“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. The two main characters, George Milton and Lennie Smalls, are on their way to a nearby ranch after running away from a farm in Weed where Lennie, a man who is slow minded and unaware of his strength, was wrongly accused of rape after trying to pet a women’s dress. They both work in hopes that one day they can earn enough to achieve their dream of owning a small
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It was shown in the book before that Lennie did not understand his own strength and because of that, he would unintentionally kill animals like he did with the puppy and mice, “‘That mouse ain’t fresh, Lennie… you’ve broke it pettin’ it… I remember a lady used to give ‘em to me… An’ she stopped givin’ ‘em to ya. You always killed ‘em’” (Steinbeck 8). His ignorance ultimately led to him killing Curley’s wife and this was a situation that he would not be able to get out of. There was no running away from this situation. Lennie would either be convicted of murder and thrown in jail or Curley and the mob would find him and most likely torture and kill him. George knew that he would not be able to help Lennie get out of trouble, but he knew a way that could stop any pain he would experience from these two options. It was said before in the book, when Carlson wanted to shoot Candy’s dog, that shooting the dog in the back of the head would be painless, “‘The way I’d shoot him, he wouldn’t feel nothing. I’d put the gun right there… right back of the head. He wouldn’t even quiver’” (Steinbeck 45). After years of being friends with Lennie, George did not want to see him die in pain and instead decided to mercy kill him near the river where he felt no pain whereas he would feel, or eventually feel, immense pain in the other scenarios . This was conclusively the best option for Lennie so that he could die
It was shown in the book before that Lennie did not understand his own strength and because of that, he would unintentionally kill animals like he did with the puppy and mice, “‘That mouse ain’t fresh, Lennie… you’ve broke it pettin’ it… I remember a lady used to give ‘em to me… An’ she stopped givin’ ‘em to ya. You always killed ‘em’” (Steinbeck 8). His ignorance ultimately led to him killing Curley’s wife and this was a situation that he would not be able to get out of. There was no running away from this situation. Lennie would either be convicted of murder and thrown in jail or Curley and the mob would find him and most likely torture and kill him. George knew that he would not be able to help Lennie get out of trouble, but he knew a way that could stop any pain he would experience from these two options. It was said before in the book, when Carlson wanted to shoot Candy’s dog, that shooting the dog in the back of the head would be painless, “‘The way I’d shoot him, he wouldn’t feel nothing. I’d put the gun right there… right back of the head. He wouldn’t even quiver’” (Steinbeck 45). After years of being friends with Lennie, George did not want to see him die in pain and instead decided to mercy kill him near the river where he felt no pain whereas he would feel, or eventually feel, immense pain in the other scenarios . This was conclusively the best option for Lennie so that he could die