Of Mice And Men Morality

Morality- Does Murder Define an Immoral Character?

Throughout history, many scholars and common people alike have troubled themselves with the task of defining morality. What makes a human good or bad? It can be agreed that actions speak louder than words, so therefore committing crimes can show a person’s evilness. However, that is not often the case. Perhaps action alone can convince an audience of a person’s immorality, but the presentation also has a major influence on the audience 's’ opinion. In books, presentation of a character is a strategy for the author to uphold a character’s image. Such examples can be found in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, where the authors’ presentation of Brutus and

Yet other actions also point out their unwillingness and regret for their crime. The guilt was heavily shown by George in Of Mice and Men through the characters’ actions. Right before killing Lennie, George showed his unwillingness when his “ hand shook violently,” after which he, “shivered and looked the gun, and then he threw it from him” (Steinbeck 106). George is someone, like the other guys on the ranch, who knows how to proficiently use a gun, so there was no reason for his hands to shake when holding the weapon. The only reason would be the intense emotions he felt that caused his hands to shake; his shivering confirmed that- George was in shock over what he did to his friend. In Julius Caesar, Brutus also shows concern for his friend, who he knows will be killed by the conspirators. During the meeting the eventually ended Caesar’s life, Brutus is saddened when Caesar calls him his friend. “That every like is not the same, O Caesar,/ The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon” (Shakespeare Act II Scene II, 32). In addition to that, Brutus was also the last to stab Caesar. Even though he did end up contributing to Caesar’s death, Brutus showed through his actions that he did not wholeheartedly wish for Caesar to die. By slightly emphasizing George and Caesar’s unwillingness to kill their friends, the author shows that they still had an inkling of humanity left after planning to kill

Shakespeare and Steinbeck both use the character developement of Brutus and George to connect the readers the tragic protagonists. In Of Mice and Men, George can be seen as a kind but still rather innocent guy traveling with his disadvantaged friend. Although he may seem mature and responsible, his conversation with Lennie proves that he is still untainted by the harshness of reality. “‘Good boy! That’s fine, Lennie! Maybe you’re gettin’ better. When we get the coupe acres I can let you tend the rabbits all right. ’Specially if you remember as good as that” (Steinbeck 15). This dialogue, which he says to Lennie during their stay in the woods in the earlier chapters of the book, displayed the hope George and Lennie had of their future. If George were truly to conform to the society present in Of Mice and Men, he would act like most of the other men on the ranch- indifferently performing the same chores everyday and then spending their hard-earned money on cat houses. Later in the book, we see a very evident change; his last words to Lennie hinted at despair and hopeless, contrarily from before. “‘An’ we’d keep a few pigeons to go flyin’ around the win’mill like they done when I was a kid’ … ‘An’ it’d be our own, an’ nobody could can us. If we don’t like a guy we can say, ‘Get the hell out,’ and by God he’s got to do it.’” (Steinbeck