Trust In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Decisions shouldn’t be made based on fear and the possibility of what might happen, but sometimes it’s that fear of the possibility that forces the unwanted decisions to be made. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, a man with a mental disability accidently kills Curley’s wife; that man is known as Lennie. Curley immediately sends his men after Lennie when he found what Lennie had done to his wife. Lennie escapes into the bushes and waits for his best friend, George. When George found out what had happened, he sneaks off to help prevent Lennie from possible punishments; he shoots Linnie behind the head. What George did was best for Lennie.

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.

One of the main reasons why George was actually justified for the killing is because Lennie had hurt others in the past and would most likely continue to do so. When they were in Salinas, Lennie got into very similar trouble when he wouldn’t let go of a girl’s dress. When George was asked by Slim what had happened in Weed he explained, “Well that girl rabbits in an’ tells the law she been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie. So we sit in a irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day. An’ at night we scrammed outta there” (42). This shows us that Lennie is trouble, brings it wherever he goes, and this is why they moved to Salinas. When at the ranch Lennie not only kills his puppy, he also breaks Curley’s hand, showing that the trouble that follows Lennie happens quite often. Lennie smiled with this bruised mouth. “I didn't want no trouble," he said. He walked toward the door, but just before he came to it,

To George and Lennie, having a friend with them is really lucky, but their luckiness didn 't last very long. At the end of the book, George shot Lennie at the back of his head. That was one of George’s two choices: let Curley kill Lennie or kill Lennie by himself. Like a father, George thought it’s his responsibility to kill Lennie to payback the life of

He does this to make Lennie realise how lucky he is to have some on that he could rely on. But as Lennie is so vulnerable he gets angry and scares off Crooks. Lennie is a person who likes to touch soft things and is vulnerable to Curley’s wife as well as she knows she can talk to someone who won’t take advantage of him. Lennie being dumb is a harsh reality but as an innocent person causes bad things to happen.

One reason George had to kill Lennie is because his punishment could have been worse. For example, on page 96 curley said he was going to take a shot gun and shoot him in the guts. “I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun. I’ll kill the big ______________ myself. I’ll shoot ‘im in the guts. Come on guys.” (Steinbeck 96). This states that Curley and other fellow ranchers were going to do horrible things to Lennie. Since George didn’t want Lennie to suffer, George took

He knew that it was his responsibility to kill Lennie. He killed Lennie because he was responsible for him. George also killed him because he did not want to feel guilty or bad like Candy. George also didn’t want Lennie to have a painful death by the hands of Curley’s gang. He knew that it would be best for him and Lennie for him to do it himself. He wanted Lennie to feel comfortable and he wanted to tell him how he felt. George says “No, Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want you to know”(Steinbeck 106). George did the right

Even George, who acted as Lennie’s protector in the novel, lost his temper and lashed out at Lennie in certain situations. "Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you!" Lennie’s lip quivered and tears started in his eyes” (9). In this situation, George failed to realize that Lennie’s mental state was not quite stable, and that the best way to deal with him is to be kind and gentle. However, other characters treated Lennie far worse than George did. Curley was persistently trying to pick a fight with Lennie, not realizing that Lennie did not understand the concept of fighting, and even when provoked would fail to fight back. When Lennie kills Curley’s wife, Curley fails to realize that Lennie committed this horrific crime unintentionally, and instead is blinded with rage. “I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot ‘im in the guts” (96). Curley is too bent on revenge to discern that Lennie’s murderous act may have been unintentional, and is therefore not taking Lennie’s mental instability into

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.

Another reason George had no other choice was that Lennie was not fully aware of his mental abilities as he was his physical strengths which often lead to Lennie getting in trouble like his one one incident that happened in weed before they came to the ranch. Also, aside from Curley’s Wife Lennie has killed other things before such as a mouse that he found, and a puppy on the ranch so Lennie could be a danger or potential threat to others on the ranch which would make sense to why George would have simply no other realistic choice but to kill him.

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

Death, the one thing all of humanity will eventually face, could be seen as an end or an entrance. What is your extent of a friendship? How far are you willing to go to help the person you care for? For numerous reasons, a broad amount of people think murder is immoral—especially if it was your own best friend. But sometimes we may have to go to the extreme, as long as we know it was the right thing to do from the heart because that’s how much you know you care. In this story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, I strongly believe that George was right to kill Lennie.

George knew that Lennie would never be truly happy without him. George knew that if he didn’t get to Lennie first, than Lennie would go to jail . He also knew that Lennie couldn’t live without him, because Lennie depends on George to always be there for him. Lennie humiliated Curley when Lennie broke Curley’s hand. Curley said to the guys around him, “‘I’m going in shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand’” (98). George knew that Lennie would be tortured by Curley because Lennie killed Curley's wife and humiliated him when Lennie broke Curley’s hand and won the fight, so George had to kill Lennie to keep him from suffering. Lennie would either in jail and suffer because Lennie doesn't have George, or be killed and tortured by Curley and suffer because Curley won’t kill him fast. George only had one choice and that was to kill

Lennie was doing it on accident because Lennie stated in the book that Lennie wanted her to stop screaming by saying “Oh! Please don’t do none of that? George gonna say that I done a bad thing I won’t get to tend the rabbits”(Steinbeck 91). This shows that Lennie did not want to cause any harm to Curley's wife Lennie just did not want to get in trouble so Lennie tried to keep her quiet. This shows that George should not be punished for killing Lennie because Lennie did it on

Lennie is “jes’ like a kid. There ain’t no more harm in him than a kid neither, except he’s so strong” (Steinbeck 43). His problem is, he does not know of his own strength and does not know how to control it in certain cases, especially when he is frightened. For example, when Curley attacked Lennie, Lennie grabbed onto Curley’s hand and held on. He was so frightened he could not let go, busting every bone in Curley’s hand. Lennie “didn’t wanna hurt him” but he is just too strong (Steinbeck 64). Later in the story, Lennie’s incredible strength causes two deaths, first he kills a puppy and then Curley’s wife. Lennie didn’t mean to kill the puppy, he explained that he “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’ he was dead” (Steinbeck 87). Lennie was worried after he killed the puppy because he thought George wasn’t going to let him tend to the rabbits when they bought the farm. Shortly after Lennie killed the puppy, he killed Curley’s wife. He likes to touch soft things and when she lets him touch her hair, “she jerked her head sideways and Lennie’s fingers closed on her hair and hung on” (Steinbeck 91). She started to scream, which made Lennie panic. He tried to get her to be quiet “and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck” (Steinbeck 91). After he