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“ When murder is punished with death, fewer criminals can murder” ( Jacoby). This means when a murderer is punished with death he/she can no longer kill anyone else. The fact that some people believe George should be punished for killing Lennie is completely simple minded. I believe George should not be punished because he is sparing lennie a lot of pain by killing Lennie himself, also George knew Lennie would never live a full, happy life, and finally George realized lennie would never get better and their dream would never come true. By killing lennie himself, George is sparing Lennie a lot of pain. In the book Curley states, “ When you see ‘um, don’t give ‘im no chance. Shoot for his guts. That’ll dubble ‘im over” ( 97). With the previous problem of Lennie crushing, and breaking, Curley’s hand, and now Lennie killed Curley’s wife, the only thing Curley wants is to make Lennie suffer. So by George killing Lennie himself, he is sparing Lennie a lot of pain. …show more content…
With Lennie’s recent crime, George knew Lennie would never live a full, happy life.
Slim also knows this because as they are going to get Lennie, Slim states,” ‘an s’pose they lock him up an’ strap him down and put him in a cage. That aint no good , George” ( 97). If they miraculously got lennie back to the farm , without someone killing him, it would be a waste because lennie would instantly go to jail. When George kills Lennie he is also setting Lennie
free. My final reason for George not getting punished is that, George realized after all that has happened Lennie would never get better and their dream would never come true. Often throughout the story George describes the dream Lennie and himself want to live in, but towards Lennie's final moments George states, “ He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would.”(97). George always wanted the best life for Lennie and himself, but with the limitations Lennie had and the loop of actions Lennie put himself in, George knew that this time the best thing for Lennie was to put him out before someone else did. While others may state ,” If they would have just ran away Lennie would still be here and they would be happy.” If George and Lennie ran away they would always be on the run, and that's no way to live in my eyes. So therefore in conclusion, I do believe George should not be punished because he is sparing lennie a lot of pain, also George knew Lennie would never live a happy life, and finally George realized lennie would never get better and their dream would never come true. Throughout the entire story the only thing George wants is , to live the American dream and for Linne to be happy, many people want this dream and many rarely get this close. Anyone can run but a life of running isn't worth living. Put yourself on my side for a second, if your gonna die what would you rather happen, be killed quick and painless by a loved one, or suffer from a random guy you just met?
One of the reasons why George should have killed Lennie is to keep him out of an institution. It is clearly not on the bright side for Lennie to be put in an institution. This is backed by Slim saying “…An’ s’pose they lock him up an’ strap him down and put him in a cage. That ain’t no good, George.”(pg. 97) Lennie would obviously be miserable without George anyway, his only kind friend. Without George, Lennie wouldn’t know a lot of things he does now, or what to do in situations. Lennie has one of the rare mentalities that always needs someone by their side. These are all good reasons that it would be a good thing for George to put Lennie away rather than in an institution.
George shoots Lennie because he sees what the other people on the ranch would do to Lennie. After asking Curley if he could not shoot Lennie, Curley tells George that, "'I’m gonna shoot the guts outa that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im'" (50). This shows that the others on the ranch weren't going to consider that Lennie was disabled, and Curley would try to make his death very painful. This gives George a motivation to kill Lennie: so he could make his death as painless as possible. This makes the reader have sympathy towards George. Additionally, the result of George killed Lennie, who would be the closest person to George to die at his hands, leaves George devastated that he had to do something like that to his best friend. Even though it is the best option and if I were in that scenario, the thing I would do, it understandably still makes his feel heart-broken. Ultimately, the whole book has made me feel sympathy towards George, but the ending makes me feel so much
George felt though an extremely difficult choice, killing Lennie himself was the right decision. Curley was gonna get his revenge and George did not want that because he did not want Lennie to die painfully. “‘I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot him in the guts.’”(Steinbeck 96). When Lennie killed Curley’s wife, Curley wanted to give him the most painful death. Curley wanted to shoot Lennie in the stomach which wouldn’t kill you at first, Instead you would bleed out slowly and painfully. George didn’t want Lennie to suffer so he knew he had to get to Lennie before Curley did and kill Lennie the fastest and least painful death he could which he did. Lennie would be arrested and thrown in jail for
Lennie was shot by a friend who cared about him. There was no hatred between them making the death non-revengeful. It was just as if Lennie was hooked up to a machine that kept him alive and George pulled the plug. He was bound to be shot anyways so it was better that George "pulled the plug" instead of Curley. Curley would have shot Lennie in the guts to have Lennie suffer a more painful and slow death. It shows that George really cared for Lennie.
After Lennie makes his mistake of killing Curley's wife the other characters want to brutally kill him being led by Curley but George who realises that this is a cruel way for Lennie to die and that he can’t save Lennie he decides that Lennie must have a merciful death. The reader infers when Curley says “ ‘I know who done it,[...][It was lennie].I know he done it. [...] I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun[...]I’ll shoot him in the guts’ ” ( 96). In this quote we understand that Curley plans on killing Lennie but in a more painful way than Lennie deserves. Thus George realizes that Lennie is about to be killed in a horrific way so he intervenes and kills Lennie in a peaceful way. This shows that mercy killing is to be done over the horrific way that Curley wants to take out Lenie. Because Lennie would have a much worse death than needed and Lennie could have put up a fight, George completes a mercy killing as the safest
George kills Lennie because he did not want to witness Lennie being hurt or killed carelessly, run off by in his own and not being able to take care for himself, and Lennie’s mental disorder will never change how Lennie reacts to certain situations. Many believe taking the life of another without consent is unacceptable but in certain situations like George’s, he has to decide due to Lennie’s mental disorder that was leading him into unpleasant situations. George is an admirable character who choose to protect and do justice to his distressed friend,
Lennie dreams of living on a wide open ranch with George where he tends to the fluffy little rabbits he loves so much. Nevertheless, Lennie sadly never reaches his ultimate goal as his flaw finally becomes his fatal flaw. Lennie kills Curley 's wife by shaking her so hard that her neck breaks. He does not kill her on purpose but Lennie does not know his own strength. He is only shaking her like that because he wants her to stop yelling.
In fact, near the ending of the story, he unintentionally snapped Curley’s wife’s neck trying to quiet her (91). Failing to recognize his own strength, Lennie accidentally took her life, proving that he was perilous. By shooting Lennie, George prevented Lennie from accidentally injuring or killing anyone ever again. His verdict was correct in view of the fact that he sacrificed his friend’s life with the intention to protect the lives of others. Furthermore, George’s decision protected Lennie. As a punishment for his deeds, The workers wanted Lennie executed. George realized this and told candy, “Curley’s gon’ta wanta get ‘i'm lynched. Curley’ll get ‘im killed,” (94). In consequence of killing Curley’s wife, Lennie unknowingly put himself in harm's way. Curley’s motive for wanting to kill Lennie was spite and revenge. So, instead of allowing Lennie to be murdered alone and afraid, George took matters into his own hands and made sure his friend died knowing he was cared for and full of hope. Through it's ironic, George’s choice protected Lennie from the malice of others, thus keeping him unafraid and unharmed. However, others may believe
... to his best friend, than die at the hands of a cruel stranger. To put it in another way, Lennie was going to die no matter what, he could be happy for his last few seconds in life, or he could be petrified, and Curley was the one that put George in charge of this harsh decision.
Following the beginning, Lennie is seen as a bit on the softer side contrary to George who was a heavy-tempered individual. We later find out that Lennie has a mental illness implied by language, communication and actions towards George and others. Demonstration of his illness was implied by: "I’d pet ‘em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead—because they was so little. I wish’t we’d get the rabbits pretty soon, George. They ain’t so little." (Steinbeck 4). Lennie’s childish personality and mistakes in the novel somewhat foreshadowed future events. George told Slim about the incident in Weed: “Well he seen this girl in a red dress...he just wants to touch everything he likes” (Steinbeck 41). George harshly remarked that his mistakes could get him in serious trouble, which was a vital, empowering statement within the novel that hinted at a dark
George did not ask Lennie if he wanted to be killed. Mercy killings are usually a patient requesting the action, so it’s usually not done without consent like the situation in this book. Also, there were many other options for Lennie like him living in the mountains as he mentions. “‘George gonna wish he was alone an’ not have me botherin’ him.’ He turned his head and looked at the bright mountaintops. ‘I can go right off there an' find a cave,’ he said. And he continued sadly, '--an' never have no ketchup--but I won't care. If George don't want me...I'll go away. I'll go away'"(Steinbeck 100). The evidence proves that there were other options than killing Lennie. He could have lived in the mountains with or without George. They could have hidden in the brush somewhere far away from Curley, and none of these actions would’ve been necessary.
‘Lennie never done it in meanness,’ he said. ‘ All the time he done bad things, but he never done one of ‘em mean.’ “ page 95. George knows that Lennie would “never done it in meanness.” He sees the good in Lennie but is not able to help Lennie because he is peer pressured into being the one to kill his best friend. George has stood by Lennie’s side though all the bad he has done in the past yet when he let others get into his head, he ends up killing Lennie. Earlier in the book, when Slim and George are talking, Lennie not being mean comes up. Slim said, “ ‘ Didn’t hurt the girl none, huh?’ he finally asked. ‘Hell, no. He just scared her. I’d be scared too if he grabbed me. But he never hurt her…’ ‘He ain’t mean,’ said Slim. ‘I can tell a mean guy a mile off.’ ” page 44. Even Slim can see that “[Lennie] ain’t mean” and that he would never want to hurt anyone. He understands when George explains that Lennie just scared the girl, nothing else, but she lied to the law. Not only does George know that Lennie is a good guy but so does Slim. Slim claims he “can tell a mean guy a mile off” which proves that if Lennie really was a mean guy, then Slim would not be saying otherwise.
In the end Lennie caused a big conflict by killing Curley's wife. This lead George to kill Lennie for his own good. If George wouldn’t of killed Lennie, Curley would have killed him in a more brutal way by making him suffer. George and Lennie could have ran away but Curley wasn’t going to give up until he found them. If they would have ran away they both would have been lynched. Killing Lennie was a big decision George had to make, but it was the best for Lennie. Even when Lennie died George managed to make him happy by telling him the story of their dream farm and their plans for it. George was a good friend so he did what a good friend would do in that
Should George have shot his friend Lennie? George probably did the right thing by shooting Lennie. How can we condemn George for sparing his friend Lennie the pain and fear of being killed by someone else? He did something society sees as wrong, but he did it for a good reason. Lennie didn’t deserve to die, but there was no other alternative. Curley wanted to kill Lennie, and since George cared for Lennie, he figured the best thing would be for him to put Lennie out of his misery.
After Lennie gets into the debacle with Curley’s wife, he runs to the oasis described at the beginning of the book. George fears the men will tear Lennie apart and murder him. He also knew he would be institutionalized, or “caged” if he survived the attack. He had the moral clarity that let him see that killing Lennie was the best thing for him. When George kills Lennie, it’s a kind of mercy killing.