George kills Lennie because he feels responsible for
Lennie's actions. As Lennie's caretaker, he was not there when Lennie accidentally
killed Curley's wife. George now feels that he has to shoot Lennie as a way of showing
some responsibility for what Lennie has done.
Also, Curley
has vowed to make Lennie suffer and George cannot bear to see this happen. The only
solution is to kill Lennie before Curley finds him. Curley is cruel. He will make
Lennie's final death one of agony. George knows this about Curley. He shoots Lennie out
of compassion. He is saving Lennie from brutal
treatment.
George figures that Curley will hang Lennie. He
knows this is a terrible way to die. He would rather shoot Lennie and get him out of his
chance at a gruesome death.
Should Curley not kill Lennie,
Lennie would have to be locked away for the rest of his life. George realizes this would
be tremendous suffering for Lennie. He shoots him to end his possibility of being locked
away for life:
When George hears the men closing in on them, he
tells Lennie to look across the river. As he describes for the last time the farm that
he and Lennie have so long dreamed of, he lifts Carlson’s gun from his side pocket. With
great difficulty he points it at the back of Lennie’s head, and as his hand shakes
violently, George pulls the
trigger.
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