Was George Justified In Of Mice And Men
Was George really left with no other options? In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck there are two men on the run. Lennie, who is mentally handicap, keeps getting into trouble. George, the other man on the run, is the one who takes care of Lennie and tries to keep him out of trouble.Although George tries to make sure Lennie doesn’t get into trouble he just cannot prevent the inevitable. George was justified in shooting Lennie because he felt responsible for him, he doesn’t want him to suffer, and because he can’t learn from his mistakes. The first reason why George feels like he needs to shoot Lennie is because he feels responsible for Lennie and feels like he’s the one who needs to shoot him. In the book Of Mice and Men by
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John Steinbeck Candy says, “ I oughtta of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog” (Steinbeck 61). In this quote Candy is saying how he regrets letting a stranger shoot the dog rather than shooting it himself. He was the one who raised the dog which made it his responsibility and made it his place to shoot him. In George and Lennie's case Lennie is to George as the dog is to Candy. George has been the one to take care of Lennie and he feels like he should be the one to shoot him. Proving he was the one responsible for him and needs to be the one to shoot him unlike when Candy let someone else shoot his dog. The second reason George is justified in his decision to shoot Lennie is because he doesn’t want Lennie to have a painful death.
After the men find Curley's wife Curley says, “... I’ll shoot ‘im in the guts…”(Steinbeck 96). Later after they get the guns Curley tells the other men, “... Shoot for his guts. That’ll double ‘im over” (Steinbeck 97). Curley says this because he wants Lennie to suffer and have a painful death since Lennie broke his hand and killed his wife. After Curley says these two lines George knows what he has to do because he doesn’t want Lennie to have a painful death. So George made sure Lennie didn’t suffer or have any pain at the end by shooting him in the head. Showing that George didn’t want Lennie to suffer or be in any …show more content…
pain.
The final reason George knew he had to kill Lennie is because he can’t learn from his mistakes and he doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong.
It is clear from the beginning that Lennie cannot tell what's right and wrong. It starts out with Lennie killing small animals such as his pet mice. He then progresses to getting into trouble in Weed because he wanted to feel her soft dress giving them no other choice but to run.When they finally find a new place to stay Lennie gets into more trouble when he kills his puppy and then killing Curley’s wife. At this point he knew that George would be mad but he doesn’t know exactly why so he grabs the puppy's corpse and goes to hide. In Lennie's mind it's better to have one dead thing rather than two. To him taking the puppy and hiding it will mean he will be in less trouble. This is obviously not the case he had killed a woman and didn’t realize how bad of a thing he had done. Some people might say that George did not have to kill Lennie he could have just locked him up or ran. However George had warned him not to do this stuff but Lennie just couldn’t learn from his past mistakes causing him to take someone's
life.
In the end George had no other choice but to kill Lennie because he felt responsible for him, he didn’t want him to suffer, and he couldn’t learn from his mistakes. If George didn’t shoot Lennie they would just keep having to run because he would keep getting them into trouble. If you were in this situation would you be able to shoot your friend for his own good and everyone else's?
John Steinbeck Candy says, “ I oughtta of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog” (Steinbeck 61). In this quote Candy is saying how he regrets letting a stranger shoot the dog rather than shooting it himself. He was the one who raised the dog which made it his responsibility and made it his place to shoot him. In George and Lennie's case Lennie is to George as the dog is to Candy. George has been the one to take care of Lennie and he feels like he should be the one to shoot him. Proving he was the one responsible for him and needs to be the one to shoot him unlike when Candy let someone else shoot his dog. The second reason George is justified in his decision to shoot Lennie is because he doesn’t want Lennie to have a painful death.
After the men find Curley's wife Curley says, “... I’ll shoot ‘im in the guts…”(Steinbeck 96). Later after they get the guns Curley tells the other men, “... Shoot for his guts. That’ll double ‘im over” (Steinbeck 97). Curley says this because he wants Lennie to suffer and have a painful death since Lennie broke his hand and killed his wife. After Curley says these two lines George knows what he has to do because he doesn’t want Lennie to have a painful death. So George made sure Lennie didn’t suffer or have any pain at the end by shooting him in the head. Showing that George didn’t want Lennie to suffer or be in any …show more content…
pain.
The final reason George knew he had to kill Lennie is because he can’t learn from his mistakes and he doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong.
It is clear from the beginning that Lennie cannot tell what's right and wrong. It starts out with Lennie killing small animals such as his pet mice. He then progresses to getting into trouble in Weed because he wanted to feel her soft dress giving them no other choice but to run.When they finally find a new place to stay Lennie gets into more trouble when he kills his puppy and then killing Curley’s wife. At this point he knew that George would be mad but he doesn’t know exactly why so he grabs the puppy's corpse and goes to hide. In Lennie's mind it's better to have one dead thing rather than two. To him taking the puppy and hiding it will mean he will be in less trouble. This is obviously not the case he had killed a woman and didn’t realize how bad of a thing he had done. Some people might say that George did not have to kill Lennie he could have just locked him up or ran. However George had warned him not to do this stuff but Lennie just couldn’t learn from his past mistakes causing him to take someone's
life.
In the end George had no other choice but to kill Lennie because he felt responsible for him, he didn’t want him to suffer, and he couldn’t learn from his mistakes. If George didn’t shoot Lennie they would just keep having to run because he would keep getting them into trouble. If you were in this situation would you be able to shoot your friend for his own good and everyone else's?