Why George Shoot Lennie: Unraveling the Tragic Choice in “Of Mice and Men”

Introduction

It appeared to be a very sunny day, with blue skies, bright sun, and enlarged white clouds. Everything else, however, appeared to be nothing, solely white with no real structure. There was nothing but endlessness besides the characteristics of a nice, breezy day.

Two Worlds Collide: The Revelation

For a moment, Lennie felt at peace with himself, and the stresses of what he had done were gone. Not too long after, he began to spin around anxiously, looking for a way home.

Lennie said softly, “George? George, are you here? Where are you?” There was nothing, not even an echo. Wherever Lennie seemed to have no end. Carefully, he continued forward, fearing that he might fall into what might be an abyss.

Suddenly, a piercing squeaking sound came from behind, startling Lennie. He turned around and saw a gate made solely of solid pearl, presenting itself with its exquisite feature. It was as tall as an average-sized apartment building, appearing very tall. He then started for the gate, but he didn’t seem to get any closer. He started to jog, but it still seemed far away. In fact, it did the opposite: it started to look further away as he continued for the gate.

“At last, you’ve arrived.” Lennie had to turn around again, seeing what he thought was the Rabbit he saw before he left, only this one was much larger, and it was white, but not as white as his surroundings. The Rabbit was also standing on its hind legs like a human would. “I have been patient for your arrival, Mr. Lennie Small. It seems as though my plan had worked, seeing that you have come home at this point in your life. I am, however, sorry to see that your Aunt Clara didn’t get to see what you have become.”

“Why didn’t ya think I couldn’t tend the rabbits,” Lennie asked scornfully. “Where are I, and whatcha do with George?”

“Your friend George Milton is fine,” said the mysterious Rabbit. “He’s having a drink with his buddy, Slim, at Old Susy’s place.”

“Whatcha do with George.”

The Rabbit was silent for a moment.

“Please! I need a go to the place George said we would get so I can tend my rabbits!”

“You can’t go back, Lennie. You are my greatest creation. I can’t let you go again.”

“What do ya mean? I’ve neva seen ya in my life.”

“O.K. then. Allow me to introduce myself to you once more. I have no name nor a real physical shape or form. I am, basically, what you desire the most. In this case, I’m a rabbit because you like rabbits the most, which I’m not surprised by. The room you are in right now has no physical shape or form either but represents the brightness in you. This is your world now, Lennie. You can make what you want of it. All you have to do is get to that gate, and you’ll be free to create and wonder.”

“You still haven’t told me why George isn’t with me,” said Lennie resentfully.

“George is never coming here, Lennie. He still has his life to live. And even if he dies, he will never come here. He is a being trapped in the ordinary cycle of life.”

At this moment, a blowout of questions went through Lennie’s head. “But I’m not dead.” If I’m dead, then how am I talkin’ to you right now? How are you talkin’ to me right now?”

“Because your best friend saved you from Curley, the guy George called a son-of-a-bitch. Your friend took your life because he didn’t want that monster to take yours.”

“Huh?”

“George killed ya cuz he didn’t want Curley to.”

Navigating Emotions: Lennie’s Reaction and Understanding

Stunned, Lennie didn’t say anything. He at first gave a questioning look, and then he realized.

“Am I in hell? I knew that George would’ve given me hell if I had done no good.”
The Rabbit began laughing deeply, then suddenly stopped. “You’re not in hell, Lennie. You’re in what’s called an interdimensional plane. It seems all white to you because humans like you can’t comprehend what I make. The same thing goes for me. I’m white because you can’t comprehend what I am.”

“Can ya please speak normally,” asked Lennie beggingly.

“Aw, whatever. If you go through that gate, you are free to explore and choose your new life. But you must understand that you can’t simply leave. You are something more, something that affected everyone else around you.”

“The hell with that! I want to keep my own life and stay with George! Give me one reason why I should stay with you?”

“Because you taught everyone that human alliance is key! You had proven to George that you were different from everyone else, right? Because I had made you that way. You are the one who teaches and forgives. Everything I construct here has a priority, and you were supposed to, should I say, lighten everyone up during one of the darkest times in human history.”

“So why must I stay here?”

“I must rebuild you for your next task if you, of course, accept my mission. Otherwise, you are free to explore the multiverse and choose a new life; you can become a normal person once again. If you stay, you will be able to go forward in time and save those in need. If you do not, then your society will be helped by another one of my creations.”

“You said I am free to explore and create, right?”

“If you make it through the gate, that is.”

“But why does it keep gettin’ further and further away every time I run towards it?”

“The universe is a tricky piece of machinery, Lennie. One thing must be done to make up for another. You must finish what you started, for your mission is not complete yet. Say goodbye to George somehow, and let him know you are at peace with him.”

“How do I do that?”
The Rabbit then took his forefoot, and out came a miniaturized world in his hand. It shone with marvelous colors, mostly green and blue. It slowly zoomed into California, then the ranch where George was staring up from his bunk.

“That’s him! Can I talk to him?”

“We’re in the interdimensional plane, for Christ’s sake! You can’t possibly break the barrier that restricts all light and sound from the mortals. You can send an object there, however. It can be a note, money, or anything! You just ask me to send it in, and I’ll do so.”

“Send him a picture of a rabbit on a farm,” said Lennie immediately. “He always wanted his own farm, and I always wanted my own rabbits. Send ‘em a picture of both.”

With one lift of his other forearm, an image made of wool appeared. Almost everything was white, too, just like where Lennie was. However, The Rabbit had given the picture some color, only adding blue, for that was the color of the skies there. In the picture, there was a rabbit just like the Rabbit standing before Lennie; it was tall, standing on its hind legs, and the eyes were a mix of yellow and orange. The Rabbit in the picture was making something in the pot, though he could not examine what.

“What’s in the pot that the rabbit’s making?” Lennie stepped forward to take a closer look.

“It could be making anything,” said The Rabbit humbly. “It could be making a new galaxy, it could be making a new future, it could be making a new beginning; the possibilities are infinite.”

“I want it to be making ketchup. Make it look like it’s making ketchup,” demanded Lennie.

Suddenly, the pot was red inside. The red of ketchup. “Yes, yes, give that to George. He’ll know what it means,” said Lennie optimistically.

The picture then gave off a bright white light; then, it was gone. Instead, it appeared on the wall beside George’s bunk. Lennie kept watching George attentively through Mini-Earth.

“What the hell,” George said angrily. “Which one o’ yalls but this on my wall?” Everyone else just fearfully stared at George. George took down the picture and quickly started to tear up. It was everything both the guys wanted. All in one stitched-up picture. Their own everything.

Slim quietly came over behind George’s shoulder. “What’s this? Something that Lennie an’ you made?”

“Lennie and I always wanted our own land and our own farm and our own animals. I don’t know how, but I know for a fact Lennie was the one who made this. But how? He didn’t even know how to stitch up a thing like this. He would keep cuttin’ himself with the needle!”

The Rabbit calmly said, “Guess your work here is done, my wonderful creation. Be free to choose your new life.” The gate suddenly appeared right in front of Lennie, shining in all of its glory.

“Will I ever get to see George again? Will I remember everything that’s happened,” asked Lennie mournfully.

“Alas, you will not remember anything from your life. You will be remade into something else. You will have a new life.”

“Then what was that one part about? When you were sayin’, I could create?”

“By creating, I mean create a new you. You can be free to create your new self.”

Conclusion

The gate opened before Lennie’s eyes. Beyond the gate, there was an even brighter light, a new pathway to somewhere greater, a new beginning. Lennie stepped through it, at last, controlling his future path. He then turned back one last time.

“I hope I get a friend like George again, and then we can live on the fatta land!”

Everything turned white. Then Lennie remembered no more.

References

1. Steinbeck, J. (1937). Of Mice and Men. Penguin Books.

2. Plotz, J. (2008). The Language of Exile: Lennie, George, and the Failure of the American Dream in Of Mice and Men. Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture, and Theory, 64(1), 77-98.

3. Tischler, N. (1990). Understanding John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Greenwood Press.

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