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Of Mice and Men

Summary:   Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is about two men who are looking for a place to work so they can raise money to one day own there own land. One of them isnt the brightest but he has brute strength to make up for it.

Throughout my life I have been with many friends. Some of my friends were not the smartest of the bunch but we still hung out and were friends, just like George and Lennie's relationship in Of Mice and Men. Lennie is not very bright and yet George puts up with it for as long as they have been together. The book was written by John Steinbeck, who decided to write about two people who end up growing up together and working at farms. But in the end of it all something tragic happens. George shoots Lennie in the head. What George did killing his friend was very wrong.

The story takes place in depression-era California, some time in spring. The two men find themselves going to a ranch called Salinas Valley located north of Weed (BB). George is a small guy, but don't judge him by his size, for he is a quick and strong (BB). On the other hand, Lennie is a man of big proportions and a big brute with quiet a lot of strength. But he isn't very smart for he acts and thinks just like a little boy (BB). He doesn't talk much since it mostly gets them into trouble so George tells him when he can and can not talk. Lennie lets George do most of the talking since he thinks he is much smarter then him, which George is. There is another man named Candy, an older fellow who works around the ranch. He used to own a dog but they killed it since it was so old and just about to die as it was. The owner's son Curley and is married. He doesn't really like people who are bigger then him, so he never gets along with Lennie. He is married to a girl but she is considered a tramp to most of the guys, which truly does describe her. She is a "rat-trap" as George puts it in the book (32). She flirts with all the guys and does it right under Curley's nose. Last and most respectable man was Slim. Slim was known as the "Jerkline Skinner, the prince of the ranch, capable of driving ten, sixteen, even twenty mules with a single line to the leaders" (33). He is known for this because of his high ranked of authority and his looks (33).

The storyline of the book is about two guys who leave a ranch in Weed and head to work at Salinas Valley (BB). They leave because Lennie made another mistake which led to them having to run for their lives from Weed. Lennie had decided to start rubbing on some girls red dress. She starts screaming and screaming so Lennie being the "dumb bastard" holds onto the dress (41). When George finally gets Lennie to let go they run and hide in a ditch. The girl decides to tell the authorities that she was being raped so they start a man hunt for Lennie (41-42). George and Lennie then decide to head up north to go work at a ranch called the Salinas Valley to make some money. They do so much working since they plan on starting their own ranch so they can buy rabbits among other things. At the ranch they meet a bunch of people including, Curley and his wife, Candy the old man, Crooks the black slave, and Slim the "Jerkline Skinner." As the story goes on we next find Lennie stroking his dead dog (91). Curley's wife comes in moments later to flirt though Lennie but he really doesn't notice it. He tries to ignore her since George said that he is not allowed to talk to her or he won't be able to tend to the rabbits (32). He tries but she persuades him to talk and they final do. They get on the subject of why he liked rabbits and it was because he liked petting soft things. Well her hair being soft she says she will let him pet hers. Well he does put does it harder and harder tell she tells him to stop. He doesn't stop so she starts screaming and he grabs her hair and won't let go. He ends up grabbing her mouth then he starts shaking her till he ends up killing her. He was just mainly trying to make her shut up so she would stop screaming. But he ends up grabbing her to hard and breaks her neck (91). Then he runs and heads south to a river to hide and wait for George (92). That way George can meet up with him and help him. When everyone finds out that Curley's wife was murdered, Curley goes frantic and gets his shotgun (96). George goes to the spot where he knew Lennie would be waiting (102). They start talking about how they will have a ranch with there own rabbits, crop, and farm animals (103). Then George, doing something that he did not want to do, pulls out gun from his pocket and shoots Lennie in the back of the head, killing him (106). Lennie did not know that George was going to do this since he made Lennie look out at the field (103). When the men came and saw what had happened, George led them to believe that he struggled to get the gun from Lennie and shot him (107). With that done, they all headed back to the ranch to get a drink trying to forget about what just happened (107).

Lennie was very simple and unperceptive, but he was a good guy. Aside from being stupid, he had a very kind heart. A few examples would be whenever George gets mad at Lennie he always says that he would rather go work alone instead of being with him, that way he could actually stay at a place long enough to get some decent pay. Lennie, being the caring person he is, tells George, that if he wants, that he well leave or that he is really sorry and that he would try and work harder. Another time would have to be with animals. He always loves to play with animals and always wanted one of his own. He isn't very bright however, so he usually ends up killing them by accident. While they are at the ranch one of the men had a litter of pups and George asks if he could get one. Lennie loves the pup so much he overdoes it and smothers the little creature. Finally there was Curley always wanting to pick a fight with Lennie. Though Lennie knew he hated him for his size and stupidity, he still acted nice towards the guy and always tried to avoid fighting with him.

Lennie has had his fair share of troubles in the past but he can't help it. He is retarded in some ways like not being able to think for himself and speaking before he thinks about what he is going to say. He may be retarded but that is no reason for him to be killed. He shows through the book that he is capable of doing things that not most people would be able to do alone. Obviously, he shouldn't be killed since he could be most helpful, such as the time when he was with Slim and the crew helping them buckin' barely. No one could keep up with him since he was so strong and so fast at it. He nearly kills is partner according to Slim. Another reason is he is great at taking orders and being told what to do. He shows this by following orders from George throughout the book. Also shows it when he is working buckin barley or doing other work.

Lennie, being a pal to George for as long as he has been, had no reason to be killed or at least not by his friend. George told Lennie's Aunt that he would take care of him and be responsible for Lennie. Nowhere in there was anything about killing him. How is he taking care of Lennie if he kills the guy? Furthermore they were practically family. You don't just shoot your own family, especially if you two were really close. No matter how stupid he may have been or what mistakes he had made, nothing gives you or anyone else a reason to choose if they live or die. Finally, Lennie had never done anything to George to make him kill him. He may have killed another person but he wasn't meaning to kill her. George could have just simply taken Lennie to the authorities or make him run somewhere so he can help deal with the matter.

Among all the people, would you shoot your own friend or family member, no matter what they did? The actions George took upon himself to do was by far wrong. He had no right to do this and neither should anyone else. We should leave all punishment to someone who is superior to us, such as government or authorities. This is what George should have done but he didn't. Lennie had done so much for George, always taking orders from George or working with him at places to help raise the money to get a ranch of their own. He didn't deserve to be killed.

Seeing how George killing Lennie was wrong and illegal. We have learned that killing friends or family is not the solution. There is mostly some kind of alternate route that one could take. Some choices could be just getting them some help or turning people in so someone of legal status can sentence the crime. Lennie could have served time in prison or a treatment center. No has the right to take someone's life, let alone choosing who can live and who can die.