Analysis Of John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Do you remember your parents punishing you as a child? And then they said they love you? It made no sense. You would think to yourself, if they really love me, why are they punishing me? Then you grew up and realized it was all for your own good. You saw the good that came from it because it ultimately benefited you. A similar situation to this occurs in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men is a story of two friends, George and Lennie. George is a small, clever man who wants to make his money without any trouble and go on his way. Lennie, his closest friend, is a big, strong man with a mental disability. Lennie often isn’t aware of what’s going on around him because of his disability. While working on a ranch, Lennie accidentally
A few moments after Lennie kills Curley’s wife, Candy finds the body and summons George. George sees the body and somberly whispers “I should of knew, I guess maybe in the back of my head I did” (Steinbeck 94). This is the moment George made a decision he knew he was probably going to have to make for a long time. George finally knew he was going to have to take Lennie’s life. He was always telling himself that Lennie was a good person and didn’t mean to cause any problems so killing him just wouldn’t be right. Unfortunately, this event is what makes the harm Lennie causes outweigh his innocence. Lennie tries his best to stay out of trouble. In fact, many different characters describe him as a nice, innocent guy. This doesn’t negate the fact that he murdered someone. George knows that Lennie would never try to hurt anyone or anything, but he also knows Lennie was reprehensible because of the many problems he caused due to his lack of knowing his own strength. There is a common theme between all of major problems Lennie causes— they are all done by hand. Lennie may not be very smart, but he’s smart enough to know a weapon, for example, is dangerous. He would never cluelessly pick up a gun and shoot someone. He’s smart enough to know that’s bad. What he’s not smart enough to realize is that he is so big and strong, he
Those people would point to the multiple times George told Lennie that his life would be so much easier without him as evidence for this claim. What those people wouldn’t mention are the times where George would realize he didn’t actually believe any of that and apologize to Lennie. An example of this is when George had just finished one of his rants and says “No— look! I was jus’ foolin’, Lennie. ‘Cause I want you to stay with me” (Steinbeck 13). After every one of his little outbursts, George considers Lennie’s point of view. He thinks about how Lennie wouldn’t know how to take care of himself and how he wouldn’t make it a day on his own. He feels empathy for Lennie and knows in his heart that he would never abandon Lennie. Also, if George really meant what he said whenever he yelled at Lennie, he would do it. It would take nearly no effort for George to outwit Lennie and ditch him. When Lennie was in trouble, he ran straight to the spot George told him to go if something bad ever happened. Lennie had total faith in George that he would come. This proves that Lennie would do anything George told him to. George could have told him to go somewhere where he would meet him and then never show up. The fact that it was this easy for George to get rid of Lennie and he never did is proof of