George killing Lennie is justified. Lennie was either gonna get killed by the other men or George. The other men were only doing it because they hated Lennie, George would have done it for the sake of Lennie’s safety and mental state. George would have felt guilty if he did not handle it himself. One reason George was justified in killing Lennie was that George had realized Lennie would never get better and their dream would never come true. “-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 78). George wanted a better life someday for himself and for Lennie, but deep down he knew Lennie’s limitations and accepted that the dream was never meant to be. Another reason why the fact George was justified was that …show more content…
That George got rid of the burden that Lennie was to him. On the other hand, George also knows what Lennie is capable of and knows what Lennie has done in the past. For example, the thing that happened in weed, “So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do” (Steinbeck 41). Lennie panics too much and just freaks people out, so George put Lennie out of his confusion. In the end, George murdering his friend was well justified. Although, Lennie’s actions probably weren’t his fault, with him not being able to learn from his actions and remember that his own strength is too much for him that he became a threat. George, pained to do it, knew what was best for Lennie and other people/animals, and had to end his life. Overall, even though George had to make some pretty drastic decisions and someone’s life got taken away, it was all for the best and nothing bad will no longer happen and who knows, maybe George will get to live his
In this essay I will be explaining why George was justified in shooting Lennie. You will read 3 reasons why I believe he is justified such as: Lennie wouldn’t have to face jail time, it would put Lennie out of his misery, and premeditation. To start off my essay I will begin with the reason of him not having to face jail time. Lennie wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box if you know what I mean so he didn’t really understand a lot.
If you think about when a dog is in pain or extremely sick to the point where you cannot make them feel better, you put them down to take that pain go away. George was taking away Lennie’s pain, his pain may not have been physical but mentally it was there, and it was what made him hurt so many people even if he did not mean to. If Lennie was not euthanized by George, he may have gotten in a lot of trouble with Curly. Lennie does not understand what he did wrong and may have gotten beaten to death which would have been long and extremely painful. Instead, George took his life fast so that he did not have to suffer.
In the book Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, I believe that George did make the right decision to shoot Lennie, because of the relationship that they had. Previously learning from the experience Candy had when he let someone else shoot his dog, George knew that shooting Lennie was his job to do. In chapter three Candy says "I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn 't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog." , (John Steinbeck, 1973, p.58), this really impacted Georges decision on giving someone else the ability to shoot him.
It was Georges responsibility to take care of Lennie. Aunt Clara asked George to watch after Lennie and he did for awhile but when Lennie needed him the most, he was not there for him. Why would anyone want to kill their best
Lennie with his simple mind, always gets into trouble. This time, Lennie gets himself in a bind once again, that George can’t save him from. George decision to kill Lennie in the story, was due to his responsibility, sympathy, and love for Lennie. George’s decision to kill Lennie was out of sympathy for him.
George made the right decision in killing Lennie, although it was likely the hardest thing he has ever had to do, he realized that Lennie cannot take care of himself and will continue killing innocent animals/people if left alone, George himself is unfit to care for Lennie, he is not able to supervise him all the time and give him the help he needs. If Lennie was to be set free and do as he said “Well, I could. I could go off in the hills there. Some place I’d find a cave.”
George was a good worker, but Lennie was an amazing worker with a tenacious work ethic and stamina. Lennie had incredible strength, but sometimes he did not understand just how massive he was. Many times throughout the book Lennie is caught hurting people or killing animals on accident. The biggest reason Lennie should not have been killed was because he was a major asset in the working force. That means he could have helped continue to bring in money towards the farm they dreamed about operating someday.
Lennie’s pure strength and actions led his best friend George to kill him, so that he doesn’t get in any more trouble. George killing Lennie was a justified murder because Lennie was too dangerous, Lennie would have been killed anyways, and he only would slow George down and drag him into trouble. Lennie was way too dangerous to be kept alive, because he has no comprehension of his true strength. He was just too mentally challenged to even understand his sheer power.
Some people might think in the opposite side that George should not killed Lennie because Lennie did not mean to anything. He has done it without knowing how strong of himself. Lennie made many troubles this might be because of his disability, but this is the reason that he deserves to live. He has done many thing that make George get into trouble and It is better if Lennie has to die because of George shoot him not the other. "All the time he coulda had such a good time if it was not for you” (Steinbeck).
George chose for him because he wasn’t mentally capable of choosing for himself. He also didn’t want to see him die in such a horrible, cruel, suffering
He was a man that could have lived on to pursue he dreams, he could tend to the rabbits. George took his life instead. Lennie was not in pain, and he could have continued a life with George. We never know what could have happened, because George shot him. All in all, Lennie’s death was not a mercy killing, it was a murder because Lennie was never in terrible pain because of his disability, he was not apart of a bad life, and he could have lived on to do other
Killing his best friend was justified though, for one George and Lennie were always on the move because Lennie always messed up, two, in the end when Lennie messed up again, Curly was going to make him suffer for killing his wife and breaking his hand. Third, George had to kill Lennie because lennie would have done it again. Throughout the book, George mentions that he is tired of moving around from place to place. Every time they settle down Lennie goes and messes everything up.
George killing Lennie and if it was justified or condemned is a very controversial discussion and could go either way. So think about these factors and ask yourself the question if what George did was justified or
George’s actions towards Lennie are seemingly cruel; therefore, it is understandable why one would be unwilling to condone his actions. However, despite the immutable cruelty of taking someone’s life, George does this to Lennie out of love and care for him. This is demonstrated by George’s understanding of the lack of alternate options. When Steinbeck’s character, Slim, says to George, “S’pose they lock him up an’ strap him down and put him in a cage” (97), to George, Steinbeck is assuring the reader that George is aware of every other possible outcome of the situation.
On the other hand you can analyze the actions that George did and you can say that they were not very human decisions. George killed his best friend because Lennie killed a person and was going to get into more problems but nevertheless can not say that this is justified. George always told Lennie all the plans they had together, like buying a ranch, he was always keeping it with the expectation that they were going to stay together forever. This quote is an example of how Lennie and George looked happy in the future. "O.K. Someday- we 're gonna get the jack together and we 're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an ' a cow and some pigs..." (Steinbeck 7).