Young Writers Society

Death, the one thing all of humanity will eventually face, could be seen as an end or an entrance. What is your extent of a friendship? How far are you willing to go to help the person you care for? For numerous reasons, a broad amount of people think murder is immoral—especially if it was your own best friend. But sometimes we may have to go to the extreme, as long as we know it was the right thing to do from the heart because that’s how much you know you care. In this story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, I strongly believe that George was right to kill Lennie.

We can all argue back and forth whether George killing Lennie was wrong or not. But the fact of the matter is—there was no escape, or time to plan the next step because George heard “a man’s voice call up from the river, and another man answer”(100). So knowing that, we can already say that Curley and the others were near. So what could George do? What were his options? Apparently, there were no options to save them both out of trouble, but one to save Lennie from excessive suffering; “the voices came close now. George raised the gun and listened to the voices”(101). This is one of the reasons why I think George had the right to shoot Lennie—there was no escape, and it was either Curley to kill him, or George.

Now think about this; would you rather kill your best friend, or have a total stranger do it? Of course, you’d choose neither, but what if those were your only two options in the limited time? Would you choose then? Probably not—so look at it this way; your friend is mentally ill, treated like a dog, and respect is far from reach. The stranger happens to loathe your friend because he accidently killed someone the stranger cared for. The stranger plans to torture your friend right before he dies. Since you’re his friend, of course you’d comfort him—make him think everything is okay, confirm his safety, and to save him from any more pain from anyone else, you’d put him out comforted and filled with happiness. Now what’s your answer? Regarding to the story, replace the stranger as the short insecure man whom they call Curley, your friend as Lennie, and yourself as George. George and Lennie were best friends for a long time—more like brothers. Lennie isn’t the brightest bulb in the box, so George couldn’t really get mad at him when he accidently killed Curley’s wife, due to the soft feel of her hair—which he truly adored too much that he killed her by accident. “…’I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know’”(101). The two had planned a future together—a future in their own dream ranch. A ranch where no trouble they’d cross or cross them. Right before George put him out from the back of the head with the Luger, he made Lennie think of their future home—their ranch and the rabbits Lennie would tend. “’You…an’ me. Ever’body gonna be nice to you. Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ‘em’”(101). This shows you how much George cares for Lennie, no matter how big the crime is. He’d always be there to help Lennie get right back up to his feet, make him forget all his worries, and move on like nothing happened. I hereby state that I strongly believe George was the right person to kill Lennie, therefore made the right decision to, rather than to let him suffer in the hands of Curley.

Alright, so maybe George and Lennie could’ve escaped. If they picked their route quickly and carefully, they could’ve gotten a tight chance of escaping. But if you think about it, Curley and his men were on horses, with guns. No one can outrun a bullet unless you miss—however the chances of getting shot at would be quite high. So clearly, they wouldn’t make it all the way—plus the next town was probably miles away. Even if they did make it to the next town, being the odd cards of the deck would make it easier for Curley and his men to find them due to the witnesses.

So do I think George was right for killing Lennie? Yes, I do—it saved them both. Escaping was not an option—Lennie would’ve been caught and killed, and where would that leave George?—in the same position as Candy and his old dog who was shot by Carlson. It was better for George to kill Lennie, because he knew how to comfort him—and Lennie was always at ease with George and believed in him. Killing Lennie was easy, yet emotionally hard for George to overcome. But it was quick, less depressing and Lennie was happy. Death is the one thing all of humanity will eventually face. It could be seen as an end or an entrance. And in this case, it was an entrance.



--Thanks!

That was really good.
The true strength of an essay lies within structure. Yours was excellent. Your introduction, where you bring up the idea that "We all face death" is then yet again stated in your conclusion paragraph. To me, that is like tying the knot.

Likewise, your thesis statements were organised and each paragraph had it's own say.
I have never read this book, but from the amount of information you have provided I can boldly say that I understood.
This is a common mistake people make when writing something for school, or more specifically, for the teacher.
They tend to miss out vital information, and assume the reader's knowledge on the topic.
You told me everything, however not an info-dump either. It wasn't overwhelming, maintained it's structure and flowed with ease.

One thing that I did pick up on though, was the way you started your fourth paragraph -

Alright, so maybe George and Lennie could’ve escaped.

To me, "Alright," seemed to be too informal in this context.
What I suggest is this -

Perhaps, George and Lennie could have escaped.

Otherwise, this is a truly outstanding piece!
Wish you luck with your Honors.
Yours,
E.