“And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward towards the sand, and he lay without quivering” (Steinbeck 106). This quote shows Lennie Smalls’ death in the novella, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men is about two friends, George Milton and Lennie Smalls, who move to California to work on the ranch so they can save up their earnings and get their “American Dream.” One of the characters, Lennie, is mentally handicapped causing him to not know the difference between right or wrong. Because of this, Lennie kills Curley's wife and is shot by George. Lennie Smalls, a mentally handicapped man, is shot by his best friend, George Milton, because Lennie was suffering, he was preventing George from having a successful life, and he is out of control. …show more content…
He is a man who cannot take care of himself so he relies on his friend, George. Lennie does not fully understand that he will never be able to experience a normal life, because of his mind. This makes him suffer. Lennie is also very forgetful and confused because of his mental state which makes him suffer as well. “George scoffed, Lady, huh? Don’t even remember who that lady was. That was your own Aunt Clara. An’ she stopped givin’ ‘em to ya. You always killed ‘em” (Steinbeck 9). Lennie was already suffering because of his disabilities so George put a stop to it by shooting