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Murder In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Murder is easily one of the most disputed practices in American society. Some of the most controversial social and political issues involve death, including abortions, warfare, and animal rights. Additionally, it is a common topic in the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Three characters are murdered over the course of the novel, and like many of the previously stated social issues, there is no exact ruling if these murders are justified. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck brings forth the idea that sometimes murder is morally justifiable. The first stated murder in the book takes place when many of the men decided that Candy’s old sheepdog had been alive long enough, and it would be more beneficial for all affiliated parties to shoot …show more content…

In this novel, Curley’s wife had gotten killed while Lennie was trying to latch onto her hair. His sheer strength had broken her neck and her death was probably the most brutal, as this was the only murder where no weapons were used. Yes, this form of death is barbaric and uncalled for, but Curley’s wife was easily one of the least popular people on the ranch, so some thought that the murder was her fault. When Candy sees Curley’s wife’s body, “his sorrow and anger grew into words,” and he says in a rage, “You God damn tramp, you done it, di’n’t you? I s’pose you were glad. Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good. You ain’t no good now, you lousy tart.” (p. 95) Candy is saying that he believes that Curley’s wife set everything up because she uses her gender to her advantage. Over the course of the book, she often tries to have conversations with the other people on the farm to combat her loneliness, but the people on the ranch only see her as disobedient. This negative perception of Curley’s wife leads George to tell Lennie that “[she’ll] get us into a mess,” (p. 88) and that he should not try to interact with her. The assumed actions of Curley’s wife reflect her loneliness. She was denied from acting, which was a dream of hers, and restricted from ever talking to anybody, therefore sinking into a place where she had nothing

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This story (of mice and men) is about 2 friends that have been together for a long time. One friend is named George, George is like a big brother to the little brother named Lennie, Lennie is a little slow so he really doesn’t know what he really does. In this essay I'm going to be writing about whether or not students should be able to read Of Mice and Men based on the subject matter which is justified if George had a good reason in killing Lennie. I'm going to give my opinions on this book, so one reason you could have justified into George killing Lennie would be religion. If Lennie wanted to die then it would have been a reason and that reason is Euthanasia

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Justified Death Of Mice and Men was an inspiring book about a couple of men just trying to get by in the Great Depression. George and Lennie had known each other for a very long time and had grown to depend on each other. The most controversial topic from this book was why George killed Lennie. It was the right thing to do for multiple reasons. One of the many reasons for george to kill George is that Lennie was a danger to those around him as well as himself.

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744 Words | 3 Pages

It is difficult for them to get past the information thrown at them. Take George and Lennie for an example. When they arrive, they are instantly given Curley’s Wife’s status by Candy. Assuming that his words are spoken truly, their hatred for her begins. There are many sides to this woman that these men do not see.

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1037 Words | 5 Pages

According to debatewise.org 52 percent of people agree with mercy killings while 48 percent disagree. In the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, one of the main characters by the name of George fires the round of a Luger pistol into the back of his best friend’s head, Lennie Small. Without context, this would be seen as murder, as a crime. In this particular scenario, th George’s act was not murder, it was mercy.

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1543 Words | 7 Pages

She was never even given a proper name besides “Curley's wife” which only makes her Curley's possession. The way the other characters talk and interact with Curley’s wife demonstrates how sexism was an active part of a woman’s life in the 1920’s. The first time Curley’s wife is mentioned, Candy is talking about Curley’s glove full of vaseline, and how it is to keep his hand soft for his wife. The other ranchers know about this because Curley went around bragging about it, to make him feel better about himself and to assert his dominance. The fact that Curley went around telling people about

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465 Words | 2 Pages

The novella Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck contains many disturbing scenes;, within the novel there are countless examples of characters shooting and killing animals. This can be seen in with Lennie’s dead mouse in his pocket in the very beginning of the book, with the shooting of Candy’s old dog, and even Lennie breaking the neck of his own puppiye. However, despite all of these highly disturbing events within the novella, perhaps the most disturbing event in the story is the murder of Curley’s wife by Lennie. The scene of Curley’s wife being murdered is perhaps the most disturbing event within the entire book for two reasons: the climax of events leading towards the murder scene, and the way in which Curley’s wife struggled for survival

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459 Words | 2 Pages

According to Christian beliefs, euthanasia is the same as getting an abortion, it’s sinful, and is considered murder. In this novella, Of Mice and Men by the well-known author John Steinbeck, a man named George kills his friend-a mentally slow man named Lennie in a so called act of euthanasia. In that, Lennie’s death by George is considered murder. Lennie absolutely loved life and didn’t intend to kill or hurt anyone, ultimately he was planning on “living off the fatta’ the land” with George and just living his own American Dream. Despite the ownership George felt towards Lennie, much like a dog and it’s master have a specific relationship, George had no right to kill Lennie.

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865 Words | 4 Pages

In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie go through ups and downs within their relationship that changes what they thought their future would hold. From day to day Lennie and George encounter unfortunate plans that could’ve been stopped but were not due to Lennie’s incompetence. In his novel, Steinbeck uses motifs of death and characters’ hands as well as foreshadowing to convey that the best of plans can be overruled by the uncertainty of outside forces, ultimately suggesting that life is unpredictable. Steinbeck develops a motif of death through the many different animals that pass away within the novel as a metaphor for the the demise of Lennie and George’s plans. Lennie is never made out to be a killer, that is until

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760 Words | 4 Pages

“If I had terminal Cancer, I had a few weeks to left to live, I was in a tremendous amount of pain-If they just effectively wanted to turn off the switch and legalize that by legalizing euthanasia, I’d want that.” Prime Minister of New Zealand, John key, wants the freedom to be able to choose whether to live or die. Euthanasia is the killing of a patient out of kindness and sympathy to end suffering. In the novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, Mercy killings or euthanasia is a prominent subject, main character George took it upon himself to take the life of main character Lennie because he knows if he doesn't Lennie will die in a horrific death. Euthanasia should be legalized and be socially accepted if someone has no further future from a

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738 Words | 3 Pages

In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice And Men, violence permeates every character and is rampant throughout the story. For example, Steinbeck uses foreshadowing of death, with the mouse, the dog, and then Curley's wife dying, to show that violence is an issue with the society. However, there are instances of violence that do not involve death. This book takes place during The Great Depression, which is important because segregation also took place. Segregation, which is the separation of white people, and black people with schools, buses, and water fountains, etc. which leads to an uprising of violence.

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923 Words | 4 Pages

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a Depression-era tragic tale that, although praised for its realism, is regularly found in the top one hundred of the banned book list published by the American Library Association (Nagelsen). There is a great amount of controversy over whether this book is appropriate for students to be reading in a school setting. John Steinbeck has been “hailed by the Nobel Prize judges in 1962 for his realism and sympathetic humor” that is incorporated into Of Mice and Men; however, he has also been criticized because of its discrimination towards specific members of society, the concept of euthanasia, and inappropriate language (Lea). Of Mice and Men should have its position on the shelves of school libraries all across the country removed. The most important reason that Of Mice and Men should not be allowed to be read in schools is because it directly discriminates against

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833 Words | 4 Pages

The reader is positioned to view her negatively as she uses her beauty as power to seduce the workers on the farm and make her husband jealous. The men often complain about her throughout the novel, calling her names that no woman would ever appreciate. Candy tells George and Lennie his honest opinion of Curley’s wife, “You know what I think?” George did not answer. “Well, I think Curley’s married…a tart.”

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316 Words | 2 Pages

Curley’s wife was not given a name, therefore she was not considered as a person. Lennie, a mentally ill man, and Crooks, a colored man, was treated better than Curley’s wife which indicates that she was lower than both of the two. Candy had said “I think Curley’s married a tart…” (28). which showed what they

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621 Words | 3 Pages

(87) More specifically, the other men on the ranch refuse to talk to her because Curley’s position of power on the ranch portrays him as having the ability to have any man on the ranch lose their job. Furthermore, when Curley’s wife was conversing with Lennie in the barn and confided in him, she said: “Well, I ain’t

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699 Words | 3 Pages

Genetic testing should not be openly provided to everyone unless necessary. There are multiple reasons as to why this is true, such as costs, emotional impact, and the test results don’t always come out to be true. The biggest reason, however, out of these different ones, is the cost. The cost of genetic testing overpowers the other reasons due to the amount of money that is needed in order to pursue these tests. Even though cost is virtually the significant factor, all of the others are still highly important.

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