Murder In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

When it comes to the way people view murder, they are usually pretty one sided. Some people on earth have stubborn minds, they are full with static. The main opinion shared between these folks seems to be “Murder is murder. Murder is bad. The person who murders is therefore bad.” These bland, stale statements need to be thought through more thoroughly. What if the person who committed this crime had other intentions? What if they weren’t cold hearted and actually had a soul? In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men, Lennie, a person with mental issues, doesn’t deserve to be held accountable for his actions for several justifiable reasons.
Lennie is innocent and ever meant to hurt to fly, as shown from his addiction to touching soft things.“Lennie looked sadly up at him. “They was so little,” he said, apologetically. “I’d pet ‘em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead-because they was so little” (Steinbeck 9-10). This quote shows that Lennie never had bad intentions, he just liked soft things, the same way he like Curley’s wife’s hair. Soft things seem to be calming or therapeutic to him in a way. This quote isn’t direct in showing that
“Slim had not moved. His calm eyes followed Lennie out the door. "Jesus," he said. "He's jes' like a kid, ain't he." "Sure, he's jes like a kid. There ain't no more harm in him than a kid neither, except he's so strong" (Steinbeck 43). Here, Slim and George come to the conclusion in this quote that Lennie is too kind for his own good. Clearly, their last expectation for him would be for him to murder. Also, his immense amount of strength gives him more power than he is capable of handling. Lennie is too strong for his own good, even though he should be able to handle himself at this point in his life. His disabilities account for the fact that he can’t handle his strength, as well as his dependency on