How Does George Kill Lennie

"I ain't got no people. I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin' to fight all the time. . .(45)”. Migrant workers during the Great Depression moved constantly from ranches which as a result prevented them from creating emotional ties and relationships with people. They traveled long distances alone, with no one to look after them. In the novel, “Of Mice and Men”, by John Steinback, two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Smalls, travel together during the Great Depression in the hopes of making enough money to reach the american dream of buying there own ranch “to live of the fatta land” as Lennie put it. Ironically, in the novel,

His morality takes many turns which eventually causes readers to question if george was morally justified in shooting lennie at the end. As a result of Lennie not wanting to get into trouble with george, he runs away the moment he kills curley’s wife. Towards the end of the novel, George faces the internal conflict of having to choose to kill lennie. Geroge endangeres his own life when he steals Carlos’s lugar to kill lennie rather than let him suffer a slow and painful death in the hands of curley and the other ranch workers. It is clear to the readers that lennies death was the most painful action for george because he had to kill the only person that unconditionally cared for him. George shows his weakness towards lennie when he tells him the plan for their dream ranch one last time before he murders him. In the novel it states: “Look acrost the river, Lennie, an’ I’ll tell you so you can almost see it.” George kills lennie to prevent any future mishaps from occurring. He knows that Lennie’s murders is a never ending cycle that he must personally put an end to. Also, he decides to shoot lennie to prevent him from later on regretting killing him similar to how Candy regrets killing his own dog. on the other hand, george describes a point in his life where his actions evolved morally. in the novel it states “Tell you what made me stop that. One day a bunch of guys was standin’ around up on the Sacramento River. I was feelin’ pretty smart. I turns to Lennie and says, ‘Jump in.’ An’ he jumps. Couldn’t swim a stroke. He damn near drowned before we could get him. An’ he was so damn nice to me for pullin’ him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in. Well, I ain’t done nothing like that no more.” Geroges relationship with lennie made him selfless. His turning point is the moment when he realizes that Lennie will do anything to please him. Also, at the point George realized that he must act