Omg i just finished it. the ending quote troubled me but then i figured out that it meant that Carlson didnt know what was bugging them. why did george shoot lennie? i dont understand that part?
2006-11-01 12:23:06 · 4 answers · asked by Alicia R 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Carlson's remark bothers me, too, and I've read this book literally dozens of times. If Slim were not there to reach out to George.....
To understand what George did, you have to look at the limited choices he had. First--the odds of getting away from Curley's posse on horseback is very, very, very slim. We know this because of what George confides in Slim in Chapter 3 about their narrow escape in the town where they were last working--they had to hide in an irrigation ditch all day. They were lucky to get away that time.
If George did try to help Lennie escape, he would be a target, as well. Curley will be after both of them if they run.
Look back at the end of Chapter 5 (and maybe Chapter 6, too) for things Curley says once he finds out his wife is dead (like he even cares...)
Think carefully about who Curley is and what he would do to Lennie. More than once, Curley says something about wanting to shoot Lennie in the gut to double him over. This is not about killing Lennie as some sort of simple "eye for an eye" way to settle the score.
If Curley gets to Lennie first, Curley will torture Lennie and then kill him. Lennie will suffer extreme emotional and physical anguish he will have no way to understand, and George may have to witness this, unable to stop it.
George is aware that Lennie is going to die either way. This is not a time or a place when someone can pick up the phone, dial 911, get a an officer of the law to arrest Lennie and take him away to prison or some sort of institution.
So George knows that Lennie is a dead man either way, and what he does, as shocking as it is, is an act of mercy. George kills Lennie, with no suffering, much the way Candy's old dog is put down. Lennie is able to die with happy thoughts, not knowing his death is coming (although some scholars argue this--reread what they say to each other as George is talks to Lennie about their dream.)
The position George is in is unthinkable, yet he makes the most humane choice he can make given the circumstances.
2006-11-01 13:05:44 · answer #1 · answered by sdewolfeburns 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
By the final scene of the novel, Lennie was a murderer pursued. He would almost certainly have suffered a worse death at the hands of others, if George did not shoot him himself.
Remember the dog shot earlier in the novel? The dog's death is justified by a sense of putting the animal out of its misery. Lennie's shooting is suggested to be an act of mercy.
2006-11-01 20:52:38 · answer #2 · answered by knotcommon 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I just finished reading the book a few weeks back it has to do with george letting go because he knows whats best for lennie i dunno how to explain it but in the book you see how george and lennies relationship has many aspects to it....george in a way was ending the suffering and ending his friends life rather than having someone else do it.....hope this helps
2006-11-01 20:33:29 · answer #3 · answered by tinkywinkerz 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Because lenny killed curly's wife and curly might do something worst to lenny like torchering him
2006-11-01 20:31:35 · answer #4 · answered by JC 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋