In “My Sister’s Keeper,” Jodi Picoult wrote, “The answer is that there is no good answer. We fumble through and make decisions that allow us to sleep at night--because morals are more important than ethics, and love is more important than law.” By the end of the book, George was faced with the tough decision to end Lennie’s life or not. Some may believe that his choice was inconsiderate and selfish, and is guilty because of it, but that is a shallow course of thought. Confronted with his situation, George did what he considered best for Lennie and cannot be blamed for that. After much consideration and thought, he saved him from the horrors he would have had to face and freed him of all his troubles. There were many tragic consequences waiting if Lennie was kept alive. The most immediate is that he may be killed by the farm workers. Curley said, “I’m going for my shotgun. I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot ‘im in the guts” (Steinbeck, 95). If Lennie was found, he most likely would have been murdered out of rage. A slow, painful death would have ensued …show more content…
rather than the calm, sweet death that George gave him. Another, worse outcome is that he may have been sent to an asylum. There, he would have been chained up and tortured for the rest of his life without getting any real help. The only other option for George and Lennie would be to run away again. However, they have tried this before with little luck and it most likely would repeat itself. George explained, “The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie. So we sit in a irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day” (Steinbeck 42). They would simply get in more trouble and go back to square one and that is no way to live. Lennie is definitely saved from a very painful life. Although Lennie never meant to harm anyone on purpose, because he cannot control himself, others around him are in jeopardy. George was able to see that after all his time with him, he would not get better. George said, “... and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ’cause that’s the only thing he can think to do” (Steinbeck 41). This is continually demonstrated throughout the book. Alongside with frightening the girl in Weed, he killed mice, hit a puppy, and snapped Curley’s wife’s neck. While it is true that Lennie does not have bad intentions, it is simply an unfortunate case that cannot keep going on. The person most affected by Lennie’s death was George himself.
They have lived together since very early in their lives and he has always taken care of him no matter what. Steinbeck wrote, “George shook himself. He said woodenly, ‘If I was alone I could live so easy.” His voice was monotonous, had no emphasis” (103). When George is mean to Lennie and talks of life without him, it really has no meaning. They stayed together even after they got in trouble and he always watched over him as best as he could. Shooting him was not just an easy way of getting out of taking care of him. To demonstrate this, Steinbeck wrote, “George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again” (105). He did not want to take his life, but he knew he had to and that it was the responsible thing to do. Killing Lennie was the most difficult decision George has ever had to make in his
life. It is possible to make the argument that due to Lennie’s mental disability, he does not know what he is doing and therefore it is unjust to kill him for his actions. Although it is true that he does not have ill intent, the murder cannot simply be dismissed. If left alone, it would only happen again. There is no way for him to get the help he needs at the time so others would be put at risk for his sake. Lennie has to take responsibility for his actions and cannot go around and do whatever he wants. There is no perfect answer to the question whether George should have killed Lennie or not. However, he did make the decision with the most consideration for Lennie instead of himself and that does not make him guilty. He cared profoundly for him and if he had chosen otherwise, he would have lived a life only of pain and suffering. With a deeper glimpse into the factors of his choice, his innocence is apparent. To George, taking his life was the only real choice he had in spite of his own wishes.
Another reason George should put Lennie to rest is to keep Curley from being cruel to him. Lennie would have been very
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
“I killed my best friend,” was the exact thought that hovered in George as he watched his best friend, Lennie, recumbent, cold, and still, on the grass by the riverbanks. In the book of Mice and Men, George faced the dilemma of knowing that he had killed the one he loved the most. Though it was no accident, it was for the good of Lennie. If Lennie had been allowed to live, he would only face the worst of what life has to offer. So instead of having to watch his best friend in pain, George took the initiative to end all of the cruelty of the world and send Lennie to a better place. Therefore, George was justified in killing Lennie.
That ain’t no good, George.’”(Steinbeck 97). Because Lennie killed Curley’s wife, he committed a felony. George wanted Lennie to be thrown in jail at first. He wanted Lennie to be arrested because he thought it was the best thing for Lennie but then Slim told him it would not be good for Lennie. It would be bad for Lennie because Lennie would not understand his rights because he’s mentally challenged and locking him up in a cage would just hurt Lennie. George then realized he needed to kill Lennie so nobody would mistreat him. George is protecting others from Lennie.”’Lennie-if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before…’”(Steinbeck 15). George has been with Lennie for many years and he knows how Lennie will never learn and he will keep committing bad stuff. George knew something was going to happen at the ranch because Lennie has always done something wrong. George tried to prevent something from going wrong but he couldn’t. As a result he had to put down Lennie so he would not hurt anyone ever again. George felt the hard choice of killing Lennie was the right decision for George because Curley wanted to get his revenge, Lennie would be mistreated in prison and he was
I chose this word because the tone of the first chapter seems rather dark. We hear stories of the hopes with which the Puritans arrived in the new world; however, these hopes quickly turned dark because the Purtains found that the first buildings they needed to create were a prison, which alludes to the sins they committed; and a cemetery, which contradicts the new life they hoped to create for themselves.
George realizes in the end of the book Lennie has done too much harm and needs to essentially go away. George then shoots Lennie in the back of the head because Lennie couldn't live on his own if he were to run away from Curly and the rest of the gang of workers coming after him. George did the right thing
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,
Consistently throughout the story George and Lennie were there for each other; in fact towards the very beginning Lennie and George discussed how they were better off than most guys because they had each other (14). When George killed Lennie a part of him died too, George knew murdering Lennie would hurt him mentally and emotionally. However he did it because he wanted what was best for his friend no matter the cost. His actions were altruistic and that made his decision the more favorable one. Another instance when George was selfless was when he gave up his dream. Throughout the story George and Lennie dreamed of and worked towards owning their own piece of land together. However, after discovering Curley’s wife dead, George returned to reality and informed Candy that they would, “never do her” (94). After losing his friend George understood the impossibility of achieving the American Dream. Beforehand George knew he would not want to live out his dream without Lennie, so by protecting Lennie and giving up on his own dream he put Lennie above himself. Conversely, someone may believe that George's actions were selfish and that he benefits himself by killing Lennie. After George comes after Lennie, the dim-witted man asks if George was going to yell at him. Reluctantly George told him “If I was alone, I could live so easy,” (103). Although George said
... 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.
Lennie’s unintentional mistakes resulted in the sudden end for him, but was done in the best way possible. As Lennie would’ve been subjected to a life of loss, running and suffering, George correctly made the decision in euthanizing him. While contemplating whether or not to euthanize him, George knew he very well could but it wasn’t the easiest decision to make on his part. If George wouldn’t of made the decision he did, Lennie would’ve had to run for the rest of his life with no account of what happened or what to do due to his mental illness. He would’ve been seen as a criminal and hunted down like animal which is inhumane and cruel. Although his mishaps weren’t meant to be as extreme as they were, the consequences were foreshadowed throughout
In conclusion, George killing Lennie was a murder because of lack of consent and Lennie was not suffering physically. In this society, people are scared of the unknown, and that is how they lived. No one realized what they were doing was wrong. But Lennie was just like everyone else, only different because of a small, mental setback. The characters did not seem to realize that Lennie believed in a future ahead of him, and that he had hopes and dreams just like them. Life is incredibly short, and no one should deserve
It is safe to say that the box next to the “boring, monotone, never-ending lecture” has been checked off more than once. Without the use of rhetorical strategies, the world would be left with nothing but boring, uniform literature. This would leave readers feeling the same way one does after a bad lecture. Rhetorical devices not only open one’s imagination but also allows a reader to dig deep into a piece and come out with a better understanding of the author’s intentions. Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Wife’s Story” is about a family that is going through a tough spot. However, though diction, imagery, pathos, and foreshadowing Guin reveals a deep truth about this family that the reader does not see coming.
Curley and the others were looking for Lennie and wanted to exterminate him; they were angry and hated Lennie. If Curley would have found Lennie, he would have shot him. But that way, Lennie would have died afraid and sad. His death would have been very violent.
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.
George understands that he can’t hide Lennie from the world forever and that the natural order of things is that the strong pick off the weak, and he will eventually have to let Lennie go. This motivates him to seize reality, meaning he had to kill Lennie, which itself was a sign of tremendous growth in himself. Killing Lennie had many effects on George; one of them being that he became one of the men he’d tell Lennie stories about. George believed that he and Lennie were not like the other migrant workers – travelling alone and spending all their earning on a whim. When George would te...