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.
(Steinbeck, 96) This proves that Curley would stop at nothing to kill Lennie, and he would do it in a brutal and excruciatingly painful manor. George simply shot him in the back of the head, Lennie had no idea it was coming, and therefore was not scared, he had nothing to fear. George told him everything would be okay, that they would get their ranch and he could tend to the rabbits, he did ths to calm Lennie down, and allow him to die
" Pulling the trigger might have been a hard thing for George because killing Lennie would ruin their dreams this shows that George thought the best thing for lennie now was for him to die because he was already in so much trouble because of what he did in weed with the girl in the red dress and now he killed Curley 's wife so George didn 't want him to get himself into anymore problems so it was the best for him , this is why he killed Lennie it would be the best thing to do to not do anything more like hurting
The way that George killed Lennie was a quick and unpainful way. If he had not shot Lennie in the back of the head, things for Lennie would have been much worse. Even Curley says, “When you see ‘um, don’t give ‘im no chance. Shoot for his guts. That’ll double ‘im over” (Steinbeck 97).
When George hears Curley say this to all of the ranchers he wants to ensure Lennie will die a fast and painless death. If George were to let the ranchers get Lennie, then Curley says he will “shoot him in
Lennie, a lighthearted and compassionate character, was suddenly killed by George, the person he considered his best friend. Now, we must ask ourselves; did George do the right thing? Lennie, killing Curley’s wife, would’ve spent the remainder of his life in misery, but was it morally correct of George to take his life? He would’ve had no break from the sights of a prison cell and the cold dark concrete walls, but was it considered manslaughter to kill a person of significance in your life? He would’ve had no rest from the constant illness of guilt that controlled not only his brain but, his life, but was it lawfully justified in a court setting?
George’s Tough Decision Although George murdered his best friend, he made the correct choice because it saved Lennie from torture. First, Lennie had a problem with hurting and killing things, George saved Lennie from future problems. When Lennie gets scared he holds on tighter to whatever he’s holding in his hands. “He reached out to feel the red dress and the girl let’s out a squawk and that gets Lennie all mixed up and he holds on cause that’s the only thing he can think to do”(Steinbeck 39). Second, when Curly finds out who killed his wife he he said that he’s going to make him suffer, he wants to kill thim.
When George arrived, he relaxed Lennie and shot him in the back of the head because he knew that Curley was going to find him and kill
“He looked at the back of Lennie’s head at the place where the spine and skull were joined” (105) in John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, the main character, George Milton, had to make the difficult decision to end the life of his friend, Lennie Smalls. This explains some of what was happening in George’s brain when killing Lennie. What's happening is that he wanted to end it himself so know one would hurt him even more that what George was doing. Although most people would agree that killing another person is wrong. George is justified in killing Lennie because Lennie did not know what he was doing, Lennie made George’s life difficult, and George know their dream would never come true.
The reason I said this is because when Lennie killed Curley’s wife Curley said we need to find him. So, they all went looking for him. Then George knew right where he was and stayed with him. George had a gun with him. Also Curley wanted to shoot him right in the gut so he could suffer like the animals and Curley’s wife did.
Killing his best friend was justified though, for one George and Lennie were always on the move because Lennie always messed up, two, in the end when Lennie messed up again, Curly was going to make him suffer for killing his wife and breaking his hand. Third, George had to kill Lennie because lennie would have done it again. Throughout the book, George mentions that he is tired of moving around from place to place. Every time they settle down Lennie goes and messes everything up.
“She struggled violently under his hands. Her feet battered on the hay and she withered to be free; and from under Lennie’s hand came a muffled screaming” (Steinbeck 91). After the death of Curley’s wife it became clear to George that no matter what, Lennie was going to cause trouble whether he meant it or not, anywhere they were to go. George didn’t have any choice but to kill Lennie.
He pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 106). George shot Lennie because he kept killing things and people were mad at him and wanted to go after him for doing so. If George didn’t kill Lennie himself, then he may have suffered the wrath of a
Friendship is something everyone needs to survive. Without friends, there is no one to look to in times of need; no one to support you . In the novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, it is clear that George and Lennie are best friends who always stay together, even though their relationship is strained. But sometimes, friends must do what is best for the other. Due to this, it is clear that George was justified in killing Lennie at the end of the novel.
“‘Go on, George. Ain’t you gonna give me no more hell?’ ‘No,’ said George,” (Steinbeck 104). After George finds Lennie in the brush, he understands there was a bloodthirsty search party looking for Lennie. Instead of running away like they had done in the past, George shoots Lennie instead of allowing him to suffer at the hands of Curley.
