Essay, Research Paper: Of Mice And Men

George’s Decision
In the novel “Of Mice and Men” George judged that it was time for Lennie to die and this was a just and good decision. George knew he was the one to kill Lennie because he learned from his past experiences. Another reason was he knew that if he killed Lennie he would not suffer. Also, Lennie had no ability to reason like a normal person and therefore he did not realize what he had done to Curley’s wife.
George came to the decision that he should kill Lennie due to his past experiences. He learned this when Carlson killed Candy’s dog and Candy said that he was a coward to let Carlson kill his dog. George was not going to let Lennie, who in a way was George’s pet, be killed by another person with him knowing that he could have ended all of the suffering by killing Lennie himself.
George shot Lennie because with him shooting Lennie he would not suffer. But if Curley had seen Lennie he would have shot him in the gut, or they would have tortured him, and this would have led to a much more painful death. This would be painful for Lennie, but it also would have been painful for George to see Lennie suffer like that.
Another reason George shot him was because Lennie had not realized what he had done to Curley’s wife. Lennie knew she was dead but he did not know that it was his fault she died. He did not know this because he cannot reason in the ways a normal human being can. He believed that she made him kill her. But really Lennie killed her on his own power and it really was not her fault. If Lennie’s handicap took him far enough to kill someone no one knows how far it could go the next time.
George was right with the decision to kill Lennie because his handicap had caused him to kill Curley’s wife. George was too good of a friend to see Lennie suffer, and it was time for Lennie to go because he could not live by himself without someone helping him. George was the one who made the decision to kill Lennie and he was the right person to do so.


Word Count: 384