The novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is another example of guilt in American Literature. This novel recalls of two men named George Milton and Lennie Smalls. George is the overseer of Lennie because of Lennie’s mental disability. The two travel together seeking work and continue working there until Lennie finds himself in trouble. One of the characters in the story is known as Candy. Candy owns an old dog that the other bunk mates complain about because of the stench coming from the dog. Eventually, another man named Carlson becomes furious about the smell and exclaims he wants the dog out. He also tells Candy to shoot the dog, and after Candy shuts the idea down, he offers to shoot the dog himself. After a while, Candy relents and allows Carlson to shoot the dog. “‘Let’s get it over with,’ he said. ‘We can’t sleep with him stinkin’ around in here.’... …show more content…
The topic ventures into soft things and Curley’s wife asks if Lennie would like to pet her hair. However, Lennie refuses to let go. “Lennie was in a panic. His face was contorted. She screamed then, and Lennie’s hand closed over her mouth and nose. ‘Please don’t,’ he begged. ‘Oh! Please don’t do that. George’ll be mad’” (Steinbeck 91). Lennie is panicking because he knows he’s in trouble and is feeling shame considering what he did. He still refuses to release Curley’s wife and grows furious at the amount of noise she is producing. “ He shook her then, and he was angry with her. ‘Don’t you go yellin’,’ he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck” (91). Lennie was so determined to tend to the rabbits, that he pushed away his guilt and ended up killing Curley’s wife. His guilt led to feelings of anger and consequently unfortunate actions. However, Of Mice and Men is not the only novel which has guilt leading to a disastrous