Lennies Death In Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

To what extent is responsible for Lennie’s death in Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”

The death of Lennie in section 6 is regrettable, yet inevitable in this hostile environment the men find themselves in. Many of the characters have influence over Lennie’s downfall, however, George, Curley’s wife and Lennie himself are the most culpable characters for his unfortunate death.

George knows that Lennie’s disability makes him unsuitable for life on the ranch, yet he still believes in Lennie that he will be able to cope with it and encourages him to do so. When the pair first meet the boss, George tells him that Lennie is a “god damn good worker”, showing that Lennie is a physically strong character who has the ability to be a ranch hand on the ranch.

At the beginning of section 5, when Curley’s wife talks to Lennie, she recognizes that Lennie does not think like a normal person. She demands “what makes you so nuts about rabbits” which implies that she understands how peculiar Lennie’s behaviour and how he thinks from his childish obsession with rabbits. Despite knowing Lennie’s disparate demeanor, she still tries to attract him by dressing up with “red ostrich feathers”. This visual and tactile imagery represents softness allures Lennie as he likes soft and furry objects, however Lennie is unable to control his strength and desires which causes him to likely but unintentionally destroy everything he loves, consuming himself too. The situation further worsen when Curley’s wife “took Lennie’s hand and put it on her head”. Now that she finally has Lennie’s awareness and the spotlight she always longed for, she cannot control herself and tries to hold onto Lennie’s attention, overlooking the danger of Lennie’s unrestrained strength. When the two character’s fatal flaw come together, disaster will happen and in this case Curley’s wife’s attention seeking and Lennie’s strong physique cause her death that leads to Lennie’s deplorable