How Does Steinbeck's Decision To End Of Mice And Men

In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George ultimately makes a major decision to end Lennie's life to make sure other people around him are not going to get hurt. It was a tremendously difficult decision for George, he decided to shoot Lennie for selfish and unselfish reasons. I agree with George’s decision to end Lennie’s life. George could have run away with Lennie again, just like in Weed. On page 7, Lennie and George talk about how they ran away to escape something Lennie did that was bad, George states, “An’ you aint gonna do no bad things like you did in Weed, neither.” This is an important piece of evidence because at the end of the book George could have chosen to run again with Lennie instead of ultimately ending his life, but he was tired of moving around because of him.

Furthermore, I agree with the outcome of Chapter 6. In my opinion, if I were George, I would feel like it would have to be done. Steinbeck constantly reminded us that their world was merciless to the weak and that Lennie would have been taken out in the worst way by a mob. This is described when Lennie kills Curley’s wife and Slim is explaining to George that “Curley’s gonna wanna shoot ‘im” (97). George took matters into his own hands, allowing Lennie to go peacefully and happily. Additionally, I believe that George’s actions were good, especially with the way he handled it. Euthanizing a friend or someone very close is a very difficult thing to do, especially if running away has been an option before. In addition, George was very gentle with the way Lennie died. On page 106, George explains to Lennie, “No Lennie. I aint aint mad. I never been mad, an’ I aint now. That’s a thing I want you to know,” This is important to include because it shows that even if Lennie did something wrong, he still had empathy for