How Is George Justified In Of Mice And Men

‘ “ Well, you ain’t bein’ kind to him keepin’ him alive,’ said Carlson” (Steinbeck 45). In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, even the wise Slim agreed that Carlson’s decision to shoot Candy’s dog outweighed the alternative of selfishly allowing the dog to continue suffering. If ending the suffering of an old, crippled dog is more humane than allowing the dog to suffer, then one can also see how George’s decision to kill Lennie is also ethical. More specifically, if George did not decide to take Lennie’s life quickly and peacefully like he did, he knew the other men on the ranch planned to torture Lennie to death.

One reason George was justified in his decision lies in the fact that Lennie simply could not learn from his mistakes, dooming

Additionally, in chapter four, Crooks warns Lennie that if George doesn’t come back for him ‘“ Want me to tell you what’ll happen? They’ll put you in the booby hatch. They'll tie you up with a collar like a dog”’ (72). In short, without George’s help, society would lock Lennie up, in jail or a mental institution, and treat him like an animal. In chapter six, Slim explains to George what would happen to Lennie if he got away from Curley and the authorities caught him instead: ‘“ If we could keep Curley in we might. But Curley’s gonna want to shoot em’. Curley’s still mad about his hand. An’ s’pose they lock him up an’ strap him in a cage. That ain’t no good, George’” (96). Again, here we learnt that whether in a mental institution or in a jail, society during the Depression era would treat Lennie poorly, as if he were an animal. While George many have had more options today, in the 1930’s, during the setting of the book, George would have to determine whether to kill Lennie himself, the peaceful way, or to allow Curley to get to him first, the torturous