George And Lennie's Death Penalty

To begin with, George impacted Lennie by how he was able to motivate him and tell him what to do to achieve that dream, but he also killed him because of what Lennie did to destroy the dream. The text states, “Now look-I’ll give him the work tickets, but you ain’t gonna say a word. You jus’ stand there and don’t say nothing. If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won’t get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk, we’re set. Ya got that?” (Steinbeck 6). George is telling him what to do so they could earn money for their dream. Lennie is naive and will do anything George says, so George is taking advantage of that to get closer to achieving his dream. The text states,“‘Go on,’ said Lennie. ‘How’s it gonna be? We gonna get a little place.’ ‘We’ll have a cow,’ said George. ‘An’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens... an’ down the flat we’ll have a...little piece alfalfa---’ ‘For

This story makes it very clear that in this time period they thought that killing each other when one person is going through a hard time is the only solution. This should not necessarily be the case. The killing of Lennie should’ve never of happened for many reasons. George and Lennie

“‘Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ‘em.’ ‘Le’s do it now. Let’s get that place now’” (106). These are the last words that filled the air between George and Lennie, their last exchange preceding a pivotal moment in both of their lives. They conversation calms and soothes Lennie, who hopes to finally get the farm that he and George dreamed about for so many years. Yet unbeknownst to him, Lennie would soon be set free from his earthly bonds by his long-time friend; a bullet, shot from the barrel of George’s gun, would enter Lennie’s head and kill him instantly. That bullet was not one of self-gain and moral disrepute, but one of freedom and liberation from worldly restraints. While this remains a hotly contested topic in classrooms reading Of Mice and Men, George’s intentions in killing Lennie were overwhelmingly good-natured.

There is a lot of regret in the book Of Mice and Men, George is filled with it. Most of George’s regret is with Lennie, like he says in the beginning how good his life would be without Lennie. Taking Lennie as a friend might have been the worst and best decision George ever made. George makes sure Lennie knows that his life could be so much better without him but at the end he begins to wish he had not. Before George is about shoot Lennie he says: “"No, Lennie.

It was obvious throughout the novel that George had absolutely no patience for Lennie. Which may lead to thinking that George murdered Lennie so he wouldn’t have to deal with Lennie anymore. Truly George was trying to keep himself and Lennie out of harms way. So that someone down the road wouldn’t get ahold of Lennie and potentially actually harm or murder Lennie for his actions. If you look at the big picture, George was trying to protect Lennie from more harm causing him to euthanize Lennie.

In John Steinbeck's classic novella, Of Mice and Men, George makes the decision of killing Lennie because he knows it is in Lennie's best interest. His act of killing Lennie is not considered criminal. George has good intentions in killing his companion. George is trying to prevent Lennie from being tortured and from his constant desire to please George and not cause trouble. Additionally, Lennie repeatedly places himself in difficult situations, and as a result, brings George into the circumstances. There is a close friendship between George and Lennie, and George had carefully thought out whether or not he

At the end of Of Mice and Men, George has to make the grim decision to shoot Lennie in the back of the head before the other men kill him because Lennie accidently killed the bosses son, Curley’s, wife. “George said softly, ‘I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would. “(Steinbeck 94). This shows that George has always hoped that he and Lennie would have a farm and live their life together, but when he sees that cannot happen, he becomes very depressed. This makes him learn the self-knowledge that without Lennie, he is the man that he has always said he was not. With this thought, he knows he has surrendered his dreams, and they cannot be sustained without Lennie. This reveals he has found the impossibility of living the American dream despite hard work and that dreams are no place in a harsh, unloving world. As well, in the end, Slim is the only man that can see that George has gone through the terrible loss of his best friend. This event shows George the real need for friendship in the world, which he needed to distinguish himself from other

They know that they are different than everybody else. Lennie says to George, “But not us”, “Because I got you an’ I got you” (104). They realize their relationship is different than anyone elses. They also realize that they have something to live for- each other. So when George kills Lennie, although arguably this is the best for him, George is nothing.

In the beginning of the book, George didn’t seem very attached to Lennie. It then continued to talk about the schemes and plans that they had, the promised joy, but only grief and pain followed Lennie’s death, and the metaphorical death of their dream. When George had to kill Lennie, he knew that as soon as he pulled the trigger, their dream of their ranch was dead too. He was heartbroken to have to kill him, but he knew that if he didn’t Lennie would’ve been tortured by Curley; in turn that would’ve tortured George. Lennie was the dream, metaphorically, in Of Mice and Men.

George wouldn’t be able to live with himself any longer if he let Lennie keep destroying things. Despite Lennie being his friend, and a companion, he put his personal interests aside for the benefit everyone else. George understands that the only way he can live with himself is if he kills Lennie. Another example of this is when Walter decides he is going to be the one to kill Lennie. He didn’t want to see Lennie go by Curley’s gun, so he took matters into his own hands.

George promises Lennie many things once they get their own farm, “’O.K. Someday- we’re gonna get the jack together… ‘Specially if you remember as good as that.’”(15-16). So George killing Lennie was for his own benefit and it was a very immoral thing to do.

Perhaps most importantly, one must consider the basic ethical question of hypocrisy. We must ask ourselves, "What type of message are we as a nation sending to the rest of the world and to our own citizens when we kill people who kill people to show that it is wrong to kill people?" By executing murderers, we are merely lowering ourselves to their level in order to express our primitive desire for retribution. Our society can never be called moral or democratic if we begin sacrificing individuals, without their consent, to 'the greater good.' Since capital punishment is supposedly intended to protect and avenge innocent lives, it has failed its purpose if, as it undoubtedly has and will, it causes even a few blameless people to be killed. The

Killing another person is always wrong, but in some situations it is justified. If a person is left for dead suffering with no chance of dying do you let him die slowly and painfully? Or do do you end the persons suffering as quickly and painlessly as possible. And if it's an option of ten people dying or one hundred then there is an obvious choice people would take. Another place killing is justified is if there is nothing you can do to stop a person from killing another person. Because who has more of a right to live somebody who was hellbent on trying to kill another person or somebody who was merely trying to protect himself. There are situations although there are few, that taking another person's life is acceptable.

Georges act of killing Lennie was to help him not panic and stress his whole life. ((“ I know he wasn't a bad guy, said slim”.”Yeah I just had to do he would’ve been hunted down any way”))((steinbeck)). It shows that George didn't want to lennie to suffer and hide his whole life.((“ I'm sorry George it was an accident… I won't get to tend the rabbits… turn around Lennie… what will life be like on our ranch…”))((steinbeck)). It helps me figure out that George wanted him to die peacefully while thinking of the

If I were to ask you if killing someone is justifiable, some will answer with a strong no and others like me might say it depends on what they did. However, that is a job for the police to investigate and figure out. No human being kills another without some sort of