The Role Of Empathetic End In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

An Empathetic End
Multiple negative futures were removed from an average, working, man, in result of a single shot. Within John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, two migrant workers of opposite personalities travel around during the 1930s Great Depression searching for a stake in life. During their journey they run into many deadly and troubling issues. George, one of these workers, is a very scrappy person with a sense of leadership while Lennie on the other hand, his partner, has a disability and generally follows him around. In the book the two men begin working at a ranch where they meet other workers of their situation that become friends and enemies. At the end of the book Lennie freaks out in spite of his disability and kills a women by mistake.

In comparison to this reality, a mother killed her autistic son, mercifully, to save him from his dad who according to the boy, “had shoved feces in his mouth, stuck needles under his fingernails, and stabbed him in the hand repeatedly in addition to sexual abuse.” (Qtd. In Rosenberg). This situation correlates with Lennie’s harsh circumstances and reveals how death can make all of this extra pain fade away. Furthermore it shows the correct amount of extremity that Lennie would have gone through if George let him survive and become captured by his hunters. Continuing with other likely troubles, every time Lennie faces a problem or mishappening in life, he begins to feel emotional pain and declares ridicule ideas of “I might jus’ as well go away. George ain’t gonna let me tend no rabbits now” (Steinbeck 101). These situations are based off of negative emotions such as regret or self-hate and may lead to other feelings of doubt or anguish. If Lennie was alive and escaped to live on his own he would begin to feel these ways and fall into a darker stage or worse position in life, mentally. In the end if Lennie himself was left alive, all of his problems would get to him and would greatly affect himself physically and endanger his mind. Not only would he be captured by Curley and tortured, but also he would begin to become mentally unstable as simple

Although Lennie never gives verbal approval, he shows many hidden signs that he would allow it. In different parts of the book he talks about moving away and working to satisfy George’s opinions. A similar type of consent is shown, when a crippled and deeply sickened women’s lawyer, stated that earlier in her life, she her and her husband “[...] did not want to be maintained on life support [...]” (Qtd. In Rivera). As with Lennie, this woman did not directly say she wanted to be killed, but showed clues that she wanted to be freed of her suffering. In Lennie’s situation, since he has disabilities, he does not have the function to communicate his thoughts and can only use his imagination to express his emotion. Instead of being able to bluntly announce ideas he use the future as a passageway and specifically talks about leaving or living on his own to help George out and to show what he is willing to do in life. In conclusion, the accusation that George dominated Lennie’s life and took it without judgement is not entirely true, for Lennie put his own life in George’s hands. The fact that Lennie conveys he will sacrifice his comfort and move away, to meet George’s desires, is showing that Lennie would let him make important decisions, including the control of his