The Guilt Of George Milton For First Degree Murder

One reason as to why George did not murder Lennie is that George had thought about what he was going to do to Lennie. He did not do it out of cold blood or out of hatred for Lennie. This is clear on page 105, when the text states,

You must acknowledge that in the day and age of the Great Depression, it was common where if there was a wrongdoing that was committed by someone, people would take measures that we consider extreme, such as murder. Nevertheless, with there being no actual proof that the men were going to actually murder Lennie, they only said they were going to, which would mean they are basically all talk. In a conversation about the punishment Lennie is going to face, George suggests “Couldn’ we maybe bring him in an’ they’ll lock him up? He’s nuts Slim. He never done this to be mean.”

George's justification for shooting Lennie is to keep him from experiencing the pain that will follow the consequences of his actions. Lennie is going to be lynched, seemingly beaten up, furthermore Curley is going to kill Lennie. George also perceives that even if they were to escape, it would be just a matter of time before Lennie has another "accident" and kills someone else. George knows he can't protect Lennie from society, as he also cannot protect society from Lennie. Killing Lennie before he is caught is the only kind thing to do.

Lennie was always talking about living out his dreams tending rabbits on the ranch that George told him they were going to own one day, he had a goal to look forward to. George also did not try to explain to the other workers that Lennie had a disability and could not control what he was doing. George's murder was not justifiable because he was not in misery and wanted to live out his dream of tending the rabbits. Lennie’s murder was not justifiable. George did not give Lennie a chance to prove himself to the other workers and show how hard of a hard worker he is.

George feels he has to kill Lennie himself because they were as close just like Candy and his dog. George did not want the other men shooting Lennie just like what happened to Candy's dog. But the biggest example was when George was telling Lennie what to do in case he ever gets in trouble. George told Lennie to go down in the brush and hide in case of trouble. The story says “...if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always did before, I want you to come right here an' hide in the brush.”

George knew he had to do something, and he didn’t want anyone else murdering Lennie. George knew exactly where Lennie would be, because George told Lennie to come back to this very spot, if he ever got into big trouble. This foreshadows Lennie’s fate too. George knew if he had to come back here, he had done something very wrong and he would have to kill Lennie. Lennie’s last moments were thinking of the ranch, and animals, and food.

Some people may believe that George had killed Lennie out of spite, and he had wanted him dead all along. There are a few examples of proof in which George wanted to kill Lennie. For starters, George had grabbed the gun before he had known about what Lennie had done. The book never stated that he went in to grab the gun, leading the reader to believe that he was planning on murdering Lennie all along. But the only reason that George had the gun was because he knew that Lennie would mess up eventually.

George didn't want people to think of Lennie as a murderer, so he told everyone that Lennie was carrying a gun for self-defense. Slim realizes this, which is why he tells George that he had no choice but to kill Lennie. George did not have to kill Lennie, but he thought that it was the only way to save him from a worse fate. He realized that if he didn't murder Lennie, the other me would have to track him down and kill him even more brutally than George

Even though shooting Lennie wasn’t planned I think George knew it was going to have to be done sometime in the future because, Lennie ruins all of George 's chances of keeping a steady job. With all of George

This drastic decision was an immense burden on George and complicated his actions. George couldn’t bring himself to shoot Lennie; it was like he was fighting an internal battle: “George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again” (Steinbeck 106). This demonstrates that George didn’t shoot Lennie in a brutal or spiteful way. George purposely had Lennie think of peaceful thoughts to put Lennie at ease. He also shoots Lennie in the head instead of somewhere more painful, like his stomach.

However, George could have stood up for Lennie instead of killing him. There is other options other than immediately killing. Lennie was not very smart and George knew that, George was not thinking of Lennie he was thinking of himself. In the passage, Of Mice and Men, George says “He’s dumb as hell, but he ain’t crazy.” This shows that George knows that he is not stupid.

Lennie with his simple mind, always gets into trouble. This time, Lennie gets himself in a bind once again, that George can’t save him from. George decision to kill Lennie in the story, was due to his responsibility, sympathy, and love for Lennie. George’s decision to kill Lennie was out of sympathy for him.

Lennie was not very intelligent. He would constantly get in trouble by saying or doing the wrong things or messing with the wrong people. George had to act intelligent because he had to make a hard decision and kill Lennie because he knew it was the only way to keep him safe and he knew if he didn’t do it then the other workers would so he figured he would at least be the one to do it and make sure Lennie died happy. From this quote in the book, ”Well, jus forget it, I didn’ mean it. Jus’ foolin’.

The main reason George killed Lennie is because Lennie would have killed somebody again. And the evidence is clearly there, the pet mice that he killed, the poor puppy that he accidently hit to hard, and especially Curley’s wife. He almost killed the girl in weed if he had gone any further. The sad thing is is that he doesn't know how strong he really is, nor does he know what he’s done wrong in the first place.

George killing Lennie is justified. Lennie was either gonna get killed by the other men or George. The other men were only doing it because they hated Lennie, George would have done it for the sake of Lennie’s safety and mental state. George would have felt guilty if he did not handle it himself. One reason George was justified in killing Lennie was that George had realized Lennie would never get better and their dream would never come true.