In Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck compares Lennies’s death to the biblical story of Cain and Abel. In the bible Cain and his brother Abel offer up a sacrifice to God. God only accepts Abel’s sacrifice and Cain becomes extremely jealous. This causes him to murder his brother. However in Of Mice and Men, George did kill Lennie, but he did it to protect him from a horrific death. This decision connects to the theme of the importance of companionship. After Lennie killed Curley’s wife and successfully fled to the brush, he was worried that George would be angry at him for what he did. But when George finally comes into the brush, George reassures him by saying, “‘No Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t mad now’”