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Of Mice And Men By John Stenbeck: Mercy Or Murder

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Isaac Abelin Irby English III 5 March 2024 Mercy or Murder Did you know that the Bible does not say thou shall not kill? Within the ten commandments of the King James version, the word “ratzach” in Hebrew was interpreted as kill, although the word for kill is actually harag. Ratzah’s translation to English is murder, thus the bible prohibits unlawful killing but not killing itself, truly saying thou shall not murder. In the book Of Mice and Men by John Stenbeck, Lennie was a genital soul in a gentle body. This caused him lots of trouble and in the end caused his partner George to shoot him. Although some claim George murdered Lennie, George euthanized him out of mercy. Many claim that George killed Lennie in cold blood. One argument that …show more content…

This is shown throughout the story, but in one way Lennie was often exhibited as an animal. Displaying him as an animal was a symbol showing that he was like an animal George needed to put down to prevent his suffering. Similarly, if Curly got Lennie he would have been put in a cage like an animal and tortured to death further showing that George needed to Euthanize Lennie. Furthermore, George made sure Lennie had a beautiful view while thinking about what he loved, showing that just as you give a dog a bone, he gave Lennie a treat before the euthanasia. Another reason George did not murder Lennie but euthanized him is in deciding for Lennie what was best. George spent a lot of time with Lennie and out of anyone in the world to decide Lennie’s fate, George is the one. Lennie lets George make almost every decision for him constantly because he trusts George and, in this way, George has Lennies accord in decision making. Therefore, George had Lennie's consent in knowing George would do what was best for him. This trust was especially shown when Lennie was being beat to the point of becoming bloody by Curly and would not act unless George told him to. This further shows that Lennie trusts George with both his life and wellbeing. The final reason George euthanized Lennie was to protect Lennie from himself. If Lennie were captured by Curly rather than being killed and managed to escape Lennie would most likely run into the woods

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Curley probably wouldn’t have let him get away, and once he found him, he would have made sure he died the most painful death possible. George made sure to kill Lennie in the least painful way he could. He had him look away and then shot him in the back of the head while telling him the story about how they’re going to live in a nice house, and he can tend the rabbits.

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For instance he likes to pet mice, but he ends up killing them because he pets them too hard, but that was normal for him because he does it too often. Killing Curley's wife was the first time Lennie has ever killed a human being. A human being is different from a creature, therefore, If Lennie were to get captured, he could possibly be charged with attempted rape and most likely be put in jail. Therefore, George shot Lennie because he doesn't want Lennie to suffer and die with pain. For example on page Lennie said, “An’ you get to tend the rabbits."

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Lennie also could’ve run away and lived in a cave, where he would die a slow death of starvation. George didn’t want Lennie to suffer, and killing him in the least painful way was the best option. It’s usually not morally right to kill another human being, but sometimes it can be the only or best option. Killing someone can be the only or best option if killing them would give them the least amount of pain when they died. In Of Mice and Men killing Lennie was George’s the best choice for himself, Lennie, and every other person, because Lennie could have hurt other people.

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1002 Words | 5 Pages

Another reason is that Lennie couldn’t survive with George telling him what and what not to do. The last reason is that if George didn’t kill Lennie, Curly would painfully kill him. Being dangerous for the people around and to himself is more than enough reason kill him. Lennie can’t control his strength, or himself.

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509 Words | 3 Pages

If you think about when a dog is in pain or extremely sick to the point where you cannot make them feel better, you put them down to take that pain go away. George was taking away Lennie’s pain, his pain may not have been physical but mentally it was there, and it was what made him hurt so many people even if he did not mean to. If Lennie was not euthanized by George, he may have gotten in a lot of trouble with Curly. Lennie does not understand what he did wrong and may have gotten beaten to death which would have been long and extremely painful. Instead, George took his life fast so that he did not have to suffer.

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If Lennie was not killed or put into prison, he could go to an asylum which is much worse. George needed to do it himself. He couldn’t let some stranger do this to Lennie, it had to be him. George was going to have to face this at some point.  George does not want to kill Lennie and is having a difficult time doing so.

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From this quote it is understood that Curly didn’t have any care for Lennie, he would do anything to hurt Lennie because he was “cold”. If George didn’t kill Lennie himself it would have been a lot worse for him. Curley would have made him suffer and would have tortured him to death. George protected him from a harsh death by letting him go out by someone that loved him. George also

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This showed that Lennie had to check in with George to see if it was right to defend himself. According to Source D, “It is claimed that sometimes it is permissible to cause such a harm as a side effect of bringing about a good result even though it would not be permissible to cause such a harm as a means to bringing about the same good end.” This shows that Lennie is incapable of thinking and making decisions for

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Lennie didn’t know it but it was better for him to die like that, by George, than by Curley or any mental asylum person. Lennie died much more peacefully due to George assisting in the suicide of

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At times, George has mentioned how nice and loyal Lennie is and that he will do anything he tells Lennie. Additionally, George murdered Lennie because he always gets him and George in trouble because he does not know how to handle situations, for example, when Lennie grabbed the ladies red dress in weed and did not let go when she started screaming. Yet George keeps Lennie in check and makes sure that Lennie knows what to do when things go wrong, so he does not get them in

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It is clear that George did not have the right to end Lennie 's life in such a selfish way. George always talks to Lennie about how fabulous they are when they are together at their own ranch and from day to day I end up with their life in a very cruel way. In conclusion, it can be said that George 's reasons for ending George 's life were enough to do so since Lennie was a very dependent person and could not stand alone. George tried to help him at all times as far as he could, but still Lennie was still in serious trouble, that 's precisely the reason why George wanted to prevent Lennie suffering in the future because he realized that he could not live alone.

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George’s decision to kill Lennie was ultimately for his benefit. “The hand shook violently, but his (George) face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 106). The quote which states how Lennie dies also shows that George was nervous and hesitant in killing Lennie. Scarseth explains in the article, “Friendship.

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758 Words | 4 Pages

George made the right decision in killing Lennie, although it was likely the hardest thing he has ever had to do, he realized that Lennie cannot take care of himself and will continue killing innocent animals/people if left alone, George himself is unfit to care for Lennie, he is not able to supervise him all the time and give him the help he needs. If Lennie was to be set free and do as he said “Well, I could. I could go off in the hills there. Some place I’d find a cave.”

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614 Words | 3 Pages

While in the book, Lennie was described with animal traits, which makes him look innocent on the outside. On the other hand, something inside of him might awaken and turn Lennie into a dangerous beast. According to George’s decision expressed as “He looked steadily at his right hand that had held the gun” (Steinbeck 107). He predicted the only outcome for Lennie was death, but it was not decided on which person to kill Lennie. Eventually, George had to do what is right for Lennie, his one and only irreplaceable

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