’s patient and Lennie.

In the short novelette of “Of Mice Of Men” both powerlessness and fate play a major role throughout the story. Both of these enhances the mood and feeling of the story. Without these two traits, the story wouldn't be as good as it already is. Both of the characters both show powerlessness, being the underdogs of the story. Fate plays an important role for both Lennie and George. Especially for Lennis with the conflicts that lead into his demise. John Steinbeck does a magnificent job with portraying the roles of fate and powerlessness using both traits to affect the events of this book. The effects of both those traits make the story sway in such a huge way, making the reader feel like they are in the actual story.

When faced with two awful choices, shouldn’t the choice with the preferable outcome be chosen? If both choices lead to pain, the matter of how the pain will be felt has to be chosen. In Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, George Milton is forced to choose between killing his best friend with honor and respect, or allowing his best friend suffer till his dying breath by the hands of a stranger. Lennie died with honor, with the dream in his mind, and in a preferable way compared to the pain Curley would have put him through. George saved Lennie from a horrendous fate and let him exit his life in a way most would choose if faced with death.