The+killing+of+Lennie

Could you imagine your best friend killing you? In the book Of Mice and Men, the author John Steinbeck has two characters that are best friends till the very end. Until at the last second George turns and shoots Lennie. Why would John Steinbeck have George kill Lennie, when they were best friends? Two wrongs don’t make a right (Internal 1). John Steinbeck looked at killing Lennie as an act of mercy. George kept Lennie as a best friend his whole life. George would talk to Lennie about living in a house together and how Lennie would get to tend to the rabbits (Steinbeck 42). George treated Lennie like his own son; he even got Lennie his job. Lennie was slow and one day decided to pet a mouse and killed it. Another time Lennie was playing with one of the dog’s pup and killed it. He also killed the boss’s son’s wife. This incident caused the major conflict in the story. Curley’s wife went to visit Lennie in the barn, where Lennie was sitting with the dead pup. She saw the pup and they started talking and Curley’s wife said her hair was soft and Lennie could pet it, so he did and she started screaming, so Lennie put his hand over her mouth and killed Curley’s wife. All of these incidents were all accidents. But Steinbeck didn’t let Curley know that so they all went after Lennie including George (Steinbeck 101). John Steinbeck was writing in a time period where noone knew haow to act with somone with has a diability. In his time frame they didn't realize that people who have a problem don't realize when they're doing someone wrong that its actually wrong and when people don't realize that they take anger and hate out on them. Even though those people don't realize its wrong, Lennie never realized he was killing curley's wife, he didn't realize the mouse. People like Lennie are usually in their own way of mind, they don't know what wrong until someone says something or does something about it. Why would John Steinbeck have George betray Lennie this way? John Steinbeck had George kill Lennie because he already had Lennie in happy thoughts, they were talking about where they were going to live and how Lennie will be able to tend to the rabbits. John Steinbeck made George the murderer. He had Lennie in peacefulness, so he could die in peace and not fear (Gale 1). John Steinbeck makes all of his characters realize what the real world is all about, except for Lennie. Steinbeck creates this character that is so oblivious to any of the bad things in the world. Steinbeck creates George to keep Lennie happy and to keep his mind thinking that life is full of happiness and nothing bad ever happens. John Steinbeck's goal was to create that type of environment for Lennie to live in. If Lennie was not that type of character throughout the book, it would have changed the whole moral of the story. John Steinbeck wrote this story to say that the way people treat those with a disability is wrong. By George having Lennie in a peaceful state then killing him shows that George did respect Lennie, and cared about him and wanted him to be happy. The killing of Lennie is the biggest part in the whole story. Having Lennie die in peace and happiness about everything in life is better than dying in fear and betrayal. John Steinbeck’s creation of George killing Lennie sets the stage of how George was truly faithful to Lennie and wants his best friend to die the way everyone should… in happiness.

Works Cited: 1. "Internal Access." //Power Library//. Web. 25 May 2010. . 2. "Gale Cengage Product Failure." General Logon Page. Web. 25 May 2010. . 3. Steinbeck, John and Thomas Fensch. //Conversations with John Steinbeck//. Jackson: University of Mississippi. 1988. Print. 4. Steinbeck, John. //Of Mice and Men.// New York: Penguin, 1993. Print.