Of Mice And Men Was Georges Killing Of Lennie Justified Movie Review

In the play, Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie had a strong relationship; they were close companions. It is evident that despite Lennie’s mental state, George had him for a companion. Through this companionship, George heavily influenced Lennie into having him follow hi dream, the dream to own a farm. The play depicts the character of Lennie as static throughout the play as he does not seem to change. George did not regard Lennie well in the beginning of the story and harassed him at some point. However, he changed with time when he realized that it was not fair to abuse other people. From thenceforth, he did not abuse Lennie anymore. This paper aims at establishing whether George’s killing of Lennie was an act of selflessness or selfishness.
George took it upon himself to shoot Lennie dead after Lennie had murdered Curley to prevent him from the pain and suffering of being lynched by the mob. George’s act was one of courage and selflessness since he reduced the pain and suffering that Lennie would have to undergo at the mercy of the crowd. There are several reasons that George must have thought of before pulling his trigger. This is because it is difficult to fathom or even imagine that George a mentally stable man would do such a cruel deed to a close companion and friend. George had to make a difficult choice.
In choosing between witnessing the mob take away Lennie’s life, George had to take into consideration a couple of factors. Foremost, even though Lennie was a well-built and strong individual, he was feeble, fragile and weak emotionally, he heavily relied on George for such support. By shooting him, George bore his greatest responsibility of emotional support. No one would understand Lennie, and he would be subjected to exasperating agony. It is evident that Curley is a man with contempt who will seek revenge for the death of his wife at all costs. This, even Slim asserts, will put Lennie in a fix because he will hunt him down and kill him if not restrain him in a mental hospital or facility. This will take away all the good things like freedom from him.
The other reason that George could have killed Lennie was in order to reinforce the theme of freedom and confinement. At the ranch, they were confined both in mind and physically in their service for the ranch owners. They led a life of misery and after Lennie’s sheer nature caused him to murder Curley’s wife, the situation was bound to escalate for the worse. This could have prompted George to take Lennie’s life away so that he protects him from the likely outcomes.
In conclusion, George’s killing of Lennie was a selfless. He chose to take this path in order to protect him from the misery and as his emotional guardian; he knew what was bound to face him following his deeds. In addition to this, the misery that Lennie had prior to his accidental killing of Curley’s wife was bound to magnify. His life would take a turn to the worse, if he survived being murdered, he would have to be sent away from the ranch. This is a painful thing that George would not bear to witness his friend and companion undergo.