Importance Of Decisions In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

A decision you make in a heated moment can change your life forever. Whether it’s between protecting a dangerous man (that’s also your only friend) and fleeing, or to shoot your troubled best friend in the back of the head. We never want to be forced into these decisions, but when they come along you have to trust in yourself that you know what to do. In the novella, Of mice and men, George showed his true friendship by killing Lennie. When George chose to kill Lennie he did what was best for everyone, including Lennie. When Candy’s dog was in pain and aging quickly, he made the decision to let Carlson shoot him. Immediately after realizing what had been done, Candy regretted it. “I oughtta of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog.” (Steinbeck 61) When Lennie was killed, he was killed by someone with good intentions, someone who had protected him for all these years, but couldn’t anymore. In a way Lennie was George’s dog, his responsibility, and his best pal. George had looked after Lennie all these years, he may have not done the best job ,but he was pushed to the point where bailing him out again wasn’t an option. Lennie was dangerous, he didn’t know his own
Before George made that fatal decision, he didn’t scare Lennie, he didn’t make him feel like he had done anything wrong, and he wasn’t angry. George brought him to his happy place, their dream farm. “No Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now.” (Steinbeck 105) In the moment, George was thinking what is the way to go for his best friend. Would he rather be killed quickly and painlessly by me, or slow and suffering by an angry curley? Curley was furious and was prepared to attack Lennie and George knew that, George saved Lennie by shooting him. “I'm gonna shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I'm gonna get ‘im.” (Steinbeck