To what extent is George responsible for Lennie’s death in Steinbeck’s

‘Of Mice and Men’?

“Of Mice and Men” is a novella set in the era of the Great Depression. It features
themes such as the American Dream. The impossibility of the dream being achieved is
emphasized through the death of the protagonist, Lennie in Section 6. Although the hostility
of the environment is a contributing factor to Lennie’s inevitable death, multiple characters in
the story have also led to Lennie’s death, including himself. Therefore, I believe that Lennie
himself, Curley’s wife and George are the most responsible for Lennie’s death.
I believe that Lennie’s own character and actions led to his own death. In Section 1,
readers are able to infer that Lennie is simple-minded, and is quite dependent on others,
especially his friend, George. For example, Lennie is described as “shapeless”(19), which
connotes that Lennie has an unclear identity, as compared to George. Lennie’s unclear
identity means that he is unprepared for the hostile environment that he and George are
facing, therefore needing to rely on George. His dependency leads to his death as he is
unable to think for himself, causing him to get into trouble. From Section 1, we are able to
understand that Lennie is simple-minded, as shown from the dialogue between the
protagonists. The quote “ ‘I didn’t forget that, you bet.’”(24) shows that Lennie is proud of
himself for remembering something George said, as “you bet” suggests a feeling of
overjoyment. As memorizing something is a simple task, readers deduce that Lennie’s
reaction is an exaggeration, and this behaviour is often found in young children. The
description of Lennie, “ Lennie giggled happily”(24) also supports my point, as the action of
giggling happily is connoted to children as well. Judging by Lennie’s dialogue and reaction,
readers are able to infer that Lennie has a bad memory, as he always forgets what George
tells him. Therefore, readers are able to infer that Lennie is probably mentally handicapped,
as his behaviour reflects his disability. This contributes to Lennie’s unavoidable death, as his
mental illness has made him dependent on others, thus he is unable to survive in this hostile
environment.
Curley’s wife also plays a part in Lennie’s death as well, as her attention-seeker
personality makes her become desperate, which causes trouble for herself and Lennie. In
the beginning of Section 2, Curley’s wife is described as having “full, rouged lips”(53), and
her “fingernails were red”(53). This makes her seem desperate for attention, as the colour
red connotes a sense of passion. The colour red also foreshadows that Curley’s wife also
brings trouble as well, as the colour red signifies danger. Her appearance is designed to be
enticing, as the detailed description provides a sensory overload towards the readers and
characters. This is a problem for Lennie, as he “watched her, fascinated”(53). Normally, the
ranch hands would ignore Curley’s wife, as they understand that she means trouble.
However, due to Lennie’s mental disability, he is unable to resist and is attracted by Curley’s
wife. This causes his inevitable death as Lennie cannot control his actions, and ends up
killing Curley’s wife. Another reason of why Curley’s wife is partially responsible for Lennie’s
death is because of her naivety. In Section 5, Curley’s wife “took Lennie’s hand and put it on
her head”(127), to let Lennie feel how soft her hair was. Readers are able to tell that she is
naive as she craves attention to the point that she even lets a stranger touch her hair. Her
invitation causes Lennie to lose control over his actions, resulting in her own death. So,
Curley’s wife is somewhat responsible for Lennie’s death, as her love for attention ensnares
Lennie, which gets him into trouble and leads to his unpreventable death.
 However, I believe that George holds the most responsibility over Lennie’s death. As
Lennie’s companion, George knows about Lennie’s mental retardation, and therefore takes
care of Lennie. In Section 1, readers are able to identify George and Lennie’s relationship as
parental. This is shown through George’s actions, as he “snapped his fingers sharply”(26)
Lennie. This action shows that George is dominant in the duo’s relationship, as it connotes a
sense of authority. Later on, George “put his hand on Lennie’s shoulder”(27) to comfort
Lennie. The readers are able to understand that although George is superior to Lennie, he
still treats Lennie with kindness. Therefore, readers are able to infer that George and
Lennie’s relationship is close to one of a father and a son, which means that George holds a
lot of responsibility over Lennie’s wellbeing. The fact that George naively believes that
Lennie will someday recover from his mental illness contributes to Lennie’s death. George
gives chances to Lennie even though Lennie always disobeys him, as seen in this quote
from Section 2, “You always forget, an’ I got to talk you out of it.”(44) Even though Lennie
often makes mistakes, George keeps on giving him second chances, as he does not realize
that Lennie is unable to learn from his mistakes. George only realizes his grave mistake after
when Lennie kills Curley’s wife, as he “didn’t answer, but he nodded slowly”(134). His action
shows that he accepts the truth that Lennie’s mental illness is incurable. The fact that
George “didn’t answer” connotes a feeling of guilt and sadness, as George blames himself
for not uncovering the truth sooner. His guilt is amplified by the fact that he is the guardian of
Lennie, and Lennie’s death means that he is unable to protect Lennie from this hostile world.
Therefore, George is mostly responsible for Lennie’s death, as his naivety prevented himself
from identifying Lennie’s problem and protecting him.
In conclusion, Lennie’s death is due to multiple factors, such as the hostile
environment, and the impact of various characters. I believe that out of all the characters in
‘Of Mice and Men’, George holds the greatest responsibility over Lennie’s death, as he is a
parental figure to Lennie and he is unable to realize Lennie’s uncontrollability. So, George is
the most responsible for Lennie’s death.