Of Mice And Men Summary

In Of Mice and Men, Lennie, a strong, mentally handicapped ranch worker, is accompanied and protected throughout his life by George, his coworker, and best friend. When Lennie accidentally murders Curly’s wife, George shoots him before anyone else gets the chance. Whether or not George had the right to kill Lennie is a controversial issue that has been disputed for years. George was justified in shooting Lennie because Lennie caused major difficulties in George’s life, he was a danger to himself and others, and the actions of Curly or the courts would have resulted in the same way but more painful and Lennie would have suffered.

Essay Example on Timeline Of Mice And Men

Lennie’s reckless and dangerous behavior has made George’s life very difficult.It becomes clear early in the novel that Lennie has caused George many difficulties throughout their lives together. For example, in the first chapter of Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie had just run away from their most recent residency: Weed, California.

They had been run out of town by police because Lennie grabbed onto a woman’s dress and frightened her. Lennie has no concept of what is right and what is wrong. He often forgets what even happened, which shows that he does not understand that his actions have consequences.

George mentioned the incident with the woman’s dress, and Lennie did not recall what had happened. “Lennie looked puzzled. ‘Like I did in Weed?’ ‘Oh, so you forgot that too, did ya? Well, I ain’t gonna remind ya.

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Fear ya do it again’” (“Of Mice and Men Justice Quotes”). The fact that Lennie cannot even remember what he did to get run out of Weed shows that he does not feel remorseful for his actions. Lennie’s destructive behavior has negatively affected George’s life and wellbeing. Lennie would not have been able to live without George anyways, so the decision of whether or not Lennie should live was ultimately up to George.

Shots ring out as George shoots his best friend Lennie, who is one of the biggest dangers in Salinas Valley. George is saving Lennie from a very painful death, and also George knows that if they keep running Lennie will probably have another accident. In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, uses foreshadowing to reveal the pattern of killing is a part of life and George needs to kill Lennie. George does the right thing by killing Lennie because he knows he can not protect Lennie from society, as he also knows he can not protect society from Lennie. Some people may think killing is never acceptable, however sometimes it needs to be done to stop a dangerous pattern, in this case, it is Lennie killing animals and Curley’s wife.

Saving Lennie from a gruesome death is probably one of the most profound reasons George is shooting him. If George does not shoot Lennie, Curley and the boys from the ranch will lynch Lennie and beat him until he dies. George is making Lennie’s death much more peaceful. “‘ Look acrosst the river, Lennie, an’ I’ll tell you so you can almost see it’” (115). Lennie wants George to describe their shared dream to him but first George wants him to look the other way. Also the death of Lennie is somewhat casual, “‘Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta’” (106). George and Lennie are in the middle of a conversation about the dream when all of the sudden George pulls the trigger. When thinking of Lennie being murdered by someone who does not care for him makes George want to shoot Lennie himself so he is not killed immorally. Also George knows Lennie would never be truly happy again if he were stuck in jail.

George’s decision to shoot Lennie is very smart because he knows that if they keep running it is just a matter of time before Lennie has another accident. Lennie is prone to trouble because of his mental handicap, and George knows this so he decides to shoot him.