Moral Obligation In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

People have a moral obligation to help family members in need, which is what George has done. George saves Lennie in his time of need. In John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men, which takes place on a ranch in Salinas during the 1920s, George and Lennie are two best friends trying to find work. Lennie has had trouble in the past with self control due to his mental disability, and the trouble follows him to this ranch. George, who is morally obligated to care for Lennie, is justified in the mercy killing of his friend. Had George not killed Lennie, other lives, including Lennie’s, would be in danger. Even The Rocky Horror Picture Show knows that mercy killings are different than murder. After killing Eddie, Frank states, “Oh, don’t be upset. …show more content…
Even if Curley gave up the chase, the police would pick it back up again. First he kills small animals, then he kills a human being, and he was accused of raping another lady. The police would be right on his tail until they brought this criminal to justice. The way George killed Lennie, killed him in a quick and painless way. Steinbeck describes his death by writing “Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering” (106). This proves Lennie died instantly and then lie peacefully down for a long rest. Curley, as stated before, wanted to bring Lennie to justice, but in his own way. If Curley found him in those bushes, he would have made Lennie’s last moments as torturous and as agonizing as possible. He would have tore his guts out then dragged him through town behind a carriage. George however, wanted to make Lennie's last moments as enjoyable as possible. He started telling Lennie about his favorite thing …show more content…
Himself, George, and the people around him. He had killed multiple living creatures and hasn’t learned from his mistakes. First, the mice, then, the puppy, last, Curley’s wife. What’s next? Genocide? Of course, Lennie had no intent of killing those *creatures* but, he didn’t learn from his mistakes. He did it again and again, to the point where his Aunt stopped giving him pet mice because he kept killing them. He does not know his strength, and that makes him a liability. Lennie’s actions upset a lot of people, which in turn upsets Lennie, which leads to bad happenings. Then there was that incident in Weed, which forced the pair to run away. Taking evidence from past incidents, conclusions can be made for future incidents. Being the dumbo he is, anyone can scream rape, just like in Weed, and his head would not be on his body anymore. The police would come after him like a cat chasing a mouse. Lennie does not learn from past mistakes, so there is bound to be future mistakes. No matter how many mice he kills, he will never learn that squashing their heads kill them. He also never learns that if someone freaks out when he is touching them to let go instead of holding on for dear life. It’s not like George helps anyways. He tries with the amount of effort a lazy person trying to get the remote has. None. He tells him not to pick up dead mice but he does not tell him to not kill live ones. In one instance, the pair were talking about where they

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Moral Obligation In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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