Of Mice And Men Is George A Compassionate Character

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“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is a novel about two men named George and Lennie, migrant ranch workers with a dream. In the book, all characters show different characteristics throughout the story. There is one particular character, George, who is debatably compassionate. I believe that George is a compassionate character as a result of him showing sympathy for other characters throughout the novel. He cares for Lennie and wants their dream to become a reality. In the middle of the story, almost everyone at the farm went to the city to hang out, but the outsiders were left behind. Lennie and Crooks were some of those outsiders. Lennie went to go talk to Crooks being that he was lonely. During their conversation, Crooks said, This shows …show more content…

There were two options for George at that point for, either to let Curley find, torture and kill Lennie or give Lennie a peaceful death. Obviously George chose to kill Lennie in a more peaceful way. After George killed Lennie, Slim told him,“You hadda, George. I swear you hadda.” Slim agreed with George’s choice, showing that George made the right decision. This is just like when Candy was forced to kill his dog, he had a great deal of compassion for the dog, but he knew it would be more peaceful if it was shot rather than to live but suffer. George showed that he cares about Lennie's dignity. Others might say that George is not a compassionate character. At the end of the novel, George killed Lennie because he thought it was the best for him. George knew that being shot is better than being tortured and then eventually dying, but he could have done things differently. He could have tried to escape with Lennie just like they did before or at least not give up and just kill him. Some might look at George and see failure in that he didn't keep Lennie safe long enough and he didn't meet their lifelong goal. This could show that George is a cold hearted

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