Selfishness vs. Selflessness
The words selfish and selfless are two completely different words with two completely different meanings, yet they get confused quite often. In “Of Mice and Men,” some readers may envision the character George as selfish or harsh towards Lennie, however, Steinbeck portrays George as selfless. George and Lennie find themselves in penurious situations very often. This is burdensome for George considering Lennie’s mental disability, and it should be expected that George will become infuriated with him at times. It is evident that George’s actions and words towards Lennie are selfless or caring represented by Lennie’s mental disability, his troublesome behavior, the life George could have without him, and why George kills him.
It seems like George and Lennie are always on the run. George and Lennie state, “An’ you ain’t gonna do no bad
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George describes, “ An’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens . . . an’ down the flat we’ll have a . . . little piece alfalfa---” (Steinbeck 105). Even in his last moments, George told Lennie the description of the farm and the rabbits for his delectation. This one aspiration brought Lennie so much happiness and George was having a rough time telling it one last time because he knew what he was about to do. The story states, “The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied” (Steinbeck 106). George’s hand is shaking because it is hurting him to do this but he knows it is for Lennie’s own good. George does not shoot Lennie out of selfishness, he shoots Lennie because he does not want him to suffer. If he lets Curley kill Lennie, Curley would shoot Lennie’s stomach and he would suffer for a while before he dies. George knows his life will not be the same and he will be despondent for a long time, but, he does it for the benefit of
When Curley became aware of what occurred, he grew so angry and threatened Lennie’s life. “‘I’m gonna shoot the guts outa that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im.’” (Steinbeck) George knew it had to be him to kill Lennie rather than Curley.
Once Curley finds out about his wife's death he angerly promises the guys that he's going to kill Lennie, saying, "I'm gonna get him. I'm going for my shotgun. I'll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I'll shoot 'im in the guts"(Steinbeck 96). If George wouldn't have stepped in, Curley was going to make sure Lennie died as painfully as possible for the death of his wife.
(Steinbeck 61). When George finds out that Lennie killed Curley’s wife he then knew this would only end in either them running away again, finding a new job and Lennie makes another mistake, or Lennie dying. George then wants to be the one to kill Lennie, he does not want to regret not doing it. When George kills Lennie he does it as a way to say sorry and save
Curley’s hatred toward Lennie was led not only because Lennie killed his wife, but because Lennie humiliated him by breaking his hand. George also does the right thing by killing Lennie because he stopped him from causing more deaths or harming others
George did the right thing to kill Lennie himself, so he would not be any more harm to other people, and so George would finally have the life he needs. Also Lennie cannot learn from his mistakes, so he is going to keep making them. To begin, Lennie obviously has mental problems and does not know what he is doing half the time. He has no business being around that
George would protect Lennie at all costs even from himself. After Lennie kills a young woman, George decides it is better for Lennie to be dead rather than to be tortured and kept in a cell or a mental asylum. The decision of killing Lennie hit George like a train, but he knew it was something that was in Lennie’s own good. Knowing he could have an easier life without Lennie, George still kept him around because he needed George and George needed Lennie. George tells Slim “Course Lennie’s a God damn nuisance most of the time, but you get used to goin’ around with a guy an’ you can’t get rid of him.”
George’s Selflessness Act of Killing Lennie Although, it is true that Lennie is a great burden for George, George’s motives for killing Lennie are primarily selfless because he did not want Lennie to be killed by any other farmworker other than himself and that he did not want Lennie to harm anyone else. An example that shows his act is selfish is during a conversation between George and Lennie, George tells Lennie why he i such a burden in his life by furiously exclaiming, “ I got you! You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I got…
Every time any character in the story gets attached or close to one another, something bad happens between the relationship and goes wrong. George is a very practical man. He gets the relationship between him and Lennie in a very practical way rather than being emotional. He can even kill another person just for his
Examine how far George and Lennie are loyal to each other throughout 'Of mice and men' In the novella 'Of Mice and Men', by the well-known author, John Steinbeck, the reader is introduced to a varied range of different characters on the ranch; within this realm loyalty between George and Lennie plays a significant role in the lonely itinerant lifestyle. The characters in this short novel act in a world of their own, having no connections to any other type of society; through this Steinbeck can strongly depict the theme of loyalty and friendship in dire situations during this period of time. During the 1930's, at the ranch, a predominant role of intelligent white-males is seen to retain power over lesser groups of people, of which Lennie is portrayed to be this part as he is mentally disabled. Despite this George and Lennie strike up a friendship of loyalty: showing firm and constant support. ' Guys like us got no fambly...they ain't got nobody in the worl' that gives a hoot in hell about 'em' sums up the reason why their loyalty and companionship is so vital and special to each other.
Of george And Lennie Everyone in the world, all the time, people experience unfairness in life, rather than experiencing fairness or even equality for that matter. To some of us, life may even seem more unfair than it is completely fair. The sacrifices you make in your life will determine your future. Of Mice and Men shows how making a sacrifice may be difficult, but it will typically pay off in the long run. We can see in Of Mice and Men several examples of sacrifices that are made for the well being of someone.
Curley used this as an excuse to kill Lennie. He really wanted to kill Lennie because he destroyed his hand though. Curley said he was going to blow Lennie's guts out and make him suffer and be in pain. George prevented this by shooting Lennie in the back of the head and ending him quickly. George killed lennie because if he didn’t, Curley would have made him suffer.
Lennie is huge, sweet, caring, unsmart guy in the book. Steinbeck was successful at making Lennie sympathetic because he cares about everything and will always be there for George but other characters keep sizing up to him and he doesn’t know how to fight. Lennie is clueless, kind, but forgets things easily. Others say that Lennie is useless at his job and should stay with George at all times. Lennie likes to make trouble without even knowing what he is doing.
In addition, the kindness and compassion George shows to Lennie must end with Lennie’s
In the novella Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck incorporates many thematic ideas into his text. He includes the ideas of dreams and reality, the nature of home, and he difference of right and wrong. He develops these ideas throughout the story. The first theme incorporated is the idea if dreams versus reality. Lennie and George have a plan.
George has very different morals based on protecting Lennie, his travel companion and friend. His ultimate goal of helping Lennie leads to him ending Lennie’s life in order to prevent his suffering at the hands of Curley. The concept that morality takes precedence over the law in certain cases is manifested through the decision of Curley to hunt Lennie down and the decision of George to end Lennie’s life in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Curley’s decision to hunt Lennie down for the murder of his wife is one circumstance in which a character’s morals are deemed more important than the laws that govern society.