Killing Lennie In Of Mice And Men

Killing Lennie “You hadda, George. I swear you hadda” (Steinbeck 107). Slim, one of the main characters in Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men, says this to George as they walk away from Lennie’s body. Slim helps George realize that he did the right thing by killing Lennie himself instead of letting someone else do it before he did. If George had not killed Lennie himself, Lennie would be facing torture from Curley, being thrown and tied up in a mental institution, and facing the fact of a recurring cycle of doing bad things. Although Lennie probably would have been killed anyways, George ultimately saves him by killing him himself. Curley has it out for Lennie just because Lennie is bigger than he is. He actually doesn’t care that Lennie kills his wife. Mainly his pride is hurt from when Lennie beat him up and broke his hand, but the fact that Lennie kills Curley’s wife does not help the situation at all. Curley shows his hatred for Lennie when he says, “I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun. I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot ‘im in the guts” (Steinbeck 96). Curley really has it out for him and Lennie has no idea why. Lennie doesn’t realize that the things he does are wrong. He does not mean to hurt or harm anyone but Curley does not see that as a factor in his desire to

Although Lennie probably was not to blame for his actions, his failure to learn and remember along with his tremendous physical strength made him a lingering threat to others. Further, George ultimately saved many people from Lennie’s wrong doings and misunderstandings that were likely to occur in the future. George realized that to actually save Lennie and do the best for everyone in the forthcoming, he had to kill him. Sometimes the best way to help someone is by letting him