Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck in the 1930s, is about how two migrant workers, George and Lennie, who search from place to place for a job opportunity during the Great Depression. George is described as Lennie’s best friend and caretaker. Lennie has a mental disability and has a hard time controlling his own strength. George’s decision is to secretly kill Lennie because of the massive crime he committed by killing the boss’ son's wife. George’s decision brings up a very controversial issue of mercy killing, which is considered an important issue. When someone has a best friend and doesn’t want them to suffer the pain of dying, it is a tough decision that no friend wants to make. Many readers believe George's decision to kill his …show more content…
After the men of the ranch learned about the crime that Lennie had committed, they wanted to get him arrested and killed. The men also think that Lennie has Carlson’s gun. Curley said, “‘You go in Soledad an' get a cop. Get Al Wilts, he's deputy sheriff. Le's go now.’ He turned suspiciously on George. ‘You're comin' with us, fella.’ ‘Yeah,’ said George. ‘I'll come. But listen, Curley. The poor bastard's nuts. Don't shoot 'im. He di'n't know what he was doin'.’ ‘Don't shoot 'im?’ Curley cried. ‘He got Carlson's Luger. 'Course we'll shoot 'im’" (Stenbeck 97-98). This evidence illustrates that when Curley found out what Lennie did to his wife, George knew that there was absolutely no way that he would be able to save Lennie from this massive crime that he had committed. Instead, George thought that Lennie must be punished for it in the court of law and having him die peacefully and not suffer the pain. George’s decision to kill Lennie was apparently done briskly and not taken with careful thought and consideration that Lennie’s mental disability has caused his own