Role Of Suffering In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Imagine that your brother is suffering from an incurable disease. Everyday, you must watch as he endures pain and suffers, both of you knowing that he is inevitably going to die soon. Do you think it is ok to end his suffering? This is a controversial topic that has many sides and opinions to it. In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, George is faced with the strenuous decision of whether or not to euthanize his close companion, Lennie. Ultimately, George shot Lennie in the back of his head. But was he justified? Though some might say it is always wrong to kill someone, in this situation it could be justified because Curley would have killed Lennie if George didn't, Lennie’s disability would have continued to cause problems, and George

Throughout his life, George had been fired fro many jobs and had been held back by Lennie’s disability. We know for certain that George feels this way when he says “God a’mighty, if i was alone i could live so easy. I could get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble”(Steinbeck 11). At the time period of this book, Lennie’s disability was untreatable and there was no reliable method of curing the mentally disabled. Lennie would have to live his life with his illness and live a life of constantly struggling and being punished for his disability. George took care of Lennie for such a long period of time, and it isn’t fair to George that he constantly has to face the consequences for someone else’s

He knew that if Curley found George with Lennie, Curley would have thought that George in on the plan the entire time. This is why Curley says “You George! You stick with us so we don’t think you had nothin’ to do with this”(Steinbeck 98). Though some may say that George shouldn’t have killed Lennie only because he didn’t want Curley to do it, George knew and understood how Candy felt when Carlson killed his dog. Ince Candy’s dog was Candy’s best friend, George knew how much pain Candy went through when he had to witness his own dog getting killed by somebody other than himself. George knew that he had to kill Lennie himself. The facts that Curley would have killed Lennie if George didn’t, Lennie’s disability was only a burden, and George had to look out for himself all prove that George was not wrong in euthanizing Lennie. These three reasons justify the actions that George had to take. George was not wrong in killing Lennie in the way that George had only good motives and was only looking out for