Of Mice And Men Lennie's Betrayal

Words: 1037
Pages: 5
Open Document
Imagine the scenario of this. An unstoppable, high-speed train is headed towards a person’s grandmother. To save her, they must change the tracks, but that would mean killing the unsuspecting group of people walking over. They cannot stop the train. Who do they save? This ultimatum can sway even the most moral people because it asks them to make a difficult decision. Tough decisions, like in the scenario, create inevitable feelings of betrayal. Many, unfortunately, are familiar with that feeling; people usually describe it as a stab in the back, a breach of trust, or an undoable pain that roots in someone’s heart. Sometimes, like in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, that stab in the back is fatal. Lennie’s death, committed by George, possesses two perspectives as to whether …show more content…
Although Lennie’s death may be seen as euthanasia, his betrayal would better be described as murder.

Those who believe Lennie’s death was euthanasia commonly give three justifications. First, George killed Lennie to save him from a worse fate, one that would have been inflicted by Curley or the crew themselves. This argument, however, completely overlooks the fact that Lennie had the same fate in the end: death—whether it was by Curley or George. Furthermore, it glances at the fact that George did not try to change Lennie’s fate by running away. The second argument people make is that George killed Lennie to save him from the harm he would have inflicted on himself. To that reasoning, it must be pointed out that if Lennie is dead,
Show More

Related Documents: Of Mice And Men Lennie's Betrayal

Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck: Character Analysis

to any person or thing conceived as deserving fidelity” and often has a positive connotation supporting it. However, the novel Of Mice and Men depicts the quality quite negatively through its two main characters. George and Lennie, who have an immensely strong father son relationship, constantly travel from place to place in order to keep the latter safe, as Lennie’s disability always causes him to get into trouble. The reader sees George’s great faithfulness towards Lennie and his devotion to keeping…

Words 1264 - Pages 6

Carraway's View Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald as two characters Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway chase after their Dream and realize that their views of the “American Dream” is becoming the reality that haunts them the most. This pursuit of happiness also finds itself in the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck in which the character Lennie has his view of the American Dream working hard to achieve it, but falls short as his obstacles become too large for him to overcome. Jay Gatsby was a man's man. A man that was looked up to a man…

Words 1042 - Pages 5

Friend or Foe Macbeth Essay

One may never know who their true friends are but there are odd ways of showing or not showing it. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, shows this best. When George says, “’One day a bunch of guys was standin’ around up on the Sacramento River. I was feelin’ pretty smart. I turns to Lennie and says ‘Jump in.’ An’ he jumps. Couldn’t swim a stroke. He damn near drowned before we could get him. An’ he was so damn nice to me for pullin’ him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in.’” (pg. 40) it shows…

Words 777 - Pages 4

Essay about Character List

Chillingworth - “Roger Chillingworth” is actually Hester’s husband in disguise. He is much older than she is and had sent her to America while he settled his affairs in Europe. He lusts for revenge, and thus decides to stay in Boston despite his wife’s betrayal and disgrace. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale - Dimmesdale is a young man who achieved fame in England as a theologian and then emigrated to America. In a moment of weakness, he and Hester became lovers. Although he will not confess it publicly, he is…

Words 4282 - Pages 18