The Importance Of Death In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

What would you do if you had the choice of either having to witness your loved one be tortured and killed through cruelty or the simplicity of you having to take their life through a mercy killing? Sometimes saving a life by taking one is the ideal action to take when it comes to someone you love, this is called Enthusiasm, a choice that a character had to face in the 1937 novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. “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.” (Steinbeck, 106). George had to take the life of his companion, Lennie after Lennie had accidentally killed a man’s wife on a migrant …show more content…
George struggled to pull that trigger, as he stalled, seeming as if he was waiting for a miracle, anything to keep him from having to kill his best friend, his brother. After trying so hard to protect Lennie, George had no choice but to have to protect him in the most guaranteed way possible; death. George and Lennie had a dream, to live on a farm where George can be free to live his life in peace and where Lennie can tend the rabbits, but George was not going to be able to give that to Lennie, George had to keep that reality while Lennie was able to dream. Lennie was a child at heart; with him liking soft things to pet and not being able to keep himself out of trouble for the life of him. By taking Lennie’s life, George prevented his best friend from going through the pain and agony of being tortured, from becoming a victim of Curley’s rage. George shielded Lennie from the cruel reality of life that was too complex for Lennie to ever be able to comprehend. For George, to have made the crucial decision of taking his dearest friend’s life was definitely not the most painless thing to do but, deep down, George knew that that decision was the ideal choice to make for his closest