NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Each and every morning when one wakes up, an individual may roll out of bed, attempt to murder my alarm clock, jump into the shower and then, when Im back to my room, have to decide what to wear. Now, for some people this may be a fairly easy decision but for others, its a painstaking, mind-boggling, headache-causing ordeal that they are forced to go through every day of their existence. Unlucky for me, I happen to be the latter. But there are so many decisions that need to be made by each one of us every day, and some are harder than others. Like the decision whether to kill your best-friend or to let somebody else do it.
It may sound absurd, but thats the decision George is forced to make in the end of Of Mice and Men. At the end of the book when Lennie is being searched for, there are three choices George had. 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 mightve had a small chance of survival.
But this chance was made almost non-existent by the fact that they were being chased by dogs and a bunch of angry men with shot guns. They never wouldve made it. What most likely wouldve happened would be that both Lennie and George wouldve gotten shot because it wouldve looked like they were running because they both helped to kill Curley's wife. There were no ties between Curley and anyone on the ranch, especially these two, so nothing wouldve stopped him from putting a bullet in both of their heads. George obviously didnt want to die, so he couldnt choose to run. He just wouldve wound up dead too.
George also couldve 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 wifes 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 couldnt live with himself if he let the man he was responsible for be killed by Curley out of revenge. Lennie didnt know what he was doing and it wasnt 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 shouldnt ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog. (67) Candy had taught him that if Lennie's death was inevitable, it might as well be done by someone who knows the 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 decision George ever had to make, and after he made it, 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. (117) 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 consciences. George may have been sad about it, but he had done the right thing. 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 then George and Lennie ending up in their little ranch, because that wouldnt have been believable. Lennie had always gotten himself into trouble before and that wouldnt have changed just because they owned their own house. He wouldve screwed it up somehow. George killing Lennie may have been sad, but it was also believable and right. If you had to make a decision, would you rather have a happy ending, or one you could really believe in?
Bibliography:
Free research essays on topics related to: happy ending, kill lennie, ending, lennie, wouldve
Research essay sample on Kill Lennie Happy Ending
