Of Mice And Men Intentions Analysis

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is a novella about the American Dream two friends have. The novel describes the lifestyle of two poor workers who have long-term plans to live a happy and successful life on a farm ranch. Steinbeck demonstrates in this novella that sometimes to get to the ultimate destination, there can always be a bumpy road along the way. In the novel, there were several examples of actions with good intentions giving tragic outcomes. Those are examples of bumps on the road. Of Mice and Men shows that a person’s actions may not always coincide with their intentions. The first example of actions not matching their intentions is how Curley’s efforts to show affection always give him the opposite outcome of what he wanted. Curley’s wife

George’s decision to kill Lennie was ultimately for his benefit. “The hand shook violently, but his (George) face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 106). The quote which states how Lennie dies also shows that George was nervous and hesitant in killing Lennie. Scarseth explains in the article, “Friendship. Love. That too is what Of Mice and Men is all about. Lennie and George, disparate types, are all against good reason, friends. They share a good dream. They love one another” (Scarseth 3). George killed Lennie out of love because he knew Lennie would suffer if he lived longer. Even though the action was bad, George decided it was best to kill Lennie to protect him. He knew that if Lennie was still alive, he would suffer greatly for two reasons: Curley wanted to avenge his wife and eventually Lennie would be sent to jail. If Lennie stayed alive, then Curley would have taken him and tortured him through immense amounts of pain for a long period of time. In addition, Lennie would theoretically have been sent to jail because he would be accused of rape and