A Comparison Of Lennie In Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In the 1930s during the Great Depression, most men worked on a farm in the hot sunlight all day to provide for themselves or for their family. Because of this, men worked solely to earn money, and did not want anything to do with the other working men on the farms. Consequently, it is very unlikely for two men to be traveling and working together. However, the opposite is true in Of Mice and Men. In the novel two characters are very close, when at the end one makes the decision to murder the other, for various reasons. In Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Lennie is mentally challenged and lacks respect from the other men on the farm, thus proving George’s incentive and reason to kill him, his best friend who’s always been by his side. George had …show more content…
Lennie is a danger to those around him, and he cause trouble that George must get him out of. When Slim gives Lennie a puppy to care for, Lennie is very happy with the puppy, although after a few days he pets it too hard, killing the puppy. Lennie was alone in the barn as he “...sat in the hay and looked at a little dead puppy that lay in front of him. Lennie looked at it for a long time, and then he put out his huge hand and stroked it, stroked it clear from one end to the other.” (Steinbeck 85). Because of this we can see that Lennie cannot care for living things, and is a danger to himself and the people around him. Lennie does not know his own strength, and that should be a warning to all the men on the farm. In light of Lennie danger, George must always be there to get him out of trouble. After this incident, Lennie said to himself “‘I done a real bad thing,’ he said. ‘I shouldn’t of did that. George’ll be mad. An’ . . . . he said . . . . an’ hide in the brush till he come. He’s gonna be mad. In the brush till he come. Tha’s what he said.’” (Steinbeck 92). George is aware of Lennie and his threat to those around him, so he told Lennie when they arrived at the farm to meet him in the bush, where Lennie eventually runs after killing Curley’s wife. When Lennie is in trouble, he knows that George will always be there for him. After all the time that this has gone on, George has become sick of always being the “getaway man”, and he knows that Lennie cannot go on living to be a danger to society. If George had not killed Lennie, Lennie would have gone to prison for killing a woman, and would have been in constant torture due to the awful living standards there. Lennie’s actions towards others demonstrate his threat to those around him, and give reason for George to decide to kill him at the end of the