...Killing a loved one ever justified? How would it be decided when to kill them? Yes killing another person can be at times. Like when George thought about killing Lennie it was not in hate, it was in Lennie’s best interest. These questions are fought in John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men. George was justified in killing Lennie since the other men would have tortured Lennie, he also saved Lennie from himself, and George vowed he would take care of Lennie and George thought this was Lennie’s best option. First of all George saved Lennie from being tortured by the other men especially Curley. George was justified since he gave Lennie mercy and made his death instantaneous. He prevented Lennie from a long and painful death. For example...
Words: 550 - Pages: 3
...Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck was a book that told the ultimate demonstration of love George had for Lennie. The first instant that George demonstrated that he cared for Lennie was when he asked Lennie to give him the mouse he had pulled out of the river. When Lennie gave George the mouse he began to cry so George said “Aw, Lennie!” “George put his hand on Lennie’s shoulder” (Of Mice and Men). “I ain’t taking it away just for meanness” (Of Mice and Men). “That mouse ain’t fresh, Lennie; and beside, you’ve broke it petting it” (Of Mice and Men). Here George demonstrated he cared about Lennie’s feelings. He wanted Lennie to understand that he was not taking the mouse from him just because he didn’t want him to have it; it was because it was died and he could get sick. George showed compassion toward Lennie when George places his hand on Lennie’s should as a way to comfort Lennie because the mouse was taken away from him. Another instant when George demonstrated he cared about Lennie was when Lennie got in trouble for the first time in Weed. Lennie said “jus’ wanted to feel that girl’s dress---jus’ wanted to pet it like it was a mouse---Well, how the hell did she know you jus’ wanted to feel her dress?” (Of Mice and Men). Because Lennie grab this girl’s dress and wouldn’t let go he got accused of raping this girl. Since, no one was going to believe Lennie didn’t do anything bad to this girl but only grabbing the dress both Lennie and George had...
Words: 3239 - Pages: 13
...novel Of Mice and Men is set sometime in the 1930s during the Great Depression. During that time, families were poor and men were desperate for any type of job that would offer them food and money. Everyone was looking for his or her chance to live the American Dream, but very few were able to achieve their aspirations. Lennie and George, the main characters of the novel, are two of the many attempting to find their way to success. But they are faced with even more of a burden: Lennie’s simple-mindedness. They move from ranch to ranch to earn money, but are faced with problems that are, more often than not, caused by Lennie. The problems that Lennie and George encounter at the end of the novel are foreshadowed by events that occur throughout the story. In Of Mice and Men nearly every scene serves as foreshadowing for the inevitable tragic ending. In the beginning of the novel, the reader learns that Lennie is obsessed with soft objects, like the little mice he likes to carry, but he always accidentally kills them; this suggests that Lennie will accidentally kill again. When the little mice start squirming or biting his fingers, he tries to calm...
Words: 852 - Pages: 4
...relationship is shown by George and Lennie. George has to treat Lennie like a child because Lennie is mentally handicapped. Lennie’s handicap prevents him from acting like a normal human being so he must be controlled by George. George acts like a father in telling Lennie what and how to do things. Lennie listened to George in many cases without question like a son would to a father. 2. During “Of Mice and Men”, all of the introduced characters other than George and Lennie are lonely but don't show it. Crooks is an example of one of those characters. Crooks stays by himself cleaning the stables and doesn't want anyone there to bother him. Crooks tells Lennie to go out of the stables. Crooks, being African American, is not allowed to stay with the white people, consequently, he doesn't want white people to be in his...
Words: 461 - Pages: 2
...Summary Retell the story in your own words or attach a good summary from the internet (mentioning your source)..... The book Of Mice and Men is about two poor guys, George and Lennie, who travel together to find work. Lennie is a big, clumsy man, who doesn’t know his own strength and he is also childlike, simple and easily forgetful. Lennie goes through life with his fellow George, a smart guy and hard worker who takes care of Lennie. The book starts with them walking down a road, they ran away from their job in Weed because the stupid, innocent Lennie touched a ladie’s dress (because Lennie likes soft things). Lennie and George have a shared dream: having their own farm, where they can keep all kinds of animals, and can live from their harvest when they have saved enough money. When they on their way to a ranch, hoping to find work, they sleep in the clearing (a place near a river) for one night. The next day they come to the bunkhouse and they get a job. Soon they meet the other workers on the ranch, including Curley, the son of the boss. Curley is mean, aggressive and a lightweight-boxer. Because he is so small he doesn’t like big guys, he feels threatened by them. So an aggressive look and a rude attitude is his first reaction when he sees big Lennie. The next day when Curley comes into the room, Lennie is attacked by Curley. But strong Lennie defends himself and crushes (accidentally) the hand of Curley, because he tried to stop him. When Curley goes to the doctor...
Words: 2159 - Pages: 9
...No one has ever said life is perfect; there is a reason for that, life gives you challenges all the time some last forever and some do not. In Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Lennie, George and Crooks are presented with various obstacles. Lennie’s, George’s, and Crooks's life obstacles reflect and influence their roles in the novel. Lennie’s obstacle in life is his mental disability, this influences who he is in the novel because he does not have what post people consider common sense. When George tells Lennie to go jump into the lake as a prank, Lennie does as George says not remembering he cannot swim. Once he jumps in and starts to drown George has to jump in the lake to save him, this shows Lennie’s lack of common sense because he does...
Words: 587 - Pages: 3
...come sooner than others. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Lennie Smalls and George Milton who are farm workers, work and travel together through everything even though Lennie has a disability. These guys are working on different farms throughout the book even though they are batting different conflicts of the time period. All through the story, Lennie makes little mistakes because he does not realize his own strength. If George would not have made the courageous decision to kill Lennie on his own, he would have been tortured and live a painful life....
Words: 642 - Pages: 3
...22, 2013 Essay #3: Of Mice and Men The American idea of justice sometimes operates under a layer of mythology. Our “innocent until proven guilty” principle predicates itself on the idea that those accused of a crime will have a fair trial and will be justly judged by their peers. It is an elaborate system established to thwart prejudice and to prevent the public from jumping to conclusions, to protect the innocent and to punish the guilty. In John Steinbeck’s Great Depression-era story Of Mice and Men, justice is carried out without a trial. No laws are taken into consideration, but instead an angry mob of men with guns is present. Mobs react with violence for real or imagined crimes at their own discretion, not waiting for legal justice to take course. Steinbeck expresses the idea that when justice fails people take matters into their own hands through George’s decision to kill Lennie. On the surface, the answer seems obvious to most people. Of course George should not have killed Lennie; murder, after all, is wrong no matter what the circumstances. Yet it is not as simple as that. Throughout the book, Lennie seems to be unaware of what is right and wrong, and this makes him a burden to George. Every time Lenny did something bad, they had to quit their jobs and start somewhere else. If George had let Lennie live, Lennie would not have been able to look after himself properly. Lennie couldn’t look after a puppy – let alone himself. Lennie was bound to hurt someone...
Words: 853 - Pages: 4
...Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men is about two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Small who have been together all their lives. They travel across the country looking for work when they find work in Salinas Valley, California during the Great Depression. The two have been friends since they first knew each other. George is a true friend to Lennie because he cares for him, stays with him, protects him, and does what it is best for him. George cared for Lennie like a father cares for his son. He showed his care in many ways such as taking Lennie in when Lennie’s Aunt Clara died. He also took Lennie’s work ticket and saved it for him, so Lennie couldn’t lose it. When they were at the brush by the Salinas River, George cooked dinner for Lennie and offered to give him all the ketchup if he had it. He said, “If it was here, you could have some.” (Steinbeck 12.) George is willing to sacrifice some of his luxuries, such as...
Words: 748 - Pages: 3
...in the long run making the popular decision instead of the right decision will eat at a person's conscience. In the novella Of Mice and Men, this quote proves true when looking back on people's decisions when using a psychological lens to analyze the characterization and conflict in Steinbeck's writing. A main theme when looking at Of Mice and Men is the behavior of...
Words: 1510 - Pages: 7
...of women during the Great Depression, in his novel Of Mice and Men. These features influence the reader by creating empathy and sense of inevitability. Techniques such as foreshadowing, symbolism, repetition and allusion help readers make a connection with the characters in the novel. Foreshadowing was used in the novel to show how Lennie would kill Curley’s wife and interfere with achieving the dream that George and Lennie had. Lennie accidentally killing the mice and dog as he patted them showed the strength he has which he is unable to control. This lead readers to predict that when Curley’s wife told him to pat her hair Lennie wouldn’t be able to control himself and would end up ruining the chance of having their dream. Lennie lifting up a girl’s skirt up in Weed foreshadowed that when Lennie met Curley’s wife there would be trouble which George also had doubts about hence why he was trying to protect Lennie whenever Curley’s wife said something to Lennie. The allusion of the poem, To a Mouse by...
Words: 922 - Pages: 4
...Consequences Imagine how Lennie Small would be in today’s world, would he be treated any differently than he was in Of Mice and Men? It is clear to see that in the novella by John Steinbeck, Lennie is by no means treated the same as his best friend George Milton. Often, the men of the ranch would even tease him, knowing he was so incoherent he would not even know the difference between himself and the others. In the story Of Mice and Men, Lennie is always undermined because of his mental illness and he is never able to act for himself because of his disconnection to the reality of his identity. George Milton lives with guilt ever since the incident at the Sacramento River. George used to make fun of Lennie, play jokes on him and even put his life in danger. He only did this because he could succeed without anyone...
Words: 986 - Pages: 4
...similar to Lennie’s in Of Mice and Men. Like Pamela, Lennie was suffering greatly and was relieved of this suffering by their death. There was a plethora of hurt that lied ahead of Lennie. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George killing Lennie was a euthanasia act that was an attempt to protect him from...
Words: 1711 - Pages: 7
...story “of mice and men” by John Steinbeck, George has the option to kill lennie or let Curley kill Lennie, because Lennie accidentally killed the wife of his enemy and is now on the run not completely realizing the impact of what he did. George can not find any other option but to kill Lennie. George feels like here is no other option but this one,and that it is the best choose for Lennie. George shooting Lennie is justified because George will not have to take care of two people, Curley will not kill Lennie with hate, and George would feel bad for Lennie if he was not the one that killed him because him and George have been through alot together lately. First of all,George was justified because Lennie does not know right from wrong....
Words: 594 - Pages: 3
...unemployed. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck it is a novella released in 1937 which tells a tale of two workers named George and Lennie, who lost their old job in Soledad and are going to their new job at the ranch. Largely the ending Of Mice and Men was inevitable because of these following themes; American Dream, cruel society, particularly targeting minorities and friendships helping to build empathy. It was inevitable that George and Lennie will never get their own ranch because of the American Dream. The American Dream is an impossible vision that leads to disappointment this is equaled through how the workers don’t have empathy. Workers...
Words: 1372 - Pages: 6