Selfishness vs. Selflessness The words selfish and selfless are two completely different words with two completely different meanings, yet they get confused quite often. In “Of Mice and Men,” some readers may envision the character George as selfish or harsh towards Lennie, however, Steinbeck portrays George as selfless. George and Lennie find themselves in penurious situations very often. This is burdensome for George considering Lennie’s mental disability, and it should be expected that George will become infuriated with him at times. It is evident that George’s actions and words towards Lennie are selfless or caring represented by Lennie’s mental disability, his troublesome behavior, the life George could have without him, and why George kills him. It seems like George and Lennie are always on the run. George and Lennie state, “An’ you ain’t gonna do no bad …show more content…
George describes, “ An’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens . . . an’ down the flat we’ll have a . . . little piece alfalfa---” (Steinbeck 105). Even in his last moments, George told Lennie the description of the farm and the rabbits for his delectation. This one aspiration brought Lennie so much happiness and George was having a rough time telling it one last time because he knew what he was about to do. The story states, “The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied” (Steinbeck 106). George’s hand is shaking because it is hurting him to do this but he knows it is for Lennie’s own good. George does not shoot Lennie out of selfishness, he shoots Lennie because he does not want him to suffer. If he lets Curley kill Lennie, Curley would shoot Lennie’s stomach and he would suffer for a while before he dies. George knows his life will not be the same and he will be despondent for a long time, but, he does it for the benefit of