Theme Of Betrayal In Of Mice And Men

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Life often positions people in our lives who will be blessings or lessons, sometimes those lessons come in the form of betrayal. Betrayal from the people we least expect it from, and those who we are the closest to. That betrayal can cause damage that can be permanent such as in the book, Of Mice and Men. In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, a huge betrayal is what completes the whole meaning of the work as a whole. The betrayal becomes the falling action of the story and it illuminates the whole story line until it comes to its inevitable end. The nature of the betrayal is presumed at the begging but it is then build up throughout the story to further explain the reasoning of why the betrayal was portrayed and concluded.
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“No Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know.” (Steinbeck 106.) These were the last words George said to Lennie before he shot him in the back of the head. If George did not have love for Lennie why would he tell him the words of comfort and tell him everything he wanted to hear about the future and tending to the rabbits? George could have betrayed Lennie out of love because he knew the world was not for him, his kind heart and mind was not fit for the cruel world he was in and perhaps the only thing George wanted was for Lennie to go to a better place where he could do no unintentional harm and to where he could be understood. If the nature of the betrayal was done for benefit of the betrayer, then perhaps this had been George’s plan the whole time. George knew Lennie could not stay out of trouble, for he could not help it. George also knew when he arrived at that ranch that Curley’s wife was trouble and that Lennie would know no better. Perhaps, he knew Lennie would end up killing Curley’s wife and he knew Curley would want revenge, leaving the perfect chance to get rid of Lennie. Why else would George take Carlson’s gun, lie about it and then kill Lennie with that same gun and say that Lennie had been the one who had taken the gun? This betrayal can go either

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