George And Lennie's Disability Essay

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Recommended: Society’s Attitude Toward People with Disabilities

What is there left to do when helping someone disabled is completely out of our reach because it is impossible to look after them every second of the day? In the story Of Mice and Men, one issue John Steinbeck mentions throughout the book is the relationship between George and Lennie vs. Lennie’s disability. Lennie is a big strong man, capable of seriously hurting anyone, with the mentality of a child which sets George back on his own dreams for the reason that Lennie cannot care for himself. They have to travel together for this reason and as tough as it is already watching over Lennie, they are running away from an incident that happened in Weed, their previous job. Lennie‘s disability is the main conflict and because he is not fully capable …show more content…

Curley, the boss’s son, becomes threatened by Lennie’s large appearance and Curley’s wife flirtatious personality is a problem when Lennie could easily fall into her traps and all this leads to Lennie’s death. Immediately, Steinbeck writes, “You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get. Jus’ keep shoving’ me all over the country all the time. An’ that ain’t the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out” (11). George is not sure whether Lennie will be able to stay out of trouble in this next job they get which is upsetting. He is also upset that they are not able to settle because Lennie does not know right from wrong. George should be able to live his dream life but having to care for Lennie is a big weight on his shoulders. Their friendship would be a better one if only Lennie were able to realize how his disability affects him. Although Lennie being mentally disabled, he cannot process everything like a normal person and it is essential that he has someone looking out for him. To avoid anyone becoming aware of Lennie’s disability, George tells him not to say a word when they arrive …show more content…

I know he done it… I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun. I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot ‘im in the guts. Come on, you guys” (Steinbeck 96). Since Curley had a problem with Lennie, he takes advantage of what he did to his wife to kill him. If he truly cared about his wife, he would have been strict on her from the beginning and restricted her from talking to the workers. If he really wanted to get even for his wife’s death he would have gone after Lennie in fury without having to ask for the men to go with him. Also, shooting someone is the easiest way to kill someone. If Curley wanted to prove his manliness, he should have wanted to fight him with his bare hands. Consequently, instead of letting Curley kill Lennie and making him suffer, George decided to be the one to take his life and make it painless “…George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head…He pulled the trigger… George shivered and looked at the gun, and then he threw it from him” (Steinbeck 106). Being so close to Lennie, George could not watch him get killed in a cruel way. Although Lennie did a bad thing, George did not think he was deserving to die painfully for his uncontrollable actions. He was a loyal friend to Lennie, even after everything he made him go through, because he was the closest thing he had

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