He is gone. Lennie is dead. He has no future. His goals never to be achieved. George pulled the trigger, shot one bullet to end Lennie’s life. This is what happened in John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men. George Milton took Lennie Small’s life. George Milton and Lennie Smalls, two migrant farmers, great friends, and companions that looked out for one and other. George has to take care of Lennie because he has a mental disability. Lennie can be very clueless and forgetful. He will also do anything George or what most others would tell him to do. He took Lennie’s life because he believed that he needed to kill Lennie in order to put him out of his misery, to be merciful. George felt he needed to stop any further harm from happening to Lennie or …show more content…
Lennie was enjoying his life and never showed that he was ever ounce in excruciating pain that he could not bear. According to Rebecca Rosenberg from the New York Times Gigi Jordan stated “He (Jude Jordan, Gigi’s son) told her Tzekov had shoved feces in his mouth, stuck needles under his fingernails, and stabbed him in the hand repeatedly in addition to sexual abuse,” (Rosenberg). In Gigi Jordan’s case the killing could have been justified as a mercy killing because her son was suffering from terrible pain and abuse. She thought it was better for her son to die than to keep having to deal with his brutal life. Abuse leading to a terrible life could be a reason to label Jude Jordan’s murder as a mercy killing. He had been tortured and was apart of a terrible life, Lennie from of mice and men was not. According to Joseph Serna of the Los Angeles times on Dec. 11, 2013 Lance Anderson, killer of Lisa Nave and Maxine Anderson, was sentenced to 100 years to life in prison. He was sentenced because the murder was not labeled as a mercy killing because there was no proof of his actions being merciful.(Serna) This what happened in Of Mice & Men, there was no proof of George’s actions being merciful because we could never see that Lennie was in excruciating pain. Lennie’s death was a murder because was never in pain he could not bear or suffer a terrible …show more content…
In Of Mice & Men John Steinbeck writes “‘Well, I can go away,’ said Lennie. ‘I’ll go right off in the hills an’ find a cave if you don’ want me’”(Steinbeck 104) In this quote Lennie talks about how he could just run away, and no one would have to deal with him again. He would not get hurt, he would not hurt anyone else, and everything would be ok. This shows that there are other options. George did not have to shoot Lennie, it was a choice. There was no place for mercy. Poor Lennie could have lived on and done what he had wanted, he could have just went and done his own thing without being harmed or anyone harming him, but George shot him and Lennie can not do any of those things. In conclusion, Lennie’s death was a murder. He was a man that could have lived on to pursue he dreams, he could tend to the rabbits. George took his life instead. Lennie was not in pain, and he could have continued a life with George. We never know what could have happened, because George shot him. All in all, Lennie’s death was not a mercy killing, it was a murder because Lennie was never in terrible pain because of his disability, he was not apart of a bad life, and he could have lived on to do other
Some people believe that killing another human being for the sake of “putting them out of their misery” is the right thing to do. They are wrong. The act of committing homicide cannot be reversed. He is taking away an indefinite amount of time from a person’s life : time that an individual might become stronger or even fully recover. That is why George should not have taken Lennie’s life away for the intention of saving his life.
Lennie's disability caused him to engage in actions with consequences that he had no clue of this made euthanization the most compassionate option to deal with Lennie. Many argue that Lennie's death was murder because George did not want to deal with him anymore. On the contrary, George never wanted to kill Lennie but to help him not harm or cause damage to others. Lennie is often misunderstood and mistreated by others, including George, his friend, and his caretaker.
The guys go on a man hunt to find Lennie. George finds Lennie in a bush hiding, George takes advantage of the opportunity and shoots Lennie in the back of the head, killing him as humanly as possible. If George hadn’t of killed Lennie right then and there, the other guys were going to and it wasn’t going to be as humane as George did. Even though many believe that George’s choice was wrong, George’s choice to kill Lennie himself was right due to Lennie possibly having a rough life in prison if arrested, medical care for gunshot wounds to the abdomen was inadequate, and mental health institutes being full of abuse and
It does not directly state that George is doing this in order to end Lennies suffering like with Candy’s dog, it is implied that George shoots Lennie to end his suffering and to make his death
It was Georges responsibility to take care of Lennie. Aunt Clara asked George to watch after Lennie and he did for awhile but when Lennie needed him the most, he was not there for him. Why would anyone want to kill their best
Lennie with his simple mind, always gets into trouble. This time, Lennie gets himself in a bind once again, that George can’t save him from. George decision to kill Lennie in the story, was due to his responsibility, sympathy, and love for Lennie. George’s decision to kill Lennie was out of sympathy for him.
Lennie also could’ve run away and lived in a cave, where he would die a slow death of starvation. George didn’t want Lennie to suffer, and killing him in the least painful way was the best option. It’s usually not morally right to kill another human being, but sometimes it can be the only or best option. Killing someone can be the only or best option if killing them would give them the least amount of pain when they died. In Of Mice and Men killing Lennie was George’s the best choice for himself, Lennie, and every other person, because Lennie could have hurt other people.
When Wrong is Right At the end of “Of Mice and Men” George is faced with grim decision of shooting his best friend and family member Lennie to ease both of their future pains. George has known Lennie for mostly all of his life and he knew that when Lennie was dead their dream of having a house would be over. George then makes up his mind and shoots Lennie making him think if it was the right decision or it was wrong. In this case the decision was right because of many reasons with one being that Lennie would never be able to survive in the world that they live in.
George was a good worker, but Lennie was an amazing worker with a tenacious work ethic and stamina. Lennie had incredible strength, but sometimes he did not understand just how massive he was. Many times throughout the book Lennie is caught hurting people or killing animals on accident. The biggest reason Lennie should not have been killed was because he was a major asset in the working force. That means he could have helped continue to bring in money towards the farm they dreamed about operating someday.
He saved him from a brutal, endless amount of suffering and pain. As I mentioned before this isn’t the first time this happened, so who’s to say that it won’t happen again? George must be tired of running and Lennie probably was too, but just not capable of expressing it. Another quote in the text “My Right To Death With Dignity At 29” states, “I quickly decided that death with dignity was the best option for me and my family.” She knew that her death with the pride she still had left was preferable to dying a little later while suffering.
so if he knows it’s time to kill Lennie then it’s time. Why would George kill him, if it was not to save him, after all the
The main reason George killed Lennie is because Lennie would have killed somebody again. And the evidence is clearly there, the pet mice that he killed, the poor puppy that he accidently hit to hard, and especially Curley’s wife. He almost killed the girl in weed if he had gone any further. The sad thing is is that he doesn't know how strong he really is, nor does he know what he’s done wrong in the first place.
Although, Lennie’s actions probably weren’t his fault, with him not being able to learn from his actions and remember that his own strength is too much for him that he became a threat. George, pained to do it, knew what was best for Lennie and other people/animals, and had to end his life. Overall, even though George had to make some pretty drastic decisions and someone’s life got taken away, it was all for the best and nothing bad will no longer happen and who knows, maybe George will get to live his
“Euthanasia is the kindest gift to a dog or cat unwanted and unloved” (Ingrid Newkirk). This quote shows how Lennie, treated like a dog, wasn’t wanted and was going to die in a very harsh and torturous way. George stepped in as a friend to end his misery and running. If Lennie wasn’t killed right there in an assisted suicide, it would’ve been much worse. This death of Lennie was an act of care and Euthanasia, rather than an act of murder.
It is clear that George did not have the right to end Lennie 's life in such a selfish way. George always talks to Lennie about how fabulous they are when they are together at their own ranch and from day to day I end up with their life in a very cruel way. In conclusion, it can be said that George 's reasons for ending George 's life were enough to do so since Lennie was a very dependent person and could not stand alone. George tried to help him at all times as far as he could, but still Lennie was still in serious trouble, that 's precisely the reason why George wanted to prevent Lennie suffering in the future because he realized that he could not live alone.