Preview

Murder In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
673 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Murder In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
When it comes to the way people view murder, they are usually pretty one sided. Some people on earth have stubborn minds, they are full with static. The main opinion shared between these folks seems to be “Murder is murder. Murder is bad. The person who murders is therefore bad.” These bland, stale statements need to be thought through more thoroughly. What if the person who committed this crime had other intentions? What if they weren’t cold hearted and actually had a soul? In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men, Lennie, a person with mental issues, doesn’t deserve to be held accountable for his actions for several justifiable reasons.
Lennie is innocent and ever meant to hurt to fly, as shown from his addiction to touching soft things.“Lennie looked sadly up at him. “They was so little,” he said, apologetically. “I’d pet ‘em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead-because they was so little” (Steinbeck 9-10). This quote shows that Lennie never had bad intentions, he just liked soft things, the same way he like Curley’s wife’s hair. Soft things seem to be calming or therapeutic to him in a way. This quote isn’t direct in showing that
…show more content…
“Slim had not moved. His calm eyes followed Lennie out the door. "Jesus," he said. "He's jes' like a kid, ain't he." "Sure, he's jes like a kid. There ain't no more harm in him than a kid neither, except he's so strong" (Steinbeck 43). Here, Slim and George come to the conclusion in this quote that Lennie is too kind for his own good. Clearly, their last expectation for him would be for him to murder. Also, his immense amount of strength gives him more power than he is capable of handling. Lennie is too strong for his own good, even though he should be able to handle himself at this point in his life. His disabilities account for the fact that he can’t handle his strength, as well as his dependency on

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The novel, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is an extraordinary story of two men who travel together through tough situations and remain loyal to one another. They develop a strong friendship and share many qualities. My best friend, Alla, and I have known each other for over seven years and we have a strong bond. What binds us together are our differences and loyalty, just like Lennie and George, but unlike them, we have different dreams.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck uses descriptive language and diction to explain Crook’s room. After reading the two paragraphs explaining Crooks’s room, a reader can infer that Crooks is caring, lonely and informed about his rights. Crooks’s room is described as “a little shed” with many personal possessions.” Furthermore, unlike the other men on the ranch he has books which consist of “a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905” and medicine for the horses.…

    • 260 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Crooks is isolated because of color and his disability. He is physically divided from his fellow co workers and lives in a separate bunkhouse. His loneliness forces him to acquiesce when Lennie tries to make a decent conversation with him. But when Lennie fills Crooks in about the dream farm place, all he does is laughs. It could be because he saw too many men say that but they end up working for someone or just simply ended up in ditch. Crooks is understandably cynical and shows apprehension about how others treat him in return. He cannot see beyond the preconception he has always encountered in the past. Ways that Crooks copes with his seclusion is by reading books. The other guys can't read but he can which gives him a huge advantage of…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Furthermore, Lennie has killed many things before. What was to stop him from killing anyone or anything else? He used to kill mice back when he was little because they would bite his fingers because he loved to pet soft things, and he would attempt to pet them. So he would pinch their heads in return. On page 10 it says “I’d pet ‘em and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and then they was dead because they was so little.” He also killed a young puppy. On page 87 it says “I was just playin’ with him…an’ he made like he’s gonna bite me…an’ I made like I was gonna smack him…an’ I done it. An’ then he was dead. Lennie also surprisingly killed a human being too! He killed Curley’s wife with no instrument at all. He just used his own two hands and broke her neck, just by shaking her. On page 91 it says “…for Lennie had broken her neck.”…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "No, Lennie. I ain't mad. I never been mad, an' I ain't now. That's a thing I want ya to know"(Steinbeck 106) -George…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lennie was a nice guy, and he never meant any harm. However, he always ended up getting into trouble or doing “bad things”. All of this often angered George, who fantasizes about what he could have been doing if Lennie weren’t weighing him down. For example, when the men were working in Weed, Lennie had them hiding in an irrigation ditch overnight because he frightened a woman. He gripped on to her dress, giving her the impression that he was trying to hurt her. Lennie of course didn’t mean any harm, he just enjoyed petting soft things. All of the inconveniences to George would give the impression that Mr. Milton would actually want Lennie dead. This was not the case. George cared for Lennie like he was family. The promise he made with Lennie’s Aunt Clara is just what brought them together. This can be seen when George and Lennie talk about their dream, Lennie says “because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why”(14). At the end of the novel, George is left with only two choices: let Lennie be tortured and killed by the other men, or kill him on his own… a quick and painless death. Of course he does not want Lennie to suffer, so he does it on his own. And it clearly was not easy. The quote from the book “George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again”(105) further supports this. George’s shaking hand proves how difficult it was to let go of a long time friend. Slim is one of the few people who understand their relationship. He was the only one who George confided in…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At the age of 16, a man named Corey Williams was convicted and sentenced to death for murdering a pizza delivery man. However, the judge reduced the sentence considering the fact that Williams was intellectually disabled. Throughout his life, Cory “lacked ‘the ability to engage in the world around him (even in a proceeding where the death penalty (for him) is being addressed.” After Corey Williams was sentenced to death, defense attorneys found out through interviews that there were actually three other men involved in the murder. Since Williams was disabled, they thought it would be easy to blame it on him. In John Steinbeckś novella Of Mice and Men set in the 1930ś in Salinas Valley, California we meet the static character Lennie Smalls, and his best friend George. Although the author does not point out or say that Lennie has a disability, it is implied throughout the novella that he does have one. Back in the 1930ś, no one knew how to handle Lennieś condition because it was new to them; When something is new to someone, typically they will get scared and handle the situation incorrectly.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the novel, Lennie already kills several creatures such as mice, puppies, and eventually a human being like Curley’s wife. When Lennie uses his strength to kill other people, he does not even notice what he is doing. Lennie cannot restrain himself when Steinbeck states that, “She struggled violently under his hands. Her feet battered on the hay and she writhed to be free; and from under Lennie’s hand came a muffled screaming… He shook her then with anger. ‘Don’t you go yelling,’ he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.”(91) The quote explains that Lennie does not know how strong he is because he is child-like. He cannot control his strength very well and does not even know what problems he might cause by using his strength. In addition, Lennie is not rational; he always does something with emotional like shaking Curley’s wife with his anger until she dies. Fortunately, George kills Lennie. Therefore, the workers on the ranch do not have to concern about risking their lives to work with this uncontrolled guy. Killing Lennie is right because no one gets injured and workers live safely. However, some people argue that George is wrong to kill Lennie because men cannot take other men’s lives easily and Lennie is not willing to kill Curley’s wife, he’s unconscious of doing it until she’s already dead. Nevertheless, the point is not important because Lennie has mental challenges and he does not mean to kill Curley’s wife. All the workers on the ranch are also lonely, so they do not want to help Lennie as well since Lennie is a new guy on the…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Crooks, Candy, Curley's wife, and Lennie are all stereotypically displayed as what they come off as at first, the colored man, the migrant worker, the woman, and the one with cognitive disabilities. All of them are clearly underprivileged in some way, either by their sex, gender, brains, or where they come from.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lennie’s weakness is his inability to control his physical power. Because he didn’t know how to react in tense situations, he panicked and asserted too much force on his victims. His actions, which are later regretted, stirs a resentful and angry hatred directed toward him. After the accident that he created, people like Curley had reason to shoot and hurt him. This indicates that being only physically strong is not enough for one to survive in the harsh realities of our…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In of mice and men, characters are cruel when they have power to control others of lower status. Many characters display a disregard for ones feeling or emotions through physical and verbal actions. On the ranch, hierarchy is extremely prominent and cruelty is a side effect of it. The characters that are lower of status are not cruel to those above. The character Curley’s wife, is an impeccable example of this. Even though she is of lower status on the ranch, she still has power over those below her. Crooks is one of those character, he is a coloured man and she uses this against him. During section 4, crooks is discusses plans with Lennie and candy, he forgets his circumstances in the ‘white man’s world’. He tells Curley’s wife that she has…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The story takes place during the 1930s at a small ranch south of Soledad, California. The country was struggling through the Great Depression and focused on isolationism, preferring to settle troubles at home rather than the rising crisis in Europe. Though, the Eugenics Movement, a movement based on the idea of improving the human race through selective breeding – largely seen in Nazi Germany, was also beginning to spread in the United States. Stemming from the Eugenics Movement, public talk of euthanasia also dramatically increased. Due to the subtle ideologies of the Eugenics Movement and the ending reference of euthanasia, modern interpretations of the book will greatly differ from thoughts from the books original release. because of the…

    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lennie’s mistake leads him to his sudden fate. Lennie’s childlike and innocent persona shows other characters that he never does anything for malicious reasons. Even after George tells Lennie to “Get ‘im, Lennie!” (Steinbeck 60) after Curley attacked him, Lennie “Watched in terror the flopping little man whom he held” (Steinbeck 60) in his hands. Lennie never meant to hurt Curley, but he cannot control his strength. He does not understand when to stop once he starts. Later, Curley’s wife approaches Lennie. Lennie refuses to talk to her, but she approaches him anyway. “I like to pet nice things” (Steinbeck 85), Lennie tells Curley’s wife, so she offers to have him touch her soft hair. He starts to stroke her hair, but without realizing his strength, he starts to stroke the hair harder and harder. Afraid of George being angry with him, Lennie quickly covers…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Death, the one thing that all of humanity will eventually face. For different reasons I believe murder is unlawful, but in the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck I strongly believe that George killing Lennie can be justified. Sometimes we have to go to the extreme, to make sure that the people we love enter and leave this world in the best possible way.…

    • 146 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slim, who wonders why more men don’t travel around together and theorizes that maybe it’s because everyone is scared of everyone else, appreciates the closeness of their friendship. One of the reasons that the tragic end of George and Lennie’s friendship has such a profound impact is that one senses that the friends have, by the end of the novella, lost a dream larger than themselves. The farm on which George and Lennie plan to live—a place that no one ever reaches—has a magnetic quality, as Crooks points out. After hearing a description of only a few sentences, Candy is completely drawn in by its magic. Crooks has witnessed countless men fall under the same silly spell, and still he cannot help but ask Lennie if he can have a patch of garden to hoe there. The men in Of Mice and Men desire to come together in a way that would allow them to be like brothers to one another. That is, they want to live with one another’s best interests in mind, to protect each other, and to know that there is someone in the world dedicated to protecting them. Given the harsh, lonely conditions under which these men live, it should come as no surprise that they idealize friendships between men in such a way.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays