At the climax of "Of Mice and Men," John Steinbeck places the novel's lead characters Lennie and George in a suspenseful, no-win scenario. When considering whether George did the "right" thing, we have to look at the scene from various perspectives. Steinbeck's narrative makes the reader directly face ethical dilemmas with no clear correct or conscientious answer.
Lennie, a grown man with the intellect and maturity of a child, experiences the world with wonder, curiosity, and sometimes confusion. Throughout the novel, George looks after Lennie as if he were a close family member. The two men have a shared dream of someday owning a farm together, and George leads them from one ranch to another to find work during the lean times of the American Great Depression.
Their dream begins to get closer to reality as others on Curley's ranch learn of the men's plan and offer help and money if they can also join them in their endeavor. It's at this point in the novel where George begins to get more comfortable, lowers his guard, and decides to leave Lennie on his own at the ranch for a day.
Lennie, who loves soft and beautiful things like rabbits, has become fascinated by Curley's beautiful and aloof wife. While George is away at town, she attempts to befriend Lennie and lets him stroke her hair. However, she suddenly becomes afraid of his strength and to get away from Lennie. Panicking himself, Lennie accidentally breaks her neck. Knowing that he's "done a bad thing," Lennie flees to wait for George at their safe meeting spot--one of their former campsites.
When George learns of what has happened, he immediately goes to look for Lennie. When he finds him alone at the meeting spot, he begins to recount the story of their shared dream of owning a farm together where George could tend the fields and Lennie would take care of and pet the rabbits.
In this moment, Steinbeck places the reader in the middle of an ethical dilemma: what is the best way for George to protect Lennie now that others almost certainly want him dead? Having been Lennie's friend and protector for so long, and knowing the seriousness of Lennie's offense, George knows that Curley and the others will likely be cruel and malicious. George does the only human thing he can imagine: he kills Lennie before anyone else can catch him, torture him, and then murder him.
By killing Lennie, George also knows that he is extinguishing a very large piece of himself. Their shared life and dreams are now extinguished. In this spirit, the judgement of what is "right" and "wrong" in this scenario are left up to the reader to determine.
While it can never be considered right to kill anyone, sometimes it’s necessary, such as in a war situation, or if someone attacks you or your family and there’s no realistic alternative to using lethal force. On balance, one would have to say that George was placed in a similar situation with regards to Lennie. George vowed to Lennie’s Aunt Clara that he’d take care of him, and by killing Lennie, George thinks that’s exactly what he’s doing. Although Lennie didn’t actually mean to kill Curley’s wife, and despite the fact that he has the mental capacity of a child, it’s almost certain that he’ll be convicted of murder. And at that time and in that place, that would have meant the death penalty for Lennie. So although we cannot in any way condone George’s actions, it could reasonably be argued that he didn’t have much choice in the matter.
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