"Between 1907 and 1944 more than 42,000 people were sterilized in the U.S., over half of them in California, in an attempt the presumed genetic sources of diseases including feeblemindedness." This issue relates all throughout the classic book with Lennie being special needs and dragging down George. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck two men, George and Lennie, struggle during the Great Depression in California to find work running from place to place to avoid trouble. Lennie is a mentally disabled man who means well but can’t control his strength; his sweet-nature often gets him into trouble. George on the other hand is the strict caretaker for Lennie who constantly is trying his best to control Lennie’s disability. His attempts …show more content…
fail miserably when Lennie accidentally kills an innocent woman. To prevent Lennie from being gruesomely murdered or forced to live in a cell for the rest of his life, George makes the cowardly decision to kill George himself. I believe by doing this George made a ghastly mistake in taking Lennie’s life right out from under him. For instance, George had taken care of Lennie for many years and knew exactly what he was capable of, yet he took no precautions in making sure Lennie stayed away from possible trouble.
Throughout this novel Lennie is portrayed as a big bear who is kind-hearted and only means well yet can’t quite control his actions. George is responsible to care for Lennie and may come across mean every once in a while. Although, in parts of the novel you catch glimpses of just how much George truly does love Lennie as if he were his own brother. This strange relationship is shown in the book when it is said, “ George scowled at him, and Lennie dropped his head in shame” (pg. 22). This text paints a picture in your mind of Lennie being the weak child and George being the harsh authority. That alone shows Lennie is too ignorant to understand his crimes and in no way should he be blindly punished for …show more content…
them. In addition, to add to my last statement of Lennie being kind-hearted, he was also very hopeful for a better future for he and George.
Lennie often asks George to tell him of their plans to eventually own their own ranch, as soon as George mentions the rabbits Lennie turns giddy with anticipation. Just the thought of caring for those fuzzy little animals filled his heart with joy. All he ever really wanted was a place where he belonged and had a purpose at. At one point in the novel, when George is telling Lennie of the farm, Lennie chimes in buoyantly saying, "I get to tend the rabbits," (pg.105). This was said in the final moments before Lennie was shot in the back of the head by George. Even with his last few breaths Lennie was optimistic to get away from the hardships and finally settle down. Little did he know that was all a deception planted in his mind to ease George from the battle of reality. George unfair to deceive Lennie this way and heartlessly get Lennie's hopes up right before he pulled the trigger that seized Lennie's
life. Finally, from the beginning to the end of the book the clearing next to the Salinas River is thought to be a safe place for Lennie to go in case he runs into trouble. Is it just me or is it ironic that that's the place Lennie is murdered by his best friend? In the rise of this novel Lennie and George stumble across the clearing in search of work and declare it a refuge for future notice. In the fall of this novel a creation of nature is inserted into your mind as it is written, "A far rush of wind sounded and a gust drove through the tops of the trees like a wave... And row on row of tiny wind waves flowed up the pool's green surface"(pg.99). This image makes the reader feel one with nature and understand just what it is about this location that makes Lennie get the impression that he is unscathed. Lennie’s trust in George also plays a major role in the feeling of immunity Lennie senses. George took advantage of of this trust and used it to lure Lennie into his demise. Not only was this invalid but down right beastly to many heights. To conclude, George made a desperate mistake by killing Lennie in his fearful attempt to do what he thought was the fitting punishment. In my opinion George should have admitted Lennie the right to live. By allowing Lennie to keep his life he could have easily taken him to a home for mentally disabled people where he would get the proper care and treatment he deserved. This would also spare George from the guilt and nightmares in the future of having murdered a helpless man who was near to his heart for many years. If Lennie were to go to a sanctuary for he and others like him. Aside from being unharmed Lennie would be given a favorable medical procedure making him incapable to reproduce. Even though in present-day America making someone sterile is comprehended as callous, back in the ‘30s it was thought to be an absolute way to handle unwanted reproduction. This surgery would neither positively nor negatively alter him, therefor being a much better decision for George to handle Lennie’s reckless misfortune.
In chapter one, George and Lennie are introduced onto the scene and you get to know them a little bit and you get to see how they are related/ their relationship. When I read this first part, I could tell that George was pretty much Lennie’s caretaker and it was his job to find Lennie a job and make sure he ate enough and stayed a live. He kind of resented having to drag Lennie around (pg 11~12: “Well we ain’t got any!” George exploded. “Whatever we ain’t got, you want. If I was alone I could live so easy… But wadda I got? I got you. You can’t keep a job and you loose me every job I get.”), because Lennie’s a bit slow and he messes up a lot. He tries really hard to be good and listen to what George tells him to do, but in the end of every situation, Lennie forgets what George told him beforehand and sometimes it creates a little trouble (pg 45~46: “Well, he seen this girl in this red dress. Dumb like he is, he likes to touch ever’thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do. Well, this girl just squawks and squawks. I was jus’ a little bit off, and I heard all the yellin’, so I comes running, an’ by that time Lennie’s so scared all he can think to do is jus’ hold on. I socked him over the head with a fence picket to make him let go. He was so scairt he couldn’t let go of the dress. And he’s so strong, you know… Well, that girl rabbits in an’ tells the law she’s been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie. So we sit in an irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day.”). But when you look at them, you can tell that George is...
John Steinbeck wrote a story about two men that only had each to depend on. Many of George and Lennie's struggles come from things they cannot control such as Lennie's mental issues. George and Lennie are very poor and they work on farms together, but they have to move a lot because Lennie always does something stupid. The greatest tragedy in Mice and Men was when Lennie was left alone with Curley's wife. She was the reason why Lennie ended up being killed. She knew of to manipulate others to get her way and that is what she relies on most of the time.
is in the air. Animals begin to scatter. Two men have arrived on the scene,
Although Lennie was unattractive and has the tendency of accidental violence, compassion was still something readers had for him. Steinbeck constantly reminded us that he has a mental disability which automatically makes someone feel pity for him. Additionally he was ignored and made fun of by other characters, “Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you”(Steinbeck 10). Him getting in trouble was beyond his control because of his mental disability which is something else that makes a reader feel sympathetic for him. Also, the readers are solicitous towards Lennie because of how much he looks up to George. This is portrayed when Crooks asks Lennie what he would do if George never came back, “Well, s’pose, jus’ s’pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then?”(Steinbeck 70). Because of his inability to comprehend information, he got extremely defensive and said, “George is careful. He won’t get hurt” (Steinbeck 70). This scene is crafted in such a way that it automatically
Lennie has always been told what to do by George. George really helps him through problems that keep happening during the book. Lennie is incapable to live because he does not know his strength and George has to play the role as a living assistant for Lennie. Lennie does not mean to harm but because of his condition he essentially harms people. In the book it explains the
If you ask people that have read the book on what they say about the book this might be what they say that it wasn't right for George to kill Lennie. It wasn't right because George planed to kill Lennie. George wasn't the only one to kill someone or something in the story. George is only for himself. he protected Lennie, but at the end of the story he killed Lennie.
In the late 1920’s, the stock market dropped, leaving thousands of Americans jobless. Many men left their homes and families in search of employment. Two farm workers in California, Lennie Small and George Milton, travel from ranch to ranch searching for work to get them by. In John Steinbeck’s story Of Mice And Men, George and Lennie go through the journey of finding a new job to “get the jack together” and “live off the fatta the lan’.” In with this journey comes obstacles that they may or may not be able to pass through. In Of Mice And Men Steinbeck uses characterization, conflict, and dramatic irony to show how Lennie and George learn to cope with obstacles caused by Lennie’s disability.
George and Lennie need each other to achieve their dream of their own farm with rabbits to tend. Lennie could not take care of his rabbits or even survive without George.
About 45% of people in the 1930s believed that mercy killing was necessary for children born deformed or for people with mental handicaps (Moyers). In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the novel ends when George Milton realizes that to save his companion, Lennie Small, from his mental disability, he has to kill him. The book depicts it as a friend saving Lennie from the pain and suffering that he might go through in the future. The action should not be justified as saving him, but rather as a crime, ripping him away from his future and his life. Lennie’s death was a murder, not a mercy killing.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about the friendship between George Milton and Lennie Small, who travel together due to the fact that Lennie suffered a childlike mental illness and someone needed to take care of him. Lennie only listens to his friend George, no matter what George may say. This novel shows characteristics of their true friendship and George's compassion towards his companion. George shows acts of love and kindness out of sympathy for Lennie, yet he also seems to show an unconscious effort to make up for Lennie’s mental impairment.
An Ethical Dilemma. People were terrified and disfranchised, John Steinbeck created Of Mice and Men, which set place during the dirty thirties (time of the Great Depression), a time where strength could not overcome aloneness and alienation. The child-like character Lennie was one of the most misunderstood characters, even with his best friend and caretaker George. In the beginning, they were uncanningly together in a society of loners during the time, having only each other, so close many assumed they were brothers. Throughout the story George had vowed to take care of Lennie, however under the circumstances he faced he chose to shoot his best friend.
From the very beginning you see that Lennie is a very innocent person and sometimes doesn’t understand what is going on. There is a great example at the beginning of the story, George and Lennie are in the clearing before they go to the ranch and they’re making camp for the night. ”’tha’s good,' he said. 'you drink some George. You take a good big drink.’ he smiled happily”'(3). George has just yelled at him for drinking too fast, but he is too innocent to realize it. Lennie also showed innocence when he is told to jump into Sacramento River. “‘An’ he was so damn nice to me for pullin’ him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in. Well, I ain’t done nothing
There are a variety of relationship of people can have with other people. In John Steinbeck's novels, relationships between characters can be difficult, but are always important. The central relationship in Of Mice and Men is between Lennie and George.
George is helpless without Lennie, " Because… because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why" (13). Them caring for each other makes their friendship stable. First, Lennie needs George to give him a dream to live for. Second, George needs Lennie because caring for Lennie makes him feel important and cared for. These two thing helps keep their friendship stable.
“Of Mice and Men”, by John Steinbeck is a novel about the hardships of life and the importance of having other people around. The story is of two men trying to survive with one another in a world full of loneliness; their relationship is quite rare and strange. Lennie, a large bear, has a mental disability which causes him to be in a childlike state. George, a much smaller and more competent man takes care of both of them. Although they work for others on ranches, their dream is to get by on their own and live off the land. However, Lennie’s state causes conflict as they travel from job to job. Steinbeck uses clever ways in his novel to develop his theme and characters as the story progresses; both of these elements also help create a large