Essay on George's Decision to Kill Lennie

Was George justified in the shooting of Lennie? In this book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck we see two men that travel together. Lennie, who is mentally handicap, keeps getting into trouble causing the two men to run. This causes George to have to shoot Lennie because, he does not know what he is doing, and also he cannot learn from his mistakes that he has done in the past.

I feel one reason why George was unjustified in shooting lennie is because George basically executed him. George cruelly and harshly executed lennie without any warning. Leaving lennie helpless with no other chance than the fate George already decided for him which was death.

George knew that Lennie would be lynched, probably beaten and then killed if he was caught. Lennie, being more like an animal than a human being, was incapable of understanding his own strength and understanding the subtleties of life. George grasps the fact that he can't protect Lennie from society, as he also can't protect society from Lennie. George felt as though he had no other choice but to save Lennie from a cruel kind of death at the hands of Curley and his followers. It is a supposedly quick end. He even goes as far as to protect Lennie from seeing it coming. It appears to be an act of love. However, if they did escape, George knew it would be just a matter of time before Lennie had another "accident". As to whether it is justifiable

First of all George’s actions were justified by the fact that he even had trouble when about to shoot Lennie. For example if you were to killed an animal that killed your chicken you wouldn’t

George and Lennie were good friends, so why did George want to solve the Lennie's issue by killing him? Did George get rid of Lennie because he was suffering or he saw an opportunity to not have to deal with him anymore? In John Steinbeck’s novella of Mice and men readers were stunned by the ending. Some readers feel that George deserves some type of punishment for killing Lennie while others feel the complete opposite. However some people don't understand that George committed one of the worst kinds of killing, he technically committed assisted suicide, and that shows that killing is never justified, there is no need big enough to kill someone even if they are in pain and suffering.

Additionally, George was justified in view of the fact that Lennie could have harmed or worse killed someone else. In chapter five Lennie was chilling in the barn with a dead puppy in his hand. He was more concerned with George not letting him tend the rabbits because of what he has done. “Why did you got killed… I didn’t bounce you hard” (Steinbeck 85). Lennie killed mice because the bit him. Lennie killed the puppy because it ended up nipping him, which is what puppy love to do. Lennie loves soft things, in the town of Weed Lennie saw a dress that was soft. When we went to go touch it “... an the girl let’s out a squawk and gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do” (Steinbeck 41). Since Lennie

To start, George made the right decision to kill Lennie because he prohibited George from becoming successful in several ways. Lennie was an abundant source of trouble, which kept him and George constantly on the run looking for new jobs. In the beginning of the book, George reminds Lennie of how he lost their job in Weed. “She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse/we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day”

Even though George is responsible for Lennie ever since his Aunt Clara died, George did not so the right thing by killing him. Ever since Lennie’s Aunt Clara died he has been traveling and working along side of his friend George. Lennie is not very bright and does not make the best choices so George has to help him stay out of trouble. Once George finds Lennie by the River, where George told him to go if he ever got into trouble, he tells the story about how their lives are going to be when they get the money. Before George even goes to the River he tells Curley, “Don’t shoot ‘em. He didn’t know what he was doin’.” (Steinbeck 98) George didn’t Lennie to die and he even tried to stand up for him. George tries telling Curley that he isn’t the

He had known Lennie longer than any other person on the ranch, which allowed him to understand him better than anyone else. George recognized that he just could not look after Lennie forever. From George’s perception, killing Lennie before he was trapped was a generous thing to do. Nonetheless, from ones viewpoint killing is certainly not tolerable. Nonetheless, life is rarely black and white and sometimes love entails a change from complete mortality to relative.

When Lennie talks about how George has never hurt him, he was proven wrong later in the story.They were both having a conversation of how they wanna live on the "fatta the lan".When George heard the voices getting closer he got the gun and shot Lennie in the back of the head.He shot him in that spot so he wouldn't have to suffer.I think George did the right thing by killing Lennie.He had killed Curley's wife and he had killed a puppy.And George only did it because he didn't want him to suffer or get punished.They would have put him to jail or even taken him to an insane asylum.George did it for his own good.Lennie was pretty upset though but he knew he did the right thing.When Lennie and the imaginary rabbit were having the argument,the rabbit

George should feel guilty for committing the act himself, and he won’t have to worry about Lennie anymore. One reason George’s killing should be justified is because Lennie is kind of a harmless to George, and sometimes other people. Even though he causes George a lot of trouble he has the best interest in mind for himself

While Lennie never hurt anybody on purpose George was very justified in killing him. This is due to the trouble that Lennie has caused. As well as what will happen to him if George doesn't. Over the course of the book the characters often talk about one of the things Lennie has done in the past. They also witness the trouble Lennie causes and the things he does on the ranch. Near the end of the book this all catches up to George and Lennie. Meaning Lennie winds up in deep trouble that George can’t get him out of this time.

To support my opinion the reason why I thought that it was the right thing for George kill Lennie was because I wouldn’t think that Lennie would let anyone other character to kill him. Another thing was that

“ He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering.” (page 106). Lennie was always innocent and didn’t have a sense in which an adult would. As George tells him about the life they will have Lennie know that George is a trustworthy friend and he takes time out of his life to spend it with Lennie and show him appreciation. George knows many others get annoyed with Lennie and he wanted to do what was best for Lennie. Killing him was a very large sacrifice and it showed a lot of courage. Lennie’s life was taken to protect himself. Having an intellectual disability, nobody knew what was going on in his brain. Lennie was broken down by others because of his own mind. The action of George killing him, it showed appreciation towards Lennie putting his life into a better one at

In the story Of mice and men George has to make a very tough and heartbreaking decision. He had to kill one of his good friends lennie. In my opinion i think he did the right thing because lennie was getting out of control. First he squashed Curley's hand, he killed a puppy and he also killed Curley's wife. This is also an idea of euthanasia that George has to go through. In this case i feel this was a merciful option.