Justice In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

“In a matter of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.” This quote by Albert Einstein relates to Of Mice & Men because it defines what justice really is. The novella Of Mice & Men, by John Steinbeck, has a broad theme of justice or injustice depending on how you perceive it. George killing Lennie was warranted because Lennie was incapable of caring for himself, Curley probably would’ve killed Lennie, and Lennie would’ve been locked up or institutionalized if he was caught.

Lennie was incompetent as far as taking care of himself, therefore his death was justified. Lennie had trouble remembering things, “...tried and tried [to remember}... but it didn’t do no good.” What if Lennie forgets to pay his rent or forgets to buy food. Lennie is simply incapable of handling himself. “I done another bad thing. It don’t make no difference”, Lennie had just accidentally killed a woman and refers to it as just a “bad thing”. Lennie’s mind works like a child’s and almost everything he does confirms that. Lennie doesn’t have the capacity to even fully understand what he’s done. None of his behaviors are his fault, but they do exhibit his inability to care for himself.

If found by Curley, he

Lennie’s had some run-ins with the law previously, “The guys in Weed started a party out to lynch Lennie.” (Steinbeck 42) He probably had other instances where George had to get him out of trouble. The police didn’t understand at that time why Lennie was slower, so without George explaining, Lennie would be in tribulation. People just assume Lennie is crazy, “It’s just funny a cuckoo like him and a smart guy like you traveling together.” (Steinbeck 39) People during that time period didn’t have the knowledge we have now, so they assumed Lennie was a “cuckoo”. The police would’ve charged Lennie with murder or