Thane Tyler
Mr. Matich 2A
January 11, 2011
Of Mice of Men Essay
Mercy
George kills Lennie! There, I spoiled it. In the end of the book, Of Mice and Men,
George kills his best friend Lennie. It is extremely hard for him. The stereotype for any man
who kills is always bad, but in George’s case I believe it’s not. I think it’s merciful because
George didn’t want him in jail or to get hurt; it was also love, care, and respect toward Lennie to
kill him instead of someone else, who doesn’t treasure Lennie.
First, George shows compassion in the sense that Lennie is just a child in a giant body.
He would not understand why he was in jail and why they are treating him that way. Lennie
seems like he can take care of himself; however, he is only a child and cannot take care of
himself. No one in jail would have cared for Lennie. He could not handle it by himself.
Lennie’s mind is only developed to about a 6 or 7 year old child. Can you imagine putting an
innocent minded child in jail for life? That is not humane in our world today and would not
happen. He would suffocate. It would ruin his life.
Second, Lennie’s life would be ruined if he lived, especially by Curley. Curley hates him
now because he accidentally killed his wife. Lennie has an inferior understanding and would not
be able to live on his own. After all that, Curley would torture Lennie and probably kill him.
That is definitely not what is right for Lennie and not the correct way to handle the situation. He
needs a loving caretaker and someone to respect and take responsibility for him.
Third, it is respectful and George’s responsibility toward Lennie to kill him himself. This
was foreshadowed earlier in the book when Candy says he should have killed his own dog
instead of Carlson who doesn’t care for it. George kills him out of love instead of spite. He
knows that Lennie’s life would become loathsome and depressing. George suffers spiritually
instead of Lennie suffering physically.
All in all, I feel it is mercy rather than cruelty to kill Lennie. George didn’t want him in
jail, or to get hurt; it was George’s responsibility to kill him. Even though murder is never a good
choice, it was the right choice.
Works Cited
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Book, 1937.