Of Mice And Men

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 11th grade February 2008

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In the novel "Of Mice and Men," George Milton, an average man, is Lennie Small's, a mentally-deficient man, "brother's keeper." George is his "brother's keeper" by looking out for him, getting him out of situations, and even putting him out of his misery.

Due to Lennie's lack of intelligence, George looks out for him. They travel and work together. George makes sure that Lennie stays out of trouble and doesn't go off doing bad things that can cost him anything from time in jail to his life. He often tells Lennie, "I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl." He sacrifices fun to look out for Lennie.

Another thing that George does to be Lennie's "brother's keeper" is he always gets Lennie out of trouble and situations he always gets in.

George tells Slim," 'Course he ain't mean. But he gets in trouble alla because he's so God damn dumb. Like what happened in Weed." While they were working in Weed, he touched a girls dress, scaring her off, so they ran away. Lennie could have been charged with sexual assault or rape. A selfish person would have left him to get caught.

George no longer has to worry about Lennie when he puts him out of his misery. When Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife, he runs away to his and George's hiding place. Curley and his men go out to find him, so Lennie will either turn out to be in jail or dead. George goes to Lennie and tells him to look down at the river and to imagine their dream. "Look down at the river, like you can almost see the place," he tells Lennie. While he looks down,George shoots him. He killed him to put him out of his misery, not for fun or just to get rid of him. It was better for him to do it and not Curley or someone else, who would do it for revenge.

In conclusion, John Steinbeck did a great job of demonstrating how people can be conscientious and self-denial when most people are not. I personally think George did the right thing although it wasn't necessary. I probably would have done the same thing, but if it interfiered with my life too much, I wouldn't have.