A few days ago in
"Should Lennie be in prison?" my response to the
BBC News story about the most effective way to respond to paedophiles also asked a question about Lennie based on what we learn in chapters 1 through 3, where Slim's questions to George give us a lot more detail than Steinbeck's very general background in chapter 1.
As you read chapter 5 of
Of Mice and Men, it begins with the story of how Lennie has killed his beloved puppy. This death is soon followed by a more serious killing, and the awful climax to the story at the end of chapter 6. As the novel concludes, both George and Lennie have killed people.
The question I asked before is plainly on George's mind when he becomes a murderer, and it now applies equally to George himself.
What do you think?
- Should Lennie be in prison for murder?
- Should George be in prison for murder?
Steinbeck, J. (2015).
Of Mice and Men (Online edition prepared for AEP classes at AUA). Bangkok. Retrieved from
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=5B4B50DD6DBCD1F2!7927&authkey=!AOTdR2q-aSLKLfg&ithint=file%2cdocx (Originally published 1937).
Lennie shouldn't be thrown into jail, but he should be put in a psychotic ward. However, in case of George, even if he had committed the crime in the mind of helping Lennie, legally speaking, the method is not right. So, he should be put on trail. It is understandable that George acted according to the situation, but not the law.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Lennie would be found no guilt because of his illness. But I do not favor of the Gorge's idea that he has tries to hide the truth about Lennie to others, though he knows the situation. If it is so in the modern society Gorge should be charged with a certain conviction for hiding a person considered adverse to others. Also, no matter how good he think his action is, I do not agree that shooting his friend is the best way out. Even though Lennie seems to bring about all of the troubles, but it is actually Gorge who escalates the situation all along.
ReplyDelete