Was Killing Lennie an Act of Mercy?
<B>Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck</B>
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.
Written task nr.5:
Was killing Lennie an act of mercy?
This short novel is about two friends: quick-wittet George and simple-minded Lennie. They are both ranch-hands moving together from ranch to ranch and looking for work. They have a dream about a little place of their own and they have each other. This is what keeps them going in a hard life.
In the end of the book Lennie is being searched for and will be killed when he is found.
George has three choices. He could run away with Lennie, not do anything and let the others kill Lennie, or kill Lennie himself. He chose to kill his best-friend, Lennie, himself, and he made the right decision.
If George had told Lennie that they were going to run away when they met down in the brush, they might have had a small chance of survival. They have been running before, but this chance was made almost non-existent by the fact that dogs were chasing them and a bunch of angry men with shot guns. They never would have made it. What most likely would have happened would be that they both would have been shot. The other men would draw the conclusion that George had helped Lennie killing Curley's wife. There were no ties between Curley and anyone on the ranch, especially not these two, so nothing would have stopped him from putting a bullet in both of their heads. George obviously did not want to die, so he did not choose to run.
George could also have stayed at the ranch with Candy and done nothing, or just followed the rest of the guys looking for Lennie. He knew what was going to happen, and he knew it from the moment he saw Curley's wife's body lying dead in the barn. It was clear to him that there was no way Lennie could make it out of this one alive. But George also knew that he could not live with himself if he let the man he was responsible for, be killed by Curley out of revenge. Lennie didn't know what he was doing, and it was not fair that he should be killed out of hate. George had learned a lot from Candy when he said, "I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog." (Page 86) Candy had taught him that if Lennie's death was inevitable, it might as well be done by someone who knows him and cares about him. Lennie had to be killed out of love.
That revelation was the driving force that led George to kill his best friend in the world. This was probably the hardest problem George ever has had, and after he found the solution, he had even a harder time carrying it out. "And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger.......George shivered and looked at the gun, and then he threw it from him, back up on the bank, near the pile of old ashes." (Page 133) Even though this was a difficult, heart-wrenching thing for him to do, he knew he had done nothing wrong. It was the only way the 'problem' that Lennie had with hurting people could be resolved with no loose ends and no guilty conscience. George may have been sad about it, but he had done the right thing at the circumstances.
George tries to make it as easy as he can. Not only for Lennie I think, but also for himself. The dream about the place of their own creates a tragic atmosphere, but it also shows the great respect George had for Lennie, he wanted him to die when he enjoyed himself the most.
Can it be justified to kill another person out of mercy? I believe so. There was once a doctor who got a cancer-patient. The illness was discovered early and that saved the man. The doctor had just received the final test and was on his way to tell the patient the great news of his recovery when he heard that he had killed himself. I believe in life, but when a person wants to die he should have the possibility to do it with honour. To have the freedom it gives when nobody else is allowed to decide anything for you. But are people always in a state of mind when they can figure out what is best for them? This is a very complex question; I only know one land who have no law against it and that is the Netherlands. It goes against most religions also. But I think Lennie would rather have George to kill him than to be beaten up and killed by Curley and the others.
To many people, the ending of this book may seem grim and morbid, and they wish the book had a 'happy' ending. But Lennie ending up dead was the only way that the book could end believably and happily. It was a much "happier" ending than George and Lennie ending up in their little ranch, because that would not have been believable. Lennie had always got himself into trouble before and that wouldn't have changed just because they owned their own house. He would have screwed it up somehow. George killing Lennie may have been sad, but it was also believable and right. If you had to make the decision, would you rather have a 'happy' ending, or one you could really believe in?
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