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Is George Killing Lennie Justifiable Homicide?

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Is George’s murder of Lennie a justifiable homicide?

Does great power come with great responsibility? Lennie was a very strong guy inside of a 4 year old brain.George was his companion who was in a normal man’s body with an average brain, who was ordered to take care of Lennie by Lennie’s Aunt Clara. But Lennie keeps getting them in trouble everywhere the go to work. Lennie’s pure strength and actions led his best friend George to kill him, so that he doesn’t get in any more trouble. George killing Lennie was a justified murder because Lennie was too dangerous, Lennie would have been killed anyways, and he only would slow George down and drag him into trouble.

Lennie was way too dangerous to be kept alive, because he has no comprehension of his true strength. He was just too mentally challenged to even understand his sheer power. For example, Lennie explains to Curley’s Wife how he unintentionally killed the puppy, “I made it like I was gonna smack him… an I done it. An then he was dead.” (Steinbeck 87). Also Lennie was told to fight back against Curley and simply caught one of Curley’s fists and crushed it with one hand like it was …show more content…

They could say that George could have rescued Lennie and ran away from the ranch like he did in weed. This is wrong because George couldn’t live a life of running and saving Lennie from all his mistakes. George wanted to settle down on his own ranch, but he couldn’t do that with Lennie messing up all the time. The opposing viewpoint could also say that Lennie was too good of a worker to be killed. But this is also incorrect because it doesn’t matter how good of a worker he is, if he keeps getting them kicked out of wherever they are. Finally, the opposing side could argue that Aunt Clara told George to take care of Lennie not kill him. This claim is false because Aunt Clara also would not want Lennie to keep on killing people and putting George through a lot of

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361 Words | 2 Pages

The topic im talking about is from Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck. My argument is George should have killed Lennie because Curley would have killed him anyway. My second reason is if George didn’t Kill Lennie he would have died a more slow and painful death. The other side of the argument is that they were very close friends and Lennie never did anything to get killed. My first reason George should have shot Lennie is that Lennie would have suffered because Curley would have only shot him in the gut and let him die slowly.

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483 Words | 2 Pages

He didn’t want to do that to Lennie but he did to make some things better. One reason George should be justified is because he never killed George out of hate, just after this time Lennie now killing Curleys wife although it was accident

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424 Words | 2 Pages

Another reason Lennie should not have been killed for what he did was because Lennie doesn't know his own strength. George should not have killed Lennie because he should of taught him that he is stronger, when the first accident happened in Weed. George should have taught Lennie how to control himself when he was little.

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667 Words | 3 Pages

George killing Lennie and if it was justified or condemned is a very controversial discussion and could go either way. So think about these factors and ask yourself the question if what George did was justified or

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582 Words | 3 Pages

He’s murdered mice, slain a puppy, and startled a woman by caressing her clothes. The most disastrous thing finally happens when he kills Curley’s wife. George was then faced with the decision to kill Lennie himself or have Curley and the other guys do it, which, in the end, he does himself. Was shooting Lennie justifiable, or should George have done something

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549 Words | 3 Pages

However this is not right, the way Lennie die should be considered murder. Sure he did do some bad things at some times but he was clueless about everything he was doing. George should be brought to justice for Lennie's death.

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1063 Words | 5 Pages

This being said, the killing of Lennie was not a murder, but a mercy killing by George for fear of the well-being of his friend. In addition, Lennie’s death was a mercy killing from George, because he knew if he did not kill him, Lennie would suffer horribly, much worse than he already had been. Similar to the situation that George and Lennie were in, a man killed his wife because she was in extreme pain. As explained by the New York Post, “‘She hadn’t verbalized anything, but I think it’s fair to say that for the first time he was making some connection with her, and what he saw was agony, desperation, and pain.’

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532 Words | 3 Pages

The main reason George killed Lennie is because Lennie would have killed somebody again. And the evidence is clearly there, the pet mice that he killed, the poor puppy that he accidently hit to hard, and especially Curley’s wife. He almost killed the girl in weed if he had gone any further. The sad thing is is that he doesn't know how strong he really is, nor does he know what he’s done wrong in the first place.

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652 Words | 3 Pages

On the other hand you can analyze the actions that George did and you can say that they were not very human decisions. George killed his best friend because Lennie killed a person and was going to get into more problems but nevertheless can not say that this is justified. George always told Lennie all the plans they had together, like buying a ranch, he was always keeping it with the expectation that they were going to stay together forever. This quote is an example of how Lennie and George looked happy in the future. "O.K. Someday- we 're gonna get the jack together and we 're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an ' a cow and some pigs..." (Steinbeck 7).

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785 Words | 4 Pages

His face was contorted. She screamed then…”(Steinbeck, 91). The situation escalates as Curley’s wife continues to scream. Lennie becomes more and more panicked: “...and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck. . .

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942 Words | 4 Pages

In the novella Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck incorporates many thematic ideas into his text. He includes the ideas of dreams and reality, the nature of home, and he difference of right and wrong. He develops these ideas throughout the story. The first theme incorporated is the idea if dreams versus reality. Lennie and George have a plan.

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507 Words | 3 Pages

Some people might think in the opposite side that George should not killed Lennie because Lennie did not mean to anything. He has done it without knowing how strong of himself. Lennie made many troubles this might be because of his disability, but this is the reason that he deserves to live. He has done many thing that make George get into trouble and It is better if Lennie has to die because of George shoot him not the other. "All the time he coulda had such a good time if it was not for you” (Steinbeck).

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751 Words | 4 Pages

George was a good worker, but Lennie was an amazing worker with a tenacious work ethic and stamina. Lennie had incredible strength, but sometimes he did not understand just how massive he was. Many times throughout the book Lennie is caught hurting people or killing animals on accident. The biggest reason Lennie should not have been killed was because he was a major asset in the working force. That means he could have helped continue to bring in money towards the farm they dreamed about operating someday.

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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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839 Words | 4 Pages

In the novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, George’s decision to kill Lennie at the end of the novel was justified. George and Lennie were best friends, and have been since they were little. They got ran out of Weed(the old farm they used to work at) for harassing a girl and not letting her go. He was just scared from her screaming and kicking. He didn’t mean to harm, or scare her.

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