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The Significance Of The Pivotal Moment In Of Mice And Men

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Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck Pivotal Moment Essay John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, explores the story of two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Small during the period of the Great Depression in the United States. The two men are quite contrasting with George being “small and quick and dark of face” whereas Lennie, who is a large, unintelligent man. Throughout the novel, the characters experience conflict however, remain unified as they dream of owning a ranch in the future. A pivotal moment in the novel occurs in chapter five when Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife marked by “And she continued to struggle, and her eyes were wild with terror... and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.”(91) The pivotal moment is significant for George as it sets the end of his dream, influences him to kill his companion, Lennie and also changes him as he comes in a state of realization of how lonely he will become without his companion. Primarily, the pivotal moment of Lennie killing Curley’s wife impacts George as his dream of owning a ranch …show more content…

This shows that George cares about Lennie and because Lennie killed Curley’s wife he is put in this situation. In addition, even after all of the unacceptable things Lennie has done, George isn’t disappointed at Lennie and rather kills him for the betterment for Lennie. Lennie says, “"I thought you was mad at me, George." "No," said George. "No, Lennie, I ain't mad. I never been mad, and I ain' now. That's a thing I want ya to know."”(106) This indicates the idea that George isn’t angry at Lennie for killing Curley’s wife and does not kill him because of his anger towards him as he shatters his dream. The quote explicitly portrays George’s benevolence towards Lennie as seen throughout the

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309 Words | 2 Pages

Her husband was very mad his name was Curley. So since Curley was disturbed about his wife he wanted to execute Lennie. The next moment Curley had a gang ready to find Lennie, but only George knew where he was at. In conclusion George goes to Lennie and him before anyone else can hurt him. There is debate whether George slaughtered Lennie with justification or not.

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548 Words | 3 Pages

Due to the inability to control his strength, Lennie accidentally breaks Curley’s Wife’s neck. George killed Lennie, because Curley would have killed him in a more painful way. Even though George meant well, he committed murder since he killed Lennie without his consent. Even though George meant to end Lennie’s suffering,

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684 Words | 3 Pages

" Pulling the trigger might have been a hard thing for George because killing Lennie would ruin their dreams this shows that George thought the best thing for lennie now was for him to die because he was already in so much trouble because of what he did in weed with the girl in the red dress and now he killed Curley 's wife so George didn 't want him to get himself into anymore problems so it was the best for him , this is why he killed Lennie it would be the best thing to do to not do anything more like hurting

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1320 Words | 6 Pages

A thriller and novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck is about to very different men who lived in California during the great depression. They are hands on the ranches and they travel with each other through the bad, good, and the loneliness. There is no other friendship like theirs, it is like a companionship between an animal and its owner. Both of the men, George and Lennie, share a dream to live off of their own land. They are so close to their dream that they are making plans to buy the land but then Lennie did something bad, Lennie killed the wife of the ranch owner’s son.

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666 Words | 3 Pages

The novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck is a gripping tale of two men and their lives during the Great Depression. George Milton and Lennie Small are two migrant workers who travel together finding work. They take on a new job “bucking barley” at a ranch in central California for the ranch owner and his son. While working at the ranch they encounter Curley the ranch owner’s son and his wife, a flirtatious woman. The story reaches a climax when Lennie unintentionally kills Curley’s wife and runs back to the Salinas River just as George instructed.

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956 Words | 4 Pages

But what people don’t really pay attention to or think about is why George did it, but if you look at their background story and everything, it shows that George and Lennie were best friends for a long time, some could even call them brothers. Lennie isn’t the brightest bulb in the box, so George couldn’t really get mad at him when he accidentally killed Curley’s wife. George understood that Lennie didn’t mean to kill Curley’s wife, just like he didn’t mean to kill all those mice. George also knew that Curley’s wife was tricky, sly and good-looking. George realized that Lennie like her, especially with her soft hair.

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434 Words | 2 Pages

George's justification for shooting Lennie is to keep him from experiencing the pain that will follow the consequences of his actions. Lennie is going to be lynched, seemingly beaten up, furthermore Curley is going to kill Lennie. George also perceives that even if they were to escape, it would be just a matter of time before Lennie has another "accident" and kills someone else. George knows he can't protect Lennie from society, as he also cannot protect society from Lennie. Killing Lennie before he is caught is the only kind thing to do.

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1324 Words | 6 Pages

George tried to show Lennie mercy, killing him painlessly and not caring about anything else but saving his friend. Lennie was an unintentional menace to others, influencing George’s decision to end Lennie’s life. Lennie murdered Curley’s wife, his pup, and held on to a woman’s dress in Weed. He did not intend to hurt anything or anyone, he was just unaware of his strength. George understood that Lennie

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532 Words | 3 Pages

Curley used this as an excuse to kill Lennie. He really wanted to kill Lennie because he destroyed his hand though. Curley said he was going to blow Lennie's guts out and make him suffer and be in pain. George prevented this by shooting Lennie in the back of the head and ending him quickly. George killed lennie because if he didn’t, Curley would have made him suffer.

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450 Words | 2 Pages

After all the anger that George has shown towards Lennie, he utters these words now so Lennie can die with a sense of peace. George does not want to pull the trigger, but he knows that the further consequences of Lennie’s actions will only worsen. To save Lennie from Curley’s wrath, possible imprisonment, and perhaps years of suffering, George takes Lennie’s

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945 Words | 4 Pages

f Mice and Men Essay - Essays and Analysis Critical Context and Evaluation print Print document PDF list Cite link Link Of Mice and Men is one of the most widely assigned modern novels in high schools because of both its form and the issues that it raises. John Steinbeck’s reliance on dialogue, as opposed to contextual description, makes the work accessible to young readers, as does his use of foreshadowing and recurrent images. Equally important is the way in which he intertwines the themes of loneliness and friendship and gives dignity to those characters, especially Lennie and Crooks, who are clearly different from their peers. By focusing on a group of lonely drifters, Steinbeck highlights the perceived isolation and sense of “otherness”

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964 Words | 4 Pages

Children 's Book Task 2: Informative Essay Did you know that Albrecht Durer is known as the greatest German Renaissance artist? His art was influenced by Italian art and he 's very admired in Italy. He 's also famous for his woodcuts like The Knight , Death and the Devil. His self-portraits at the age of 13, and 28.

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George killed Lennie out of love because he knew Lennie would suffer if he lived longer. Even though the action was bad, George decided it was best to kill Lennie to protect him. He knew that if Lennie was still alive, he would suffer greatly for two reasons: Curley wanted to avenge his wife and eventually Lennie would be sent to jail. If Lennie stayed alive, then Curley would have taken him and tortured him through immense amounts of pain for a long period of time. In addition, Lennie would theoretically have been sent to jail because he would be accused of rape and

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737 Words | 3 Pages

Lennie with his simple mind, always gets into trouble. This time, Lennie gets himself in a bind once again, that George can’t save him from. George decision to kill Lennie in the story, was due to his responsibility, sympathy, and love for Lennie. George’s decision to kill Lennie was out of sympathy for him.

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605 Words | 3 Pages

George and Lennie, prominent characters in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, are migrant workers—men who move from place to place to do seasonal work— who end up in California and are faced with numerous problems. Set in the era of the great depression, the story of Lennie and George, two very different men who have formed a family-like union, takes place on a farm where Lennie struggles to stay out of trouble. Having committed an unintentional, harmful act, Lennie is faces severe consequences; and George must decide to make a necessary decision which changes the mood of the entire novel. By the comparison and contrast of George and Lennie, unique characters who are very different from each other, the reader can better acquaint himself

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