Was George's Decision To Kill Lennie Justified

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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck describes the lives and characteristics of two friends during the great depression: George Milton and Lennie Small. George and Lennie are workers during the Great Depression, wandering in search of work hoping to earn enough money to start a new life. However, near the end of the novel, George leads himself to kill Lennie after Lennie accidently murdered the Wife of a fellow worker at a ranch. Personally, I believe George is justified in his decision to kill Lennie. Lennie Small never meant to hurt anyone. Lennie only wished to help people. However, due to his intelligence and immense size, Lennie could not survive in the real world. So, George’s decision to kill Lennie was justified because taking Lennie …show more content…
Also, Lennie was too big to survive in America. George describes how Lennie was so large that whenever Lennie was given a mouse, he “always killed ‘em” (Steinbeck 9). Lennie’s strength is so immense it would be difficult for him to survive in the world since his strength ends up doing more harm rather than good. George’s decision to kill Lennie is also justified because Lennie would face a horrible future if he were not killed. Lennie finds himself one day in the ranch barn, holding a dead puppy. He questions, “Why do you got to get killed? You ain’t so little as mice. I didn’t bounce you hard” (Steinbeck 83). Lennie discovers his strength is too much for even large puppies to handle. Slim, the leader of the Mule Team at the ranch owns the puppies, and while he would not be as mad at Lennie for accidently killing one of the puppies, he would still be disappointed. The real consequence would come in Lennie’s future plan with George. George always said how Lennie could tend to rabbits in their dream ranch in the future since they were too big for Lennie to kill. But now, Lennie kills a small dog, and will most likely not be able to tend to rabbits. Lennie’s one dream for the future is crushed here, ironically just like the puppy he was holding, and his future from here on out seems
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