Preview

How Did George Kill Lennie

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1102 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did George Kill Lennie
At the end of the book Of Mice And Men we all have so many questions. Why did George kill Lennie? Was it the best option? Was George a true friend to Lennie? In the end you may come to the conclusion that George may not have been a friend but more of a guardian. George didn’t treat Lennie alike Slim or Candy instead as a child. He shelters Lennie from reality. He wants the best for Lennie overall. And now Lennie relies on George for survival and now George relies on Lennie for companionship. It’s obvious George and Lennie have a bond, and through the book it becomes more obvious the bond is more guardian/guardee or parent/child than friendship. Still, George is a true companion to Lennie because George guards Lennie. George and Lennie are companions …show more content…
George does not want Lennie to go to town with them because George doesn’t want Lennie to see how the world really is; similar to a parent doesn’t tell a child what terrible things happen in the world. Also, alike what a parent might do with a child is that George tells Lennie to go hide when he gets in trouble. This shows that Lennie acts like a child because he does not confront the problem. He solely listens to what George told him to. “Well look. Lennie-if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush.” (Steinbeck 15) George says this multiple times to Lennie just so he can remember what to do if he gets in trouble. George believes that if Lennie hides somewhere he will be safer than if he just keeps running away from the problem. George treats Lennie like a child because; also, he doesn’t let him do certain things such as leave the farm. He does not want Lennie to see how the world actually is Lennie does not confront his problems, he hides in the bushes like a child does.

Some people might think that George is not a true friend to Lennie. They might think this because George kills Lennie. George could have run away with Lennie instead of killing him, or he could have let Lennie run away on his own. He killed Lennie because it was the best option he had. The mob could have found Lennie, and Lennie would just mess up again. Also he killed him peacefully, which is better than any other form of death and a sign of compassion. If George didn’t kill Lennie Curley’s mob would have killed him in a more painful way, which George would not

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    George loved Lennie and Promised Aunt Clara that he would look after him. Lennie had previously got in trouble. Curley would have got Lennie lynch anyway and he would have done it in a gruesome manner and inflicted pain on him. George wouldn’t have been able to stand there and just watch, he took the decision to kill Lennie himself, this not being an easy task itself. What he thinks what has happened is that he has underestimated Lennies strength and due to this previous occasion and Lennie mental state he could kill again easily. The jury wouldn’t understand as it was every man for himself at this time, Lennie and George where very close.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    George made the correct decision by killing Lennie. Lennie’s death was unavoidable by Curley, due to the fact that he killed Curley’s wife. George knew that if Curley ever made contact with Lennie, he would make his death slow and terrifying, so George decided to shoot him while Lennie was thinking about his dream.…

    • 90 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the end of the final chapter George kills Lennie. It might seem like he's being mean, proving Lennie's statement that George is always nice to him wrong. I don't think that George is being mean by killing Lennie, on the contrary, I think George is being nice by doing so. If George hadn't done it, Lennie would have suffered much more. Curly was angry because Lennie killed his wife and he wanted to make him suffer for it.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel “Of Mice and Men” written by John Steinbeck George kills Lennie. Did George have the right to shoot Lennie? Or in further words did Lennie choose the right decision? This debate may cause a disagreement or friction between the readers. Although, it was a good idea for George to kill Lennie because he kept Lennie from suffering more. If George decided to let Curley kill him Lennie would have had a long and painful death. In the story Curley states,…

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    George killed his best friend, how could someone do that? This is the case in Of Mice and Men, Lennie was killed, but it was for the better. George did a terrible thing, but what George did was the right thing because it saved Lennie from many complications that would happen later.…

    • 383 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “[George] reached in his side pocket and brought out Carlson’s Luger; he snapped off the safety , and the hand and gun lay on the ground behind Lennie’s back. He looked at the back of Lennie’s head, at the place where the spine and skull were joined...” (Steinbeck 105). In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George makes the decision to shoot his best friend Lennie. Lennie is a mentally disabled man with hopes and dreams of owning a farm, and living off the fat of the land. George is the man who goes through thick and thin with him, and helps him out whenever he throws himself into a big pile of trouble. Both of them have been traveling around together for a long time, and the two are inseparable. Though this time when Lennie finds himself in trouble, George rules out all other options, and comes to the conclusion of killing him instead. George murders his best friend…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Do you think George should have killed Lennie even though they were friends? In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men the main character George Milton had to make many tough decisions for himself and his friend Lennie Small. While George and Lennie are friends George ends up looking after Lennie more than anything due to his mental disability. Although Lennie was a hard worker, he made the mistake of killing the ranch owners daughter in-law which led George to have to make the decision to end his life in a quick manner, go on the run again, or let him suffer at the hand of the Ranch owners son. In the end George makes the decision to end Lennie’s life because he didn’t want to see him suffer at the hand of the ranch owners son, and he didn’t want anyone else to lose a loved one.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George and Lennie have a very close relationship and their companionship is quite deep. During the 1930s, which was during The Great Depression, George and Lennie escape from Weed because they get into trouble. George has to look after Lennie because Lennie’s Aunt, Clara, is dead and no one takes care of Lennie. Then, they go to the Salinas Valley where they are going to work on a ranch. In the novel, George is morally right to kill Lennie because George wants to protect Lennie from the painful death and save other people from Lennie’s uncontrolled strength.…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the end of the story Of Mice and Men, George faced the moral dilemma of killing his best friend Lennie or letting Lennie face the consequences of killing Curley’s wife. He made the right decision in killing Lennie. His reasoning behind it was mostly for Lennie’s benefit but there was a small portion of George that was glad to do the job. Although it would’ve been right morally for Lennie to be turned in to the police and face justice for his actions that just doesn’t happen due to the type of situation they’re in.…

    • 976 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What George did was right. George killed Lennie because George didn't want Curley to kill him. If Curley killed him Lennie would have suffered. George thinks that if he kills Lennie it will be pain free, so…

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    At the end of the book George’s action was justified. George wanted to put Lennie out of his misery before he was killed by Curley. If George wouldn't have shot Lennie, Curley would have tortured him before he killed him. Also George wanted Lennie to go out like a light not to let him suffer because he did what he thought was right…

    • 294 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Audiences remain split in George's decision to kill Lennie. On one hand, there are those that support Georges decision and they say that Curley and/or Carlson would have killed Lennie, making him suffer, so it was right on Georges part, and he did not want to see Lennie his only friend suffer so he took the liberty of doing it himself ensuring that Lennie does not die in vain. Like when he told Lennie to look off in the distance and told him to imagine what their future farm would look like, and he told Lennie that he could tend the rabbits “Which were his primary concern throughout the entire story”, so truly George wanted to spare Lennie the pain so he made sure Lennie died with happy thoughts.…

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plus, George couldn't let them hurt his friend. He knew Lennie didn't mean to do the things he did and that Lennie had an illness. He couldn't help the things he did neither did he try to do them on purpose. But they however don't know Lennie like he did and didn't share the bond George and Lennie did. So, they didn't care how bad they would hurt him. They just wanted him to die because of him causing death upon a woman. George knew they wanted Lennie to suffer and George knew he couldn't live with that happening. So he took it upon him self and did his friend a favor. This killing happened because of ones mental illness and the euthanasia one had for another. On the other hand George could have just fled with Lennie instead of killing him but, it got to be to much for him so he ended it.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He takes care of Lennie because he promised Lennie’s aunt, Aunt Clara, that he would protect and look after him. So when the Aunt dies, George steps up and keeps his promise to take care of lennie. While venturing through the different cities he is the person who speaks to their employers to help them obtain different jobs. Even though George tries to keep a positive mind, he can still be pressed with future thoughts when he is upset. When Lennie gets caught up in trouble they flee before things get to worse. The most important event like this occurred in Weed, the town they lived in before. In the town of Weed, Lennie was touching a girl's soft dress. After while she began to feel uncomfortable, so when she tried to pull away, Lennie would not let go. Then the girl yelled. So George and Lennie had to run away to save their lives. This began the start of their life on the run. This experience is told by George in chapter 3. "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? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in an irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin' for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outta the…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many have argued that George did the wrong thing of killing Lennie and that this makes him a bad friend. George isn’t a great friend either. He’s grumpy and bossy. The way George behaves towards Lennie is just very horrible.” if I was alone I could live so easy. ..No messes at all…stay in a cat house all night… I could put you in a cage…” George may have exploded and spilt all that anger out by mistake but when someone says things like that part of it must be true. George has his moment of frustration and that understandable but Lennie is like a child and they too make mistakes so Lennie can’t be blamed for being born with a mental disorder. He also makes lennie seem like a burden. “Whatever we ain’t got, that’s what you want. God a’ mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go geta job an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at all…” Lennie can bring trouble to a person’s way of living. He has to be looked after and it makes George question and blurt out that taking responsibility of Lennie is too much to handle. These quotes signify that George had in fact been a bad of a friend he was to Lennie.…

    • 637 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays