Lennie Justified In Of Mice And Men

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In the novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Lennie and George are two friends that find themselves on a ranch in the middle of nowhere. Lennie, who is mentally slow, has caused so much trouble for the pair that it eventually leads George to kill him. Although murder is a criminal act, George does the right thing by shooting Lennie because he cannot keep covering for his mistakes, which puts everyone in danger, and George does not want Lennie to be put in jail for the rest of his life.

George killing Lennie is justified because he is protecting others. When Lennie touches the girl in the velvet dress in the town of Weed he meant no harm. He was drawn to the dress because of its soft texture. The girl screamed and claimed she was
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George realized when Lennie killed Curley’s wife he would go to jail for the remainder of his life. This led him to believe killing him would allow Lennie to avoid the consequences, of which he does not understand. Slim talks to George and told him that if Lennie lived in jail without George he would not be able to survive on his own. Lennie created a bond with George that he could never achieve with anyone else. Slim says to George that Lennie could not survive in jail because he would be “put in a cage”(83) and that would be no good to him. What Slim described as a place where Lennie would have to live is unbearable. This is why when George killed Lennie it shows mercy. Otherwise, Lennie would suffer on his own or Curley would let him die slowly. George cared too much about his friend to let Lennie spend the remainder of his years in a prison cell.
In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck two friends travel together around working on farms. Lennie, who was mentally slow, became too out of hand, and George, a small and very bright guy, decided to take action. George did the right thing by shooting Lennie because he could not keep covering for his mistakes, he puts everyone in danger, and George does not want Lennie to live in jail for the rest of his