Of Mice and Men Essay on Why It Was a Good Ending
A Happy Death for an Ending At the end of the novella, Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, Lennie Small is shot by his best friend George Milton. Many people look at this ending of the story sadly. However, this ending could also be happy. The reasons why this novella’s ending was happy is because George does not have to stress about Lennie, Lennie died with the dream, and Lennie would not survive in a prison without George. All these factors led to an excellent ending.
One reason why the novella was a happy ending is because George does not need to worry or stress about Lennie any more. George had to put up with Lennie’s behavior his whole life. Every time Lennie got himself into trouble, George was the one to bail him out. Lennie never understood why he was not allowed to do this or that. Lennie was a very simple-minded person. “Lennie watch him from over the fire. He patiently said, ‘I like them with ketchup.’ ‘Whatever we ain’t got, that’s what you want, said George’” (Steinbeck 12). Another example of Lennie being simple minded is the time when he grabbed a girl’s dress in Weed. When the girl started to scream, Lennie panicked and both George and him ran away. George does not have to deal with Lennie’s actions anymore. Lennie never wanted to get into trouble because he felt George will not let him have a farm to tend rabbits. “This ain’t no bad thing like I got to go hide in the brush. Oh! No. This ain’t. I’ll tell George that I found it dead” (Steinbeck 83). Lennie covered up all his issues and ran away from them with the help of George. Now that Lennie is dead, George does not need to bail out
One reason why the novella was a happy ending is because George does not need to worry or stress about Lennie any more. George had to put up with Lennie’s behavior his whole life. Every time Lennie got himself into trouble, George was the one to bail him out. Lennie never understood why he was not allowed to do this or that. Lennie was a very simple-minded person. “Lennie watch him from over the fire. He patiently said, ‘I like them with ketchup.’ ‘Whatever we ain’t got, that’s what you want, said George’” (Steinbeck 12). Another example of Lennie being simple minded is the time when he grabbed a girl’s dress in Weed. When the girl started to scream, Lennie panicked and both George and him ran away. George does not have to deal with Lennie’s actions anymore. Lennie never wanted to get into trouble because he felt George will not let him have a farm to tend rabbits. “This ain’t no bad thing like I got to go hide in the brush. Oh! No. This ain’t. I’ll tell George that I found it dead” (Steinbeck 83). Lennie covered up all his issues and ran away from them with the help of George. Now that Lennie is dead, George does not need to bail out