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Recommended: George Steinbeck
Peaceful Execution in Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is written by John Steinbeck. The story is about these two men, George and Lennie, and they find work at this ranch. Within a few days, Lennie, a tall bulky man with the brain of a young child, gets in trouble, making his traveling buddy, George, do the unthinkable. George shoots Lennie to make his death a more "joyous" one than the one he would've received from Curley, the man that wanted to kill him the most. It was right for George to shoot Lennie because Lennie died suddenly, was thinking about the dream, and was shot by a friend.
By having George shoot Lennie, Lennie died suddenly. Curley would have shot him in his stomach area to have him die a slow and painful death. Lennie didn't have to suffer the pain of death and George wouldn't have to stand there and have Lennie ask questions about why he didn't do anything to prevent Curley from shooting him.
When Lennie died, he was thinking about the dream. This made Lennie happy because he was "gonna tend the rabbits". That means his last thoughts before he died were happy ones of a farm, a little shack and rabbits eating the alfalfa. If Lennie didn't shoot George and Curley did, George would be thinking about how he killed Curley's wife and that Curley was really mad at him. That thought wouldn't make Lennie happy and Lennie knew that so he shoot him.
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.
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
Killing someone is never right. No one pointed a single finger to George for killing Lennie. They all thought it was ok since Lennie killed Curley’s wife, it is not ok to kill a person. All of them went out to drink after Lennie was dead. George did not even care, Lennie trusted George with everything. Lennie would probably be arrested for killing Curley’s wife, but he did not deserve to be killed. Lennie was a special person, he did not know his own strength. He never meant to kill Curley’s wife. George knew that but decided to kill Lennie anyways. That is not the definition of a true friend. No one accused George of anything, but instead were happy that Lennie ended up being
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
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 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.
George realizes what he must do, as Lennie's friend he comforts Lennie by telling him, he is not mad at him and about their dream of having there own house and rabbits, and how they will one day “ live on the fatta the lan” Then …………….finally george does what he must do¨ and george raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it to the back of lennie's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward in the sand, and lay without quivering.¨ george may not have wanted to kill lennie but he knew that he had to or else curly or carlson would have and he wanted to let lennie die by his hand instead of one of theirs.
Shintoism has no founder ,and the history behind the technicalities of the rise of Shinto are rather obscure. Experts don't agree as to when Shinto became a unified religion more than just a label to give to the different faiths of Japan. Before the arrival of Buddhism, Shinto referred to the many local cults of the prehistoric Japanese people. These people were animists; devoted to the worship of nature and spirits. These spirits were the Kami; found in living things, nonliving things and natural phenomena. The early Japanese created a spiritual world—and rituals and stories to accompany it—that seemingly gave them control of their lives. It wasn't considered a religion at those times, early Japanese people regarded their faith as a commonality as a part of the natural world. The realms of Earth and the supernatural were closely integrated into each other for them. (“Religions”)
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.
America is constantly evolving and redefining itself. We have come to the point where we are less inclined to criticize individuals that are different from us and more inclined to embrace eachother’s eccentricities. Those who oppose a separation between church and state claim that because this country was founded on religious principles, our government should continue to base its laws on Christianity. An article entitled, “Standing up for Church-State Separation in Difficult Times,” states that, “Religious Right groups are crowing and insisting that they have some sort of mandated to make their repressive agenda the law of the land,” however, we no longer live in the 1700’s (13). Times are changing and America is no longer predominantly white, Christians. In order for America to remain the melting pot we are all so proud of, we must accommodate all beliefs. A separation between church and state is necessary if America wants to give all of its citizens their religious rights.
The religion of the Japanese people is called Shinto. Shinto translates to Way of the Spirits. Some say that it is more than a religion, it is a way of life for the Japanese people. It is closely paralleled by the Japanese cultures and way of life (Hirai, 2007). Shinto has been a way of practicing faith and living a pure life in Japan for over 2,000 years. Shinto is in every aspect of the Japanese life. For example: ethics, politics, social structure, artistic life, sporting life, and of course spiritual life (Religion, 2017). Nowadays, the people of Japan mix some Shinto and Buddhism in their lives as far as their spiritual beings are concerned. Shinto is a very free religion. There is no God, no commandments, no founder, and no scriptures. Rather than worshiping a God, Shinto followers worship kami, or spiritual energy (Hansen 2007).
Today, if our government needs proof that the separation of Church and State works to secure the freedom of religion, they only need to look at the overabundance of Churches, temples, and shrines that exist in the cities and towns throughout the Untied States. Only a non-religious government, separated from religion could possibly allow such dissimilarity.
Japan having their own belief, which has survived since the birth of japan itself, found it easy to adopt the teachings of Buddhism. This is one of the best examples and longstanding of Buddhist syncretism. BBC gives a brief description of the Shinto belief and practice, “The essence of Shinto is the Japanese devotion to invisible spiritual beings and powers called kami, to shrines, and to various rituals.” Shinto was really able to adapt Buddhism due to Shinto’s un-cemented or uninterested concern for explaining the world and themselves in relation to creation. Devoting oneself to communicating to Kami or spirits doesn’t take focus for worship. The Japanese found Buddhism as an addition to their belief system instead of a separate
Shinto is the traditional religion of Japan. It means “the way of the kami”. Shintoism is mainly focused on beliefs in, and worships of Kami. Kami are spiritual or divine beings. They are sometimes referred to as the ‘gods’ in Shinto. But rather than the powerful and supernatural beings seen in Western religion, Kami is more like a mystical and sacred spirit that exist in the creative forces of nature. Shintoism follows the belief of animism, which is the belief that natural, material objects possess souls. These sacred spirits, called Kami are able to take the form of different things in nature. Kami not only exists as spiritual beings, but also takes the form of plants and animals, mountains and seas, and all natural phenomena.
Many religions are popular within the Japanese culture. Two of the most influential religions, Shinto and Buddhism that help shaped a lot of Japanese values are Shinto and Buddhism, played a large role in shaping Japanese values. Numerous similarities and differences run between these two religions; nonetheless, the Japanese often believe in more than one religion at the same time. This is possible due to the polytheistic nature of most popular religions in Japan. It is not hard to say that religion is a big part of Japanese culture because a lot of religious beliefs can still be seen in their everyday lives.
The origin of the Shinto religion dates back to the beginning of Japanese history. Shinto was first used in the 6th century C.E., even though the roots of the religion date back to at least the 6th century B.C.E. Shinto does not have a founder and does not have any sacred scriptures that correlate directly with the religion. Shinto bases the majority of its principles on ancient books. Two of the most important books of the Shinto religion are the Kojiki and the Nihongi. While preaching is a usual practice in Christianity, it is uncommon in Shinto. This is due to the fact that Shinto is already deeply rooted into the Japanese people and traditions. Shinto is a local religion and the percentage of people who practice Shinto quite small. The word Shinto originated from the Chinese characters “Shin” meaning “divine being” and Tao meaning “way of the spirits”. All together this translates into “Way of the Spirits”.