Importance Of Pressure In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Decent Essays
Whether pressure is made by lack of time, emotional distress, or even the decision itself, it is important to make tough decisions because it shows a person’s morals and ethics.
In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, George has to make a tough decision by choosing to either kill Lennie and let him die happy or let Curley and Carlson kill him and let him die miserably.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    George did make the right decision when he ended Lennie’s life by shooting him in the back of the head because Lennie was a threat to the general population and he was even a threat to animals. Lennie killed mice all the time, he even killed a few birds. Then one day he killed a puppy that was only a few weeks old, and one day in town he grabbed a little girl’s dress and scared her. Then toward the end of the book he killed Curley’s wife.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Survival doesn't always happen alone. Steinbeck's of mice and men shows that during the Great Depression, the challenge of living with the crushed economy, was too harsh to easily survive. For a time, many people struggled to make ends meet. low-paying jobs didn't even help. In the book, Lennie small and George Milton dream of their new ways to survive – even with a struggle.…

    • 92 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagine seeing your best friend, go out and kill another human being. But, now you can 't be on his side to back him up. You were obligated to make him pay for what he had done. For many, this may sound fictional or very unrealistic. But for George Milton this was the case.…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    George and Lennie faced more moral dilemmas because George is constantly torn between helping and hurting his friend. Lennie held back by his mental handicap throughout the story and the reader can see that George wants to help him but it's hard when something bad is constantly happening. The boys don’t like Lennie because he’s too strong and crushes one of the boy’s hand (Steinbeck 63), and messes things up while he is trying to be friends with everyone. George is then finally faced with the decision whether to end his “best friend’s” life or lie about what happen and run away again.…

    • 1790 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck George Milton kills his best friend Lennie Small. Because Lennie did bad things which he would of been killed for by other characters, but George decided to shoot Lennie in the head when he was not looking so he did not suffer. George also knew that if he did not do it himself Curley would have beaten and killed Lennie for killing his wife in much harsher ways than if George killed him. Lennie did not deserve to die because he ultimately had not intention of hurting and killing those he did kill.…

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lennie Smalls

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “George raised the gun and brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. He pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 106). Moments before, Lennie was staring across a river with his best friend, dreaming of the future. What he did not know though, was that the future would never come. The book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, takes place during the Great Depression in California.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    George struggles with caring for Lennie or having the sense of freedom he would have without him. Most of the problems George experienced in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men are problems many people would never think they would have to deal with. Most people do not have to worry about having enough money to own land, we all just have a house and take it for granted. None of us would ever imagine having to shoot someone, especially someone we care about, in the back of the head.…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Of Mice & Men, George decides to shoot his companion Lennie after he has managed to get himself into trouble once again. There, of course, are both pros and cons to this decision in my perspective, more pros than cons. For example, one pro is that George got to kill Lennie himself in a decent, peaceful way. If he had not killed Lennie before the other work hands got to him, they most likely would have tortured him using the cruelest method possible. Another example is that Lennie died dreaming about what he had been from the start, which was the farm and rabbits he would tend to once he and George got their own place; calming him and making the last image he saw a extraordinary one.…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Would you be able to kill your best friend or only companion? In the novellaOf Mice and Men by john Steinbeck, George had to kill the only person he traveled with. George and Lennie have traveled together because George promised Lennie’s aunt he would. As they travel, Lennie get both himself and George in trouble that George has to fix. That is, until Lennie does one thing that George can’t get them out of.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Best Friends Until the End Imagine having to kill your best friend. In Of Mice and Men, George made a hard decision which was if he should kill his best friend, Lennie. George killing Lennie was justified because had to think about Lennie’s life ahead if he didn 't make this choice. George making this choice was right because Lennie had unknowingly brought a threat among people, Lennie had died much quicker and painless, and Lennie was basically George’s responsibility.…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Painful Sacrifices Sacrifice is the hardest thing to do, selfishness, thoughtlessness, and many flaws in our life keep us from doing the best thing. In Of Mice of Men, by John Steinbeck the two main characters George and Lennie have a deep, perplexing, and loving relationship. With George’s love and care for Lennie he sacrificed so much towards him even when it’s most painful but the most beneficial. We should make sacrifice for genuine friendships despite pain since it leads to the best overall outcome.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Do you ever feel helpless, like you do not have choice? Instead the choice was already made for you and you cannot do anything about it? In some situations you encounter a time where you do not have a choice, which can be in a positive or negative way. The choices you make now can affect the choices you make in the future. In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, two characters Lennie and George, get a job on the ranch in Salinas Valley.…

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Of Mice and Men “You’ve got to do whatever it takes to protect the ones you love”-unknown. Sometimes making a hard choice can be harsh but, if it means the person you love will be safe at the end it’s worth it. John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ is about two men,George and lennie,traveling together trying to fulfill their dream of owning their own ranch someday but they come upon one of them committing a murder. George kills Lennie and I firmly believe that it was the right thing to do because he was protecting others, keeping him from suffering and, he was protecting Lennie from himself.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There would be some strong words that would come out of your mouth, but one you remember most is that, “ Hey, that’s my best friend I would kill for him.” In this novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, I believe that George was right to kill Lennie to protect him from unfair punishment. Many of us today have…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    To ask whether an action is right or wrong, and to answer with one of the two simple, banal choices, is to ignore the rich and enlightening internal quandaries that arise when one must consider morals and ethics. In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, dilemmas of these sort present themselves often, particularly when George makes the decision to shoot his companion, Lennie, in order to spare him great pain and suffering. It would be unfair to simply call George’s actions ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, as in order to critically examine them and deem them moral or otherwise one must examine them from unbiased points of view; look at motives and consequences, a process through which Immanuel Kant would esteem George’s actions wrong, John Stuart…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays