Killing Lennie In Of Mice And Men

In the novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, George’s decision to kill Lennie at the end of the novel was justified. George and Lennie were best friends, and have been since they were little. They got ran out of Weed(the old farm they used to work at) for harassing a girl and not letting her go. He was just scared from her screaming and kicking. He didn’t mean to harm, or scare her. And then about a year later when Lennie accidentally killed Curley’s wife, the whole farm was after him. George shot him in the temple of his head for a quick and painless death. Lennie had to be killed because he didn’t know his own strength. And he was too dumb to realize what he was doing. Also Curley and Carlson would’ve tortured Lennie and then killed

Even Slim said “ You hadda,George. I swear you hadda.” Meaning if he didn’t Lennie would have messed up and killed somebody or something

Seen throughout the book, Of Mice and Men, the character development of the main character, Lennie, was changing to a more violent and uncontrollable human, and foreshadowed his death. Since Lennie killed Curley’s wife he was a fugitive, and anyone who killed him is just. In the novel of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the character George is justified in killing Lennie because of his actions caused by his disabilities allowing for a better life.

Some decisions you have to make in life are so difficult that we would rather not have to deal with them. George Milton had to decide the fate of his closest friend’s life. Lennie Small, a character from John Steinback’s book Of Mice and Men, is a childlike adult that George looks after. They were best friends until he accidentally killed the wife of their boss’s son. George had to decide whether or not he would kill Lennie mercifully, or let the rest of the worker's murder him. I believe George should have killed Lennie because he has hurt people, can’t control himself, and would have probably ended up in a horrible mental institution anyway.

In what instances is murder acceptable? Though controversial and very case-specific, murder seems like it is decidedly unjustifiable. In nature, the word itself sounds very bitter, as the action is often driven from basic human emotion rather than morals that are taught and generally accepted. However, there are some cases where murder defies its dark and grim nature to become something potentially helpful for the safety of others, like when George killed Lennie at the end of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. George and Lennie arrive at a ranch in Soledad, California as migrant workers in the 1920’s. George and Lennie have been friends since they were young, and George has travelled with Lennie from ranch to ranch, looking after him for a

‘Lennie begged, “Le 's do it now. Le 's get that place now.”’ George concurs, places the Luger on the back of Lennie’s head, and shoots him. One of the most controversial aspects of George Steinbeck 's novel Of Mice and Men, was the death of Lennie by his friend’s hands. Many believe that George murdered him in Lennie’s best interest, yet many others believe that George was being selfish and with his act, removed the burden of Lennie. However, George was completely justified in murdering Lennie as he had no other choice if he wanted what’s best for his friend and the world at large.

What is right and what must be done are two different concepts. Often times, life requires people to do what must be done in order to save themselves, or others, from negative consequences. The characters in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men illustrate how people implement remorseful decisions with astute intentions to help ease the consequences for those they care about.

Within the novel it states, “Tell about what we're gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it” (Steinbeck 15). This quote shows that Lennie is causing distraught to George, leaving him to potentially ruin their future. Also, George took in Lennie when Lennie’s Aunt left him to George, so George trusted Lennie to not cause trouble to his passion. Something distinct to an individual, a personality trait, is shown in Lennie as his behavior results in him making unwilling choices towards others. George shooting Lennie in the back of the head was a good choice, as he was causing to much harm to George, as George has to watch over him.

Firstly, Curley was going to shoot lennie in his stomach. During the story Lennie had been already a target of Curley, he got into one fight with Curley. As Lennie was talking to Curley 's wife she let let him pet her hair. Curley 's wife started to freak out, she ended up killing her. “... and then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck”(Steinbeck 91). Lennie is a tall person, which means Curley already doesn 't like him. Killing his wife gave him a legitimate to kill Lennie, this also shows Lennie doesn 't know his strength making him very dangerous. Curley doesn 't care about his wife he just wants to butcher Lennie. Candy brought everyone to the barn, to show them Curley’s lifeless wife. Curley stood silent for a second then came to

He did not mean to kill her and knew he did a horrible thing that would make George mad at him. George had to think about Lennie’s consequences of this, Curley wanted to lynch Lennie but George did not

Finally, Lennie getting killed in a relatively painless way was the best of all of the options that could’ve happened to him. Slim states “An’s’pose they lock him up an’ strap him down and put him in a cage. That’s no good, George” (pg. 97). Slim is that saying if for some reason Curley didn’t kill Lennie right on the spot, and Lennie went to jail, it would’ve been horrible and Lennie would’ve been treated really badly. Similarly, if Lennie got thrown into a mental hospital it would’ve been torturous because the hospital workers would treat Lennie as if he was insane.

In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck many hard decisions were made. In this novel two Characters George and Lennie get kicked out of their last city and travel to soledad to start their new life. Lennie causes lots of commotion at the ranch which turns people against George and Lennie. At the end of the novel George kills Lennie which raises the question if he fairly weighed all of the options and if his choice was justified or condemned. One reason why this was a justified decision is that George only wanted the best for his best friend. Another reason is the ranchers would’ve killed him no matter what so this way George ensured it was fast and painless. On the other hand, this was condemned because George had been saying how his life would be so much better without Lennie and this allowed him to be able to live that life.

People today with mental disabilities are often criticized for not being “up to par” with everyone else in the world. This is true especially in the 1920’s, in which the novel Of Mice and Men takes place. Take Lennie Small for example, a large and hefty man, who has a mental disability. He, as a character, is blamed for the heinous act of murdering the antagonist’s wife, whose name is never revealed. It is true that Lennie does fracture her neck, but he does so without knowing. For this reason, along with many others, Lennie is not to blame in any case involving his acts of violence in this novel, because of various, indisputable reasons. These include the red dress incident in Weed, crushing Curley’s hand, and the aforementioned murder of Curley’s wife, all of which prove Lennie’s innocence.

George’s decision to kill Lennie was ultimately for his benefit. “The hand shook violently, but his (George) face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 106). The quote which states how Lennie dies also shows that George was nervous and hesitant in killing Lennie. Scarseth explains in the article, “Friendship.

One reason George should not have killed Lennie because everything that happened, was an accident. Lennie did not mean to kill Curley’s wife or the puppy. In the passage, Of mice and men, lennie says “I don’t want ta hurt you” (Steinbeck 91). This piece of evidence from the passage shows that Lennie did not mean to hurt Curley’s wife. Lennie only meant to keep her quiet , not kill her.