Thursday, July 28, 2011

Why Did George Kill Lennie


killsfor multiple reasons.


  •       The reason most commonly offered
    is that he wants
    to save Lennie from being tortured by the pursuing lynch mob. This is
    probably
    valid, but it does not explain why he doesnt help Lennie escape.
    Lennie is hiding on the bank of
    a shallow river. They could wade across and
    climb into the Gabilan Mountains. The lynch mob
    might never even think of
    looking for them up there. Even if the mob finally guessed they had
    fled into
    the mountains, George and Lennie would have too much of a head start, and it
    would
    soon be getting dark. According to Lennie, the mountains have many
    caves. A mob would have to
    search each cave, and in the meantime the
    fugitives could be getting farther away.

  •         George
    didnt intend to help Lennie escape. This is proved conclusively by the
    fact
    that he stole Carlsons Luger from under his bunk at the ranch. He intended to kill
    Lennie
    as painlessly as possible. When he saw the body of Curleys wife in the
    barn, he assumed, like
    all the other men, that Lennie had tried to rape her
    and had unintentionally killed her while
    they were struggling. George
    realizes that Lennie is becoming a menace to society and that he
    would
    probably kill other girls if allowed to live in freedom.
  •        
    This
    is the first time Lennie has killed a human being (although he has
    killed lots of animals).
    George is in some danger of being charged as an
    accessory to second-degree homicide. He told
    Lennie where to hide if he got
    into trouble. If he tried to help his friend escape, he would
    definitely be
    an accessory to murder.
  •         George feels guilty for
    the
    death of Curleys wife. In fact, he really is guilty because he brought
    Lennie to that ranch and
    the girl would still be alive if he hadnt brought
    Lennie there. He is Lennies caretaker. He is
    responsible for any kind of
    trouble Lennie gets intoand he is beginning to realize that Lennie
    is growing
    into more of a problem than he is competent to handle.

  •        
    George wants to rid himself of a big burden. He cant handle
    the stress anymore. When he kills
    Lennie with the Luger he has mixed
    feelings, which include pity, sorrow, and remorse, but also a
    vast relief. He
    frequently abuses Lennie verbally, telling the childish giant that he could

    enjoy a much happier life if only he were free of him. Lennie is a burden because he is
    always
    getting into trouble and also because he has to be watched all the
    time. Lennie has caused
    George to lose jobs, and jobs are hard to come by.
    Lennie almost got both of them lynched by
    assaulting a girl in
    Weed.
  •         George is angry at Lennie. He feels
    sorry
    for Curleys dead wife. She was just a dumb girl. She should have had a chance to live
    out
    her whole life and not have it snuffed out the way Lennie had killed his
    puppy and so many other
    small animals. George kills Lennie for the same
    reason that the lynch mob wants to kill him.
    George is really fed up with his
    companion.
  •         George cant turn Lennie
    over to the
    authorities with the hope that they would put him in an asylum. He doesnt have
    the
    power to determine Lennies fate. If he could manage to get Lennie
    arrested rather than lynched,
    the authorities would be likely to charge
    Lennie with murder. There would be plenty of evidence
    that he had killed
    Curleys wife, and there would be plenty of witnesses to testify that he was

    guilty. The motive would be attempted rape. Nobody saw what happened in the barn. Lennie
    would
    be incapable of defending himself, and he wouldnt have much of a
    defense anyway. He wouldnt let
    go of the girl, she started screaming and
    struggling, and he killed her.

  •         Lennie is showing
    many signs of rebelling against Georges control. He lies to
    George, threatens
    to run away and live by himself, doesnt follow Georges instructions,
    sometimes
    deliberately disobeys. (For example, George told him to have
    nothing to do with Curleys wife.)
    George may be a little bit afraid of
    Lennie, and with good reason. A time might come when Lennie
    might
    accidentally kill his keeper.

Steinbeck was a
realist.
His characters are not all good or all bad. George shows his good
side by looking after Lennie
for a long time. He shows his darker side by
verbally abusing Lennie, by wanting to be rid of
him, and finally by
executing him. Lennie himself seems like a gentle, likeable characterexcept

that he kills everything he touches, including his little puppy. Lennie is developing
an
interest in sex, and because of his feeble mind and giant strength he is
potentially a monster
who needs to be destroyed.  Slim is probably the most
faultless character in the story, but he
is a member of the lynch mob. He
wouldnt be present at the ending if he hadnt come along with
the mob. And
there is no indication that he had any intention of giving Lennie any kind of

help.

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