...Steinbeck, George made the correct decision when he shot Lennie. One of the first reasons it was good that George shot Lennie was because Curley was going to shoot him anyways but the way Curley would have shot most likely wouldn’t have killed him right away and then Lennie would have just suffered. “I’m going to shoot the guts outa that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand . I’m gonna get ‘im”(Steinbeck). That quote proved the first reason because, the way George shot Lennie, Lennie was killed instantly. If Curly were to shoot him, he would “shoot the guts outa him”. Lennie would have ended up with a extreme amount of pain and suffering and George didn’t want that. The second reason it was good for George to shoot...
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...Of Mice and Men, George kills Lennie. There is question whether or not George was validated in his decision. Provided Lennie did not have malicious intent, George was justified in his decision to shoot Lennie because Lennie caused trouble and burdened George. To begin, Lennie caused many of the conflicts in the novella. In chapter three, Slim and Carlson were giving Curley a hard time about his wife's carelessness. Lennie is smiling during this event. Even though Lennie is thinking about the ranch, this is not the time nor place to be smiling. Curley says brutally, '"What the hell you laughin' at?'" (Steinbeck 62). In this quote Curley shows he is heated. He is also putting all of the blame for the situation with his wife on Lennie. This tends to be a theme throughout the book causing more trouble. After Curley confronts Lennie, he becomes very aggressive. "Curley was balanced and poised. He lashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right"(...
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...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....
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...around migrant farm workers George Milton and Lennie Small on their search for work in the Salinas Valley of California. Friends since childhood, George and Lennie settled for work on a ranch where troubles soon arose. While trying to protect Lennie, George was faced with a crippling decision and upon great consideration, shot Lennie in the back of the head. George made the right decision killing Lennie because, on his own, Lennie would not be able to take care of himself. Also, George realized that due to the fact that Lennie killed an innocent girl, they would not be able to run away from the problem this time. Some people may argue that George did not make an acceptable decision in killing Lennie, however, if George did not kill Lennie,...
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...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...
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...fact that values and beliefs have altered since the early 20th century and in many ways this is due to historical world events. John Steinbeck recognises that and his book ‘Of Mice and Men’ is a great representation of the values and beliefs of the 1930’s. It was well known that there was a lack in woman rights and importance, people were in a state during this period due to the Great Depression, and people had a lack of understanding towards the mentally disabled. John Steinbeck recognises this and displays it throughout the book therefore making him worthy of running a series on. In his book, the character George shoots his mentally disabled best friend Lennie as he thinks it is what had to be done due to the Sheriff being after Lennie, the lack of understanding people had for Lennie and knowing what would happen to Lennie if he was put in a mental institution. George did what was right according to the morals and beliefs in the 1930’s. During the 1930s, the values of the era were very different to nowadays. There was a lack of equality in gender, race and wealth and what you had very much defined who you were. People with mental problems were seen as freaks and dealt with in a way we see as wrong in today’s society. Women’s roles in society were also very different to now. Women didn’t need to know anything; they just had to be pretty and the perfect image of a wife therefore being a housemaid with an unimportant opinion on anything. Anything a woman said of the 1930’s was...
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...evaluate how effective it really is. What is the main message of the novel? The ending highlights many of the themes in the novel… themes that Steinbeck wished the reader to consider and that are evident throughout the text. You should comment on the development of events and these themes (chronology) prior to the ending in order to evaluate how effective it really is. What is the main message of the novel? In your conclusion, you should draw together your thoughts and revisit the prompts listed opposite. How does the ending leave you feeling? Why? How convincing does it make the novel as a whole? How does it relate to today’s society? In your conclusion, you should draw together your thoughts and revisit the prompts listed opposite. How does the ending leave you feeling? Why? How convincing does it make the novel as a whole? How does it relate to today’s society? Perhaps Steinbeck intends the ending to signify how generic victims will never prosper, will continually be subverted/threatened, victimised and cruelly abused? If you disagree with this, state how it might be proved not to be the case… how might Lennie represent the plight/possible fate of other victims in the novella? (Candy? Crooks? Curley’s wife? etc.) Perhaps Steinbeck intends the ending to signify how generic victims will never prosper, will continually be subverted/threatened, victimised and cruelly abused? If you disagree with this, state how it might be proved not to be the case… how might Lennie represent...
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...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 to escape from Weed before they would kill Lennie. Here George again demonstrates how much he really...
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...during The Great Depression. The novella explores two itinerants, George Milton and Lennie Small, going after their dream of owning their own piece of land. Throughout the dramatic novella, we discover that sometimes it is necessary to be cruel to be kind. The killing of Candy's old dog, George and Lennie not speaking to Curley's wife, and the final decision George makes to shoot Lennie are all examples of showing some 'tough love'. When difficult choices are to be made, the solution may not always be what we desire. When Candy's “ancient dog” starts to bother the men in the bunkhouse, Carlson suggests to Candy that the dog should be shot. Candy, strongly...
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...Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is the story of Lennie and George and their job in Salinas Valley. Lennie and George are dropped off, by the bus, and are on their way to their new job. They decide to stop for the night, by a river, and make camp. They show up to work the next day, were given a bed, and told to go to work with Slim. Before work they meet a few of their bunk mates and get to know a few of them. They meet Curley and later his wife. They just work, nut one night Curley made Lennie agitated, which then turned into him getting mad. Lennie broke Curley’s hand, so Curley wants to get him back. Slim had a dog that had puppies and Lennie gets to keep one. One day Lennie gets mad at the puppy and kills it. Curley’s wife comes in and...
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...Mice and Men by George Steinbeck is a gritty, dark, novella filled with despondency and hopelessness. The despondency and hopelessness is brought on by the deaths of innocent characters, and reinforced by the lack of care for life that seems to hold itself in the minds of most of the ranchers in the story. Their carelessness for the death of others reveals to us the lifestyle on the ranch, as well as the lifestyle of the bitter, rough Great Depression of the 1930s in America. While these deaths are insignificant to the men on the ranch, they hold major significance to the plot. Our introduction to these ideas on death amongst the ranchers starts with the death of Candy’s dog. This sheepdog was old and feeble, but was...
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...run trying to make a living. The two main character George and Lennie, whose role was well played by Gary Sinise as George and John Malkovich as Lennie are a team of two. George being the brains and Lennie being the bronze. The two of them are different from all those other ranch workers as mentioned frequently throughout the movie and book by George, “With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.” This dialogue is pivotal piece in the entire story because one of the main themes...
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...John Steinbeck, George and Lennie are friends who look after each other. Lennie is mentally handicapped, and sometimes gets into trouble because of his strength. George does everything he can to keep Lennie safe, but this is a heavy burden placed on his shoulders. When Lennie makes a fatal mistake, George makes a choice that will haunt him forever: to kill his best friend. His choice to mercy-kill his own friend, rather than seeing him put into a jail or insane asylum, was the only possible choice. One event that influenced him was the death of Candy’s dog. While in the bunkhouse, Carlson convinces Candy that the dog, who is too old to do any work, would be better off dead. Even Slim agrees that the dog’s suffering would end if he was put down. Since Slim is looked upon as the leader, Candy has no choice but to let go of his dog. After the dog is dead Candy says to George, “I oughtta of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog.” (Steinbeck, 61). This is a foreshadowing of Lennie’s impending death, and of how George chooses to mercy-kill Lennie later in the book....
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...ability or achievement (Adams). “But the American Dream is a tough concept to understand because the dream could be different for different people, such as Lennie and George who have two different dreams. Also the American Dream during the 1930s was tremendously difficult to accomplish. For instance someone living in the 1930s, like Lennie and George, had to work very hard for their American Dream to come true. But although the American Dream is different for everyone, Lennie and George struggled to try to accomplish their American Dream. In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie had two different dreams that gave them enough strength to never give up. Lennie’s dream was he wanted a life that was more simple and easy going. Lennie seemed to be more excited about the dream than George was because whenever Lennie would start talking about tending the rabbits on the farm George would sometimes get aggravated and yell at Lennie. For example in the novel Lennie said, “I remember about the rabbits, George.” Then George says, “The hell with the rabbits. That’s all you can ever remember is them rabbits. (Steinbeck, 1993)” This makes it seem as if George understands the reality of how hard it is going to be to accomplish This dream, and Lennie does not. Also in the novel Lennie is the one that likes talking about their dream and George is much quieter about it. "O.K. Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs...
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...one must be a superhero. George Milton, in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is not a superhero but is characterized as a protector. The novella is about two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Smalls, who travel together during the Depression in order to find work. Unfortunately, they get into all sorts of mishaps because of Lennie. The two men have a dream to one day own a farm, but Lennie’s mental disability proves to be a far greater obstacle than anticipated. George Milton is a common man but shows the qualities of a superhero through his caring, resourceful, and selfless personality. Without these traits, George would not travel with Lennie, for he would have no reason to. Perhaps then, the ending of the novella would not end as tragically as it did. Firstly, Steinbeck depicts George as a caring person through his actions and attitude towards situations. At the start of the book, Lennie is seen drinking water from a river. When George sees this he says, “Lennie, for God’ sakes don’t drink so much […] you gonna be sick like you was last night. […] You never oughta drink water when it ain’t running, Lennie” (3.) George is looking out for Lennie, and is concerned that he will get sick from drinking the water, thus showing how compassionate George is since he cares for Lennie’s wellbeing. Furthermore, after George yells at Lennie and Lennie offers to leave him, George says “I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was...
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