All of us will be presented with an important choice at least once in our lives. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, George is confronted with a very difficult choice after Lennie accidently kills Curley’s wife: let Lennie live but have him be put through the pain of being executed by hanging, or end his life quickly and painlessly. John Steinbeck clearly expresses his own feelings about this decision and the resulting actions through many characters. Steinbeck first portrays his feelings through George when he discovers Curley’s wife’s body. “I should of knew. I guess maybe way back in my head I did.” (Page 94). George always knew that Lennie didn’t know his own strength, and he feels guilty for what he let happen. This passage says that …show more content…
“Never you mind. A guy got to sometimes.” (Page 107) Slim says this after he realizes what George must do and sees Lennie lying dead in the sand. Steinbeck is showing his feelings of remorse and acceptance through this quote. Slim knew that they would torture Lennie if they caught him alive, so he believes George made the right decision in killing Lennie humanely. After Slim realizes what George is going to do, he goes along with George’s plan. “I guess we gotta get ‘im,” Slim repeated.” (Page 97) Steinbeck shows that Slim repeats what he said to convey that Slim knows what George must do and accepts it. Steinbeck knows early on that George will kill Lennie. He uses Slim to convey his feelings of grim realization. Steinbeck also chooses Slim to convey his feelings of compassion and his viewpoint on Lennie’s death. “Come on George. Me an’ you’ll go in an’ get a drink. You hadda, George. I swear you hadda.” (Page 107) Slim is comforting George, telling him that it was the right choice. He is reassuring him so that he is not too hard on himself. Steinbeck uses Slim to convey complex thought and wisdom, so it seems like Steinbeck uses Slim as his voice. This means that Steinbeck thought that killing Lennie was the right thing to