Of Mice and Men: George, Lennie and the Final Decision
Explore how George and Lennie sustain one another despite unequal power, then weigh the care and control involved in George’s final decision.
A mutual but unequal partnership
Source A
Of Mice and Men
By John Steinbeck
Section 1
[1] George’s voice became deeper. He repeated his words rhythmically as though he had said them many times before. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to.”
[2] Lennie was delighted. “That’s it—that’s it. Now tell how it is with us.”
[3] George went on. “With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us.”
[4] Lennie broke in. “But not us! An’ why? Because . . . because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.” He laughed delightedly. “Go on now, George!”
[5] “You got it by heart. You can do it yourself.”
[6] “No, you. I forget some a’ the things. Tell about how it’s gonna be.”
Notes
Paragraph numbers identify this extract only. Sections follow the novella’s six-part sequence.
Source B
Of Mice and Men
By John Steinbeck
Section 1
[1] George motioned with his spoon again. “Look, Lennie. I want you to look around here. You can remember this place, can’t you? The ranch is about a quarter mile up that way. Just follow the river?”
[2] “Sure,” said Lennie. “I can remember this. Di’n’t I remember about not gonna say a word?”
[3] “ ’Course you did. Well, look. Lennie—if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush.”
[4] “Hide in the brush,” said Lennie slowly.
[5] “Hide in the brush till I come for you. Can you remember that?”
[6] “Sure I can, George. Hide in the brush till you come.”
[7] “But you ain’t gonna get in no trouble, because if you do, I won’t let you tend the rabbits.” He threw his empty bean can off into the brush.
Notes
Paragraph numbers identify this extract only. Sections follow the novella’s six-part sequence.
The numbered source passages reproduce Steinbeck’s words. Episode accounts, tables and worked paragraphs are NovaLearn study notes. Section references follow the novella’s six-part sequence.
At the opening riverbank, George is already managing the practical parts of two lives: he deals with the dead mouse, organises food and instructions, directs Lennie's behaviour and tells him where to return if trouble occurs. Lennie relies on George to remember plans, negotiate work and recognise danger.
That dependence is real, but it is not the whole relationship. George describes isolated ranch hands as "the loneliest guys in the world" before distinguishing himself and Lennie from them. Lennie joins in the familiar farm recital, and George chooses to repeat it. The story gives Lennie reassurance, while it gives George companionship, purpose and someone with whom to imagine a future.
| What George provides | What Lennie provides | What the combination reveals |
|---|---|---|
| Memory, instructions and planning | Trust and continuity | George directs the partnership, but his authority depends on Lennie's confidence in him. |
| A voice in dealings with employers | A strong contribution to their working pair | George protects access to work, while Lennie's labour helps sustain them both. |
| Warnings and an emergency refuge | Companionship in an isolating life | Practical dependence is unequal; emotional need runs in both directions. |
| The repeated farm future | Participation and belief in that future | The recital is not only something George gives to Lennie: it is a shared ritual that holds the pair together. |
This partnership has particular force in its setting. The US National Archives records that mobile seasonal workers, sometimes called bindlestiffs, had long moved through California agriculture and often faced low pay and severe conditions. George and Lennie should not be invented as Dust Bowl refugees, but this labour context makes durable companionship both unusual and useful. Their bond resists isolation even while George remains the principal decision-maker.
When protection becomes control
Source A
Of Mice and Men
By John Steinbeck
Section 3
[1] George looked over at Slim and saw the calm, God-like eyes fastened on him. “Funny,” said George. “I used to have a hell of a lot of fun with ’im. Used to play jokes on ’im ’cause he was too dumb to take care of ’imself. But he was too dumb even to know he had a joke played on him. I had fun. Made me seem God damn smart alongside of him. Why he’d do any damn thing I tol’ him. If I tol’ him to walk over a cliff, over he’d go. That wasn’t so damn much fun after a while. He never got mad about it, neither. I’ve beat the hell outa him, and he coulda bust every bone in my body jus’ with his han’s, but he never lifted a finger against me.” George’s voice was taking on the tone of confession. “Tell you what made me stop that. One day a bunch of guys was standin’ around up on the Sacramento River. I was feelin’ pretty smart. I turns to Lennie and says, ‘Jump in.’ An’ he jumps. Couldn’t swim a stroke. He damn near drowned before we could get him. An’ he was so damn nice to me for pullin’ him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in. Well, I ain’t done nothing like that no more.”
Notes
Paragraph numbers identify this extract only. Sections follow the novella’s six-part sequence.
Source B
Of Mice and Men
By John Steinbeck
Section 3
[1] Then Curley’s rage exploded. “Come on, ya big bastard. Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me. I’ll show ya who’s yella.”
[2] Lennie looked helplessly at George, and then he got up and tried to retreat. Curley was balanced and poised. He slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right. Lennie gave a cry of terror. Blood welled from his nose. “George,” he cried. “Make ’um let me alone, George.” He backed until he was against the wall, and Curley followed, slugging him in the face. Lennie’s hands remained at his sides; he was too frightened to defend himself.
[3] George was on his feet yelling, “Get him, Lennie. Don’t let him do it.”
[4] Lennie covered his face with his huge paws and bleated with terror. He cried, “Make ’um stop, George.” Then Curley attacked his stomach and cut off his wind.
[5] Slim jumped up. “The dirty little rat,” he cried, “I’ll get ’um myself.”
[6] George put out his hand and grabbed Slim. “Wait a minute,” he shouted. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Get ’im, Lennie!”
[7] Lennie took his hands away from his face and looked about for George, and Curley slashed at his eyes. The big face was covered with blood. George yelled again, “I said get him.”
[8] Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie’s big hand. George ran down the room. “Leggo of him, Lennie. Let go.”
[9] But Lennie watched in terror the flopping little man whom he held. Blood ran down Lennie’s face, one of his eyes was cut and closed. George slapped him in the face again and again, and still Lennie held on to the closed fist. Curley was white and shrunken by now, and his struggling had become weak. He stood crying, his fist lost in Lennie’s paw.
[10] George shouted over and over, “Leggo his hand, Lennie. Leggo. Slim, come help me while the guy got any hand left.”
[11] Suddenly Lennie let go his hold. He crouched cowering against the wall. “You tol’ me to, George,” he said miserably.
[12] Curley sat down on the floor, looking in wonder at his crushed hand. Slim and Carlson bent over him. Then Slim straightened up and regarded Lennie with horror. “We got to get him in to a doctor,” he said. “Looks to me like ever’ bone in his han’ is bust.”
[13] “I didn’t wanta,” Lennie cried. “I didn’t wanta hurt him.”
Notes
Paragraph numbers identify this extract only. Sections follow the novella’s six-part sequence.
At the ranch, George's authority can be protective and restrictive in the same moment. In Section 2, he answers for Lennie when the Boss questions them. This may protect their chance of employment because George can manage the conversation, but it also prevents Lennie from speaking for himself and makes the Boss suspect exploitation. Protection is therefore not the opposite of control; in this relationship, it often works through control.
Section 3 gives the most revealing evidence because George judges his own past conduct. He tells Slim that he once took pleasure in Lennie's complete obedience and played cruel jokes on him. After one instruction nearly caused Lennie to drown, George stopped. This confession establishes change: George has learnt that trust creates responsibility. It also shows why trust is dangerous when only one person decides how it will be used.
The encounter with Curley turns that moral problem into action. Curley initiates the attack, and Lennie does not defend himself effectively until George orders him to respond. The instruction protects Lennie from being beaten, but Lennie's grip crushes Curley's hand. Physical strength belongs to Lennie; judgement and permission belong largely to George. Neither man fits a simple label of powerful or powerless.
Here is the full reasoning chain:
George's protection has developed, but it still depends on Lennie's obedience. His confession to Slim proves that he recognises an earlier abuse of trust, so he is capable of moral change rather than being simply kind or cruel. In the Curley fight, however, Lennie waits for George's command before using his strength. The order stops Curley's assault, yet it also releases force that George cannot finely control. Steinbeck therefore presents care as necessary in their dangerous world while showing that care based on command can create fresh danger.
For a question about care and control, George's confession is more revealing than a list of warnings. It contains a before-and-after judgement: he misuses trust, recognises the harm and changes. Pairing it with the Curley fight then tests how complete that change really is.
Pressure exposes the limits of protection
Conflict between the two men does not cancel their friendship. In Section 1, George angrily imagines how easy life would be without Lennie. When Lennie offers to go away, however, George retracts that angry fantasy and restores the shared story. His frustration is genuine, but so is his refusal of the solitary life he has imagined.
As the novella develops, the same pattern becomes harder to repair:
| Moment | Immediate conflict | What it reveals about the relationship |
|---|---|---|
| Section 1 outburst | George blames Lennie for repeated trouble; Lennie offers to leave. | George experiences care as a burden, yet he does not choose the freedom of abandoning Lennie. |
| Section 3 Curley fight | Lennie cannot judge when or how to defend himself; George supplies the command. | Their combined power can protect them, but it can also produce harm neither man can manage. |
| Section 3 Weed account | George explains that Lennie's panic over a girl's dress led to a pursuit. | George's warnings are based on experience, but the event reaches readers through George's report, not direct narration. |
| Section 4 imagined absence | Crooks suggests that George may not return, and Lennie becomes intensely distressed. | George's companionship gives Lennie security, but such complete reliance also makes the thought of separation terrifying. |
| Section 5 barn death | Lennie's sensory attraction and panic lead to Curley's wife's death through uncontrolled force. | The death is not premeditated, but it confirms that reassurance and instructions have not made Lennie or others safe. |
| Section 5 pursuit | Curley seeks violent retaliation and the men form a search. | George can no longer solve the danger by moving jobs, repeating a warning or telling Lennie to wait. |
This development complicates responsibility. Lennie causes terrible harm without planning it; George foresees risk but cannot remove it; Curley chooses revenge; the ranch group joins the pursuit. A strong reading does not turn accident into innocence or distribute all blame to one person. It asks how intention, foreseeable danger, power and social pressure interact.
By Section 5, George's emergency instruction from the opening has worked in the narrowest sense: Lennie returns to the riverbank. Yet the instruction also gives George exclusive access to someone who trusts him. The refuge is now both a place of protection and a place where unequal power can become final.
Judging the final decision
Source A
Of Mice and Men
By John Steinbeck
Section 3
[1] “I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.”
Notes
Paragraph numbers identify this extract only. Sections follow the novella’s six-part sequence.
Source B
Of Mice and Men
By John Steinbeck
Section 6
[1] Lennie removed his hat dutifully and laid it on the ground in front of him. The shadow in the valley was bluer, and the evening came fast. On the wind the sound of crashing in the brush came to them.
[2] Lennie said, “Tell how it’s gonna be.”
[3] George had been listening to the distant sounds. For a moment he was business-like. “Look acrost the river, Lennie, an’ I’ll tell you so you can almost see it.”
[4] Lennie turned his head and looked off across the pool and up the darkening slopes of the Gabilans. “We gonna get a little place,” George began. He reached in his side pocket and brought out Carlson’s Luger; he snapped off the safety, and the hand and gun lay on the ground behind Lennie’s back. He looked at the back of Lennie’s head, at the place where the spine and skull were joined.
[5] A man’s voice called from up the river, and another man answered.
[6] “Go on,” said Lennie.
[7] George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again.
[8] “Go on,” said Lennie. “How’s it gonna be. We gonna get a little place.”
[9] “We’ll have a cow,” said George. “An’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens . . . an’ down the flat we’ll have a . . . little piece alfalfa——”
[10] “For the rabbits,” Lennie shouted.
[11] “For the rabbits,” George repeated.
[12] “And I get to tend the rabbits.”
[13] “An’ you get to tend the rabbits.”
[14] Lennie giggled with happiness. “An’ live on the fatta the lan’.”
[15] “Yes.”
[16] Lennie turned his head.
[17] “No, Lennie. Look down there acrost the river, like you can almost see the place.”
[18] Lennie obeyed him. George looked down at the gun.
[19] There were crashing footsteps in the brush now. George turned and looked toward them.
[20] “Go on, George. When we gonna do it?”
[21] “Gonna do it soon.”
[22] “Me an’ you.”
[23] “You . . . an’ me. Ever’body gonna be nice to you. Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ’em.”
[24] Lennie said, “I thought you was mad at me, George.”
[25] “No,” said George. “No, Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know.”
[26] The voices came close now. George raised the gun and listened to the voices.
[27] Lennie begged, “Le’s do it now. Le’s get that place now.”
[28] “Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta.”
[29] And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering.
[30] George shivered and looked at the gun, and then he threw it from him, back up on the bank, near the pile of old ashes.
Notes
Paragraph numbers identify this extract only. Sections follow the novella’s six-part sequence.
Source C
Of Mice and Men
By John Steinbeck
Section 6
[1] Slim twitched George’s elbow. “Come on, George. Me an’ you’ll go in an’ get a drink.”
[2] George let himself be helped to his feet. “Yeah, a drink.”
[3] Slim said, “You hadda, George. I swear you hadda. Come on with me.” He led George into the entrance of the trail and up toward the highway.
[4] Curley and Carlson looked after them. And Carlson said, “Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?”
Notes
Paragraph numbers identify this extract only. Sections follow the novella’s six-part sequence.
The final scene is secure in its events but open in its moral meaning. George reaches Lennie before Curley's group, uses the familiar farm story to keep him calm and shoots him with Carlson's gun. Lennie does not consent or understand what George is about to do. Afterwards Slim reassures George with "You hadda, George", while Curley and Carlson fail to understand the grief.
Slim's response is evidence, not a narrator's verdict. His empathy supports a compassionate judgement of George, but it cannot settle the decision on Lennie's behalf. The contrast in final reactions shows that George's loss is real; it does not turn killing into an unquestionable act of mercy.
The earlier death of Candy's dog sharpens the debate. Candy regrets allowing a stranger to carry out the shooting, and George later acts himself with the same weapon rather than leave Lennie to Curley's violence. This parallel can suggest that George has learnt from Candy's regret. It also has a disturbing limit: treating a disabled man's death as equivalent to an old animal's death can repeat the ranch's belief that vulnerable lives are valuable only while they are manageable or useful.
| Defensible reading | Evidence and reasoning | Limit that keeps the reading honest |
|---|---|---|
| Protective compassion | George reaches Lennie before Curley, keeps him calm through the trusted story, acts himself and grieves afterwards. | A wish to protect does not supply Lennie's consent or prove that every alternative was impossible. |
| Ultimate control | George chooses the place, directs Lennie's attention and makes an irreversible decision for him. | Calling the act controlling should not erase the immediate threat or George's attachment and grief. |
| Social failure | The visible options are a vengeful pursuit, feared confinement or George's private decision; no safe support appears. | Social pressure narrows George's options but does not remove his agency or responsibility. |
Relevant context makes these readings more precise. The US National Human Genome Research Institute explains that early twentieth-century eugenic beliefs labelled people unfit and promoted segregation, social exclusion, involuntary sterilisation and forced institutionalisation, with severe harm to disabled people. This context helps explain why the novella's characters imagine confinement, usefulness and disposability as powerful categories. It does not prove that Steinbeck endorsed eugenics or that George's decision was historically inevitable.
A modern reception context can challenge the sympathy built around George. In a peer-reviewed study, Clare Lawrence argues that Lennie's animalisation and lack of agency should make classrooms question readings that automatically cast George as a rescuer. This does not require a modern diagnosis for Lennie. It asks a different ethical question: whose fear, pain and humanity does the ending make easiest to see?
A whole-text relationship judgement
Whole-text knowledge is not a list of everything George and Lennie do. It is a pattern of selected moments that tests one developing claim.
| Stage in the relationship | Mutual bond | Unequal authority | Contribution to a judgement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section 1 riverbank | Shared company and a repeated future oppose isolation. | George controls food, warnings and the emergency refuge. | The friendship begins as both emotional shelter and hierarchy. |
| Section 2 Boss interview | The pair seek work together. | George speaks for Lennie to secure their place. | Protection gives them access but limits Lennie's voice. |
| Section 3 confession and fight | George has changed because Lennie's trust matters to him. | Lennie still waits for George's permission before using force. | Care can grow morally while remaining dependent on command. |
| Section 4 imagined absence | Lennie's distress shows how much emotional security George provides. | George's absence, even as a possibility, leaves Lennie unable to feel safe. | Dependence creates belonging and acute vulnerability at once. |
| Section 5 collapse | George understands the danger and loss more fully than anyone else can explain to Lennie. | His earlier rules cannot prevent panic, death or pursuit. | Protection is necessary but insufficient. |
| Section 6 return | George uses their shared story and experiences real grief. | He makes the final decision without Lennie's knowledge or consent. | The ending concentrates the relationship's love and inequality in the same act. |
One complete whole-text judgement could read:
Across the novella, George and Lennie's friendship resists the isolation of itinerant labour, but it never escapes unequal power. The opening refuge and shared farm recital give both men continuity, while the Boss interview and Curley fight show George directing Lennie's speech and action. George's confession to Slim proves that he has learnt not to treat Lennie's trust as entertainment, yet Section 6 gives him absolute control over Lennie's life. Early twentieth-century attitudes that segregated and excluded disabled people help explain why the story presents so few safe possibilities, while a modern disability reading exposes the danger of calling the final act simply merciful. George's decision can therefore be understood as grief-stricken protection and non-consensual control at once.
Notice the order of that reasoning. The claim comes first; each episode changes or tests it; context sharpens the final judgement and then returns to the relationship. Narrative patterns such as the return to the refuge or the dog parallel matter because they strengthen this AO1 argument. Section C does not award a separate AO2 mark for naming them.
Evidence choice should remain discriminating. George's Section 3 confession is stronger than several similar warnings because it reveals past cruelty, self-recognition and change in one episode. Candy's regret is the strongest earlier comparison for the final decision because it helps explain George's method, but its person-animal analogy must be questioned rather than accepted automatically. A different evidence route can succeed if it traces mutual dependence, unequal authority and change with the same precision.