Lennie Is Wrong

Is killing someone okay? What if they were going to suffer anyways? In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck understands that there are times when you have to kill the people dear to you. George made the right choice in killing Lennie. Lennie always makes trouble for George, and if Lennie was gone, George would live a happy life. Even so, George was thinking of Lennie’s well-being when he killed Lennie.

Lennie always causes trouble for George. He is always taking care of Lennie, but all Lennie does is cause trouble for George in return and, just because Lennie does not know his own strength, does not mean he can get away with causing problems. Specially not for George who is in charge of him. When George says, “You do bad things and I

He would have been able to live a peaceful life with nobody to cause him trouble. When George says “God a’mighty, If I was alone I could live easy,”(Steinbeck 11) he is speaking about Lennie, and how he always causes unnecessary trouble for him wherever they go. If Lennie was gone, George would not have to escape from one place to another, and he could already have that small ranch that he is always dreaming of. Not to mention he would not have to try so hard to just keep a job. He could be “Livin’ off the fatta the lan’,”(Steinbeck 14) if Lennie was not there to slow him down. Without Lennie, George would be living easy on his ranch and with his many animals. In other words, a life with no

If George did not shoot, Lennie would be suffering anyways. George knew that if he did not shoot Lennie, somebody else would have done it. Lennie could have also ended up in jail to rot. Even worse; the possibility of being hung. George knows that killing Lennie is something he has to do for Lennie’s sake. Just like how slim said, “You hadda George. I swear you hadda.”(Steinbeck 107) Slim knows that what George did was the right thing to do. It is just like Candy and his dog. After Candy’s dog was put down, he regretted letting another person do it instead of himself. It is the same for George. George did not want Lennie to die miserable and instead, wanted to make Lennie’s last moments, happy moments. Everything George has done, was for Lennie’s well-being, and even though it may not seem like it, George really does care about