In a sense in Of Mice and Men George is talking to Slim about when he was in weed with Lennie, and would play jokes on him that almost ended Lennie's life. “I used to have a hell of a lot of fun with ‘im. Used to play jokes on ‘im ‘cause he was too dumb to take care of ‘imself. But he was too dumb even know he had a joke played on him. I had fun. Made me seem God damn smart alongside of him. Why he’d do any damn thing I tol’ him. If I tol’ hom to walk over a cliff, over he’d go. That wasn’t so damn much fun after a while. He never got mad about it, neither. I’ve beat the hell outa him, and he could bust every bone in my body jus’ with his han’s, but he never lifted a finger against me.” (Steinbeck, 40). George would purposely embarrass Lennie and use the trust that Lennie put in him to make himself look like the good guy. George would use the fact that Lennie was ‘dumb’ for his own amusement. George is a bad friend to Lennie because he over uses the trust that Lennie puts into their friendship for his own sick …show more content…
The ending scene in the novel shows George finding Lennie in the water by the brush. This is the place where he tells Lennie to go if he ever gets in trouble at the ranch. “And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering.” (Steinbeck, 106) George took the life of his best friend and his only real friend. He took the easy way out of the problem instead of fighting for his best mate. Later in the scene, Slim goes to George and says, “You hadda, George. I swear you hadda. Come on with me.” (Steinbeck, 107). He led George into the entrance of the trail and up toward the highway. Slim was one of the few ranchers who understands the meaning behind friendship and the friendship George and Lennie had. Throughout the story, George was complaining about Lennie. In the final act, he took Lennie’s life. George never truly understood the true meaning behind the word friendship. He is verbally abusive to Lennie and embarrasses and overuses the trust that Lennie gives him. He ended up taking Lennie’s life for his own selfish reasons. If he truly understood