Of Mice And Men 5 Essay, Research Paper

True Friendship

In the book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the characters George Milton and Lennie Small work their way through many hardships, but one would never think that the relationship they had could end. The book is a reality check of two different characters living their life, when an enormous shook occurs at the end of the book. When George shoots Lennie, one could say it is not out of anger but of a fraternal bond that the two characters share. The shooting could represent George saving Lennie’s soul and decency or one might say it is a lack of friendship. The discussion as follows will explore both sides of the controversy. Was it the right for George to shoot Lennie? One of the reasons George makes the choice of taking upon the burden of killing Lennie is because he knows Curley is out to kill him anyway. When Lennie kills Curleys wife, he knows exactly where to go, due to the fact that he did something wrong. George tells Lennie before they arrived at the ranch, “if you just happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush” (15). George separates from the group and went to the area stated to Lennie if he got in trouble. The readers’ perspective would think that George did Lennie a favor in shooting him to put Lennie out of misery or suffering caused by the other characters. Therefore, since he knew Curley would not give up till Lennie was dead, he took the responsibility of killing him in a tactful way. Another way Gorge could justify the shooting is when he took the effort to describe the dream that Lennie loves to hear so much before the unexpected shooting occurs. Lennie has absolutely no idea that while George was explaining the dream that it would be the last time he hears it. When the reader reads the horrible news, how could you not have any sympathy towards the two. Like the old saying goes, “there is always two sides of a story”. Did George shoot Lennie to save his own reputation, knowing Lennie would be killed anyway? He could have let Curley and the others find Lennie, but then he might have said something that he was not supposed to. This would have ruined anything George had planned for the future on the ranch. So when George figured this out, he took it upon himself to do the deed. Another unusual point was that George did have the nerve to kill his one true friend that would do absolutely anything for him. George could have been fed up with watching and taking care of Lennie, so this was the perfect moment to get rid of him. George always was extremely rude when Lennie ever said anything, putting Lennie down as if he was much lower then him. ‘So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you’re a crazy bastard’ (4). That is no way for a true friend to treat someone. Did he kill Lennie because he was embarrassed or fed up with the fact that he got in trouble again? In the book the reader can see George does shoot Lennie to save his soul, why would George go through the trouble to tell him the dream. He obviously has a heart to make sure that Lennie dies with decency. ‘George shivered and looked at the gun, and then he threw it’ (106). So in the long run, one might assume that it was the right thing for George to shoot Lennie. In conclusion, instead of thinking of George as a narrow-minded character, one can see that he is a meaningful person who cares a lot about his confidant.