The Ultimate Gift-Euthanasia Prompt: Defend or challenge the notion that George's act of killing Lennie was one of kindness In John Steinbeck's classic novella, Of Mice and Men, George makes the decision of killing Lennie because he knows it is in Lennie's best interest. His act of killing Lennie is not considered criminal. George has good intentions in killing his companion. George is trying to prevent Lennie from being tortured and from his constant desire to please George and not cause trouble. Additionally, Lennie repeatedly places himself in difficult situations, and as a result, brings George into the circumstances. There is a close friendship between George and Lennie, and George had carefully thought out whether or not he …show more content…
Lennie is incapable of handling not being able to grasp onto their dream and succeed. Lennie is given the reward of death, he dies with hope and euphoria. George wants him to achieve the dream, but the only attainable way is through death. Because of Lennie?s contentment and joyfulness when his death occurs, he died an honorable death. The way in which Lennie died is considered to be euthanasia. George mercifully puts the ignorant fool to sleep while he and Lennie, for the last time, fantasize about the soon-to-come dream. George is encouraging to Lennie and reassures him that they are ?gonna do it soon? (106). What George means by this is that Lennie can escape and reach the dream through death. Lennie visualizes himself reaching the American dream and there is no pain or suffering in his death as he ?jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering? (106). George selflessly experiences pain and agony from the execution of his only companion as he knows Lennie is now in a better place. The decision of killing should not be looked upon as criminal. George does not have a cruel heart nor does he take pleasure in killing Lennie. George wants what is best for Lennie and he takes the time to set up a nice, peaceful conversation on a topic of interest to Lennie. He instructs Lennie to ?look down there acrost the river, like you can almost see the place? (106). He reassures Lennie that everyone will treat him pleasingly.
I believe that George, in no way should be punished for killing Lennie. He did it for the right reasons and it was best for Lennie in that situation. The closure George and Lennie hot from this ordeal was better, and easier this way for both of them. This is a little bit of information on way I believe George was justified in killing Lennie.
George and Lennie were best friends for a long time, more like brothers. Lennie is about as bright as a 2 watt bulb, so George couldn’t really get mad at him when he accidently killed Curley’s wife while feeling the softness of her hair. “…’I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know’”. The two had planned a future together—a future in their own dream ranch, a ranch where no trouble would ever bother them. “’You…an’ me. Ever’body gonna be nice to you. Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ‘em’”. Then after he tells him about the rabbits that Lennie is so fond of, he shoots him in the back of the head where he knows it will not hurt him, and Lennie will not know what hit him. This is the peaceful alternative to what Curley had in store for him. Curley's exact words were "shoot the bastard right in the guts." George's euthanizing of Lennie makes the mentally incompetent Lennie die with dignity. Had Curley gotten to Lennie first, Lennie would have suffered. This shows you how much George cares for Lennie, no matter what he does or the crimes he commits. He’d always be there to help Lennie get right back up to his feet, make him forget all his worries, and move on like nothing happened. I strongly believe George was the right person to kill Lennie, and made the right decision in doing so, rather than to let him suffer in the hands of Curley.
Throughout the book we see an interesting bond between two very different men. George is similar to an older brother and has become responsible for Lennie. Because of his mental disorder Lennie is dependent on George and does whatever he says. They both had plans to spend their futures together. It was very difficult for George to kill Lennie, but he did it out of him love for him, which made it even harder. In that moment it is clear how much George really cares for Lennie. Though their friendship comes an appealing finish it is evident that both characters are extremely close to each other and would go to extreme lengths for one
In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, George was overall morally justified for shooting Lennie because he had good reasons to do so. George did take Lennie’s life but he did it to save Lennie from the pain of Curley’s wrath. If George did not kill Lennie, then he would have had to suffer through life in jail or an asylum or torture from Curley. Many people think that George was responsible for Lennie, so the murder was not justified. However, George was justified because Lennie had hurt others before and had strong potential to hurt again.
George promises Lennie many things once they get their own farm, “’O.K. Someday- we’re gonna get the jack together… ‘Specially if you remember as good as that.’”(15-16). So George killing Lennie was for his own benefit and it was a very immoral thing to do.
In Of Mice and Men, George was right to kill Lennie. In the novel, Lennie killed a mouse, a puppy, and a woman. Lennie could have been charged with rape on two separate occasions. In Weed, Lennie grabbed a woman and ripped a part of her clothes off. At the farm, in the barn, Lennie stroked her hair and accidentally killed her. George killed Lennie, because Candy told George he wished he would have shot his own dog, Lennie killed Curley’s wife, the puppie, and the mouse, and the lynch mob would have done worse things to Lennie.
However, people who have a life sentence in jail death is a faster and painless way then permanently staying in prison. The third reason George had to kill Lennie because George realized Lennie would never get better and the dream would never come true. According to the statement on 94, it stated George knew Lennie couldn’t get better and the dream was only a lie. “George wanted a better life someday for himself and for Lennie, but deep down he knew he knew Lennie’s limitations and accepted that the dream was never meant to be” (Steinbeck 94). This quote states that George could not accomplish this dream because of Lennie’s condition. Since Lennie could not get better George had to kill Lennie.
He knew that it was his responsibility to kill Lennie. He killed Lennie because he was responsible for him. George also killed him because he did not want to feel guilty or bad like Candy. George also didn’t want Lennie to have a painful death by the hands of Curley’s gang. He knew that it would be best for him and Lennie for him to do it himself. He wanted Lennie to feel comfortable and he wanted to tell him how he felt. George says “No, Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want you to know”(Steinbeck 106). George did the right
A piece of text from the book Of Mice and Men says that, “Guys like us got no family. They make a little stake an’ then they blow it. They ain’t got nobody in the worl’ that gives a hoot in [heck] about ‘em” (Steinbeck 104). Therefore, George was pointing out to Lennie that they have what most guys in their time period don’t, they have each other and George is telling Lennie that that’s how he wants it to stay. George doesn’t want to kill Lennie, but he feels like has to. George is going to regret this in his future. A different quote I found is when George and Lennie are talking, “Lennie said ‘I thought you was mad at me, George.’ ‘No, Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s the thing I want ya to know’” (Steinbeck 106). Therefore, this quote tells us that George doesn’t want to kill Lennie, but he feels as if he needs to. Lennie was George’s only family and George wants Lennie to know that before he kills him. George cares about Lennie and George is not going to be happy after Lennie is gone for a little bit. The act of George killing Lennie is
In the story to prove it, it says “They got to bring him in, I guess. They ain’t no way out. Maybe they won’t hurt ‘im. He said sharply, I ain’t gonna let ‘em hurt lennie”(steinbeck 95). This is important evidence because you see why George makes his decision on killing lennie because he keeps killing and now he just killed and human. Another reasoning for killing being acceptable because also in the book it says “le’s go now. He turned suspiciously on George. You're coming with us fella. Yeah said George. I’ll come. But listen, curley. The poor b*****d’s nuts. Don’t shoot ‘im. He didn’t know what he was doin’ “(steinbeck 98). This evidence is important because it shows how George didn’t want them to kill lennie and he wanted to because lennie didn't understand what he was doing and that he knew lennie didn't know that was wrong of him to do. So he needed to kill lennie in order to protect the rest of the community from lennie hurting
First and foremost, George has to constantly continue to repeat rules to Lennie because Lennie is undisciplined. Like, after Slim gives Lennie a puppy Lennie brings the puppy into the bunkhouse with him even though George told him he was not supposed to. For example, after Lennie comes into the bunkhouse John Steinbeck writes that George " reached down and picked up the tiny puppy from where Lennie had been concealing it against his stomach." (Steinbeck) In this quote it shows that Lennie disobeyed the rules that George has set with him so he could get the puppy this means that Lennie is undisciplined because he broke the rules even though he knew that there were specific rules that were not supposed to be broken. consequently, George has to repeat himself many times and treat Lennie like a child by fixing the things that Lennie messes up and disobeyes the rules. So George was justified in his decision to kill
Death, the one thing all of humanity will eventually face, could be seen as an end or an entrance. What is your extent of a friendship? How far are you willing to go to help the person you care for? For numerous reasons, a broad amount of people think murder is immoral—especially if it was your own best friend. But sometimes we may have to go to the extreme, as long as we know it was the right thing to do from the heart because that’s how much you know you care. In this story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, I strongly believe that George was right to kill Lennie.
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
While the the act of euthanasia is mainly performed of the terminally ill, the use of it on Lennie is justified. Lennie is special to say it in a nice way. From the text we can tell that Lennie needs George. Emotionally and mentally. George just being around Lennie relaxes him. Going from the text we can tell that after Lennie kills Curley's wife he will be either shot or less likely hung. Now the act of George shooting Lennie is more than the end of the book. It in it self is a representation of what candy and his dog had. When Candy's dog was put down, Candy makes it a statement that he raised him and he should have been the one to put him down. This was applied to George and Lennie. It would be better for Lennie to die without knowing it
the killing is laid. In Of Mice and Men, although George chose to kill Lennie, Steinbeck’s portrayal of their deep friendship throughout his novela proves George’s final actions of pulling the trigger on Lennie is an at of mercy because George had Lennie’s best interests at heart.