A true friendship is one in which friends care deeply enough to anticipate one another’s needs and are willing to put their friend’s needs before their own. Their mutual love enables them to make sacrifices only to protect each other. In the novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, George killing Lennie is a merciful kill to save others from Lennie’s unintentional acts of aggression, to spare Lennie from suffering a cruel death, and instead ensuring a peaceful and quick departure one that will cause George the least regrets.
George begins to see a pattern of aggression coming from Lennie and wants to put it to an end because Lennie is hurting too many others unintentionally and he sees Lennie is quick to frustrate and panic and is lacking in the ability to control his violent reactions. Lennie has killed many mice, a pup, and finally a woman. Although Lennie may not want to kill any other living beings, it is in his nature to become aggressive and angry when frustrated. He typically believes he “‘wasn’t doin’ nothing bad’ ” (Steinbeck 9) with the mice and he was “‘Jus’ strokin’ it’ ” (Steinbeck 9).
He cannot contain his anger and that often leads to an unrestrained use of his strength. Because Lennie never has the intention to kill anything, he can feel an immense amount of guilt and remorse as seen when he runs out of the barn crying, “‘I done a real bad thing… I shouldn’t of did that’” (Steinbeck 92), after killing Curley’s wife. Despite Lennie’s remorse, he does not grasp the severity and the consequences of his actions. This is not so much due to Lennie’s slowness but more because of George’s protective nature, preventing Lennie from ever having to face any consequences.
The Essay on How does Steinbeck present Lennie and George
How does Steinbeck present Lennie and George in the 1st chapter? Lennie and George’s father and son like relationship is clearly one of love, although from the beginning we sense George’s frustration due to Lennie’s constant childish behaviour. George is very protective over Lennie, “Lennie for God’s sake don’t drink so much!” because he has been told to look after him by his “Aunt Clara”. George ...
Nonetheless, George sees that Lennie is unable to learn from his mistakes and fears the pattern is going to continue and that he is unable to change Lennie. George feels justified in killing Lennie because he knows that in the long run he would be able to spare many other lives and prevent Lennie from all the pain and anguish from the remorse Lennie feels after his aggressions. George’s decision to kill his best friend is to prevent a horrific and undeserved fate that awaits Lennie unless there is some intervention. He does not want Lennie to be killed by Curley or sent to jail.
George clearly can sense Curley’s anger and vindictive nature about Lennie killing his wife. It is quite apparent that Curley wants justice and revenge and is determined to make Lennie suffer: “Curley’s face reddened. ‘I’m goin’… I’m gonna shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself” (Steinbeck 98).
Shooting Lennie in the gut would cause he him to slowly bleed to death, ensuring a long, painful death. Even if Curley is not to succeed in killing Lennie in this gruesome manner, the other likely outcome is that Lennie is sentenced and put in jail for potentially a lifetime.
Initially, in light of the possibility of Curley’s revenge, George considers jail to be a safe haven: “Guess… We gotta tell the… guys. I guess we gotta get ‘im an’ lock ‘im up. We can’t let ‘im get away… ’ And he tries to reassure himself, ‘Maybe they’ll lock ‘im up and be nice to ‘im” (Steinbeck 94).
However, upon further consideration, George realizes that Lennie is incapable of living on his own and fending for himself in jail and will not last. Either outcome would result in a miserable and slow death for Lennie, and George could not allow this to happen to his best friend.
This is how he reaches the conclusion that it is necessary for George, himself, to kill Lennie in a humane fashion in order to give him a quick and peaceful death. By shooting Lennie himself, George minimizes his own pain for not letting Lennie die at the hands of a stranger and can also control Lennie’s last thoughts and feelings. Earlier on in the novella, Candy feels deep regret for not being the one to end his dog’s life and he tells George, “’I oughtta shot that dog myself… I shouldn’t oughtta let no stranger shoot my dog’” (Steinbeck 61).
The Essay on Lennie George Curley Dog
In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there are many instances of foreshadowing. While they may not be noticed at first, they stick out like a sore thumb in the end. The main characters in the book are Lennie, a huge man with the mind of a young child, and George, a small man who had landed them a job on a ranch. Lennie is a man who doesn't think for himself, and relies on George for ...
Candy and his dog were lifelong friends and companions, as were Lennie and George. Candy’s regret makes a lasting impression and Georges recognizes that he too cannot live letting anyone else take Lennie’s life. Moreover, he ensures that Lennie last moments are filled with joyous thoughts as he strikes up a conversation about Lennie’s favorite topic: “’And I get to tend the rabbits. ’” (Steinbeck 105) said Lennie, “‘An’ you get to tend the rabbits. ’”(Steinbeck 105) responded George, then “Lennie giggled with happiness. ” (Steinbeck 105).
And lastly, as George’s last act of friendship, he reassures Lennie with his final words that is he is not mad at Lennie nor that he’s ever been. This is to award Lennie with as much peace as a friend could. Overall, Lennie is in a much better place once he dies. He does not to suffer a long and painful death; he would not hurt any other humans or animals and is spared the resulting remorse. George feels great loss and is shaken afterward despite knowing he is justified in actions. This is a compassionate homicide and George is a true friend. He looks out for Lennie’s needs and makes sacrifices to the end.
