George had to shoot Lennie. If Curley had shot him first, he probably would have died a slow and painful death. The police might have found him, and put him either in prison, an asylum or had him executed. Even if he escaped those fates, he would still be a danger to those around him. None of these outcomes would have been better than the relatively painless death he died. George felt he had no other choice. Firstly, he killed the mice, the puppy, and Curley’s wife. He ends up killing everything he touches because he doesn’t know his own strength. He didn’t mean to kill them, but this pattern of behavior still poses a danger to everyone around Lennie. If he escapes, he might kill others. That’s assuming he manages to escape without being caught by Curley or the police. When Curley discovered his wife’s dead body, he said “I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot him in the guts.” Curley probably wouldn’t have let him get away, and once he found him, he would have made sure he died the most painful death possible. George made sure to kill Lennie in the least painful way he could. He had him look away and then shot him in the back of the head while telling him the story about how they’re going to live in a nice house, and he can tend the rabbits. …show more content…
If that had happened, the best case scenario would have been being put in an asylum. At that time, asylums would have not been very humane. They probably would have kept Lennie restrained for long periods of time. At worst, he could be executed. If he had been executed, he would have spent the last moments of his life in fear, but before George shot him he was