Of Mice and Men The End Analysis Essay

â€Å"What happens at the end of this novel shows that Steinbeck’s view of life is a pessimistic and negative one.† By the end of the novel tragedy struck the hopeful couple Lenny and George, as once again Lenny have â€Å"done a real bad thing.† He accidentally killed his little puppy, not knowing that it would â€Å"get killed that easily†. It really wasn’t his fault, for it â€Å"ain’t little as mice†, though it â€Å"wasn’t big enough† of a puppy either to be kept outside its mother’s reach. And if that wasn’t bad enough, on that same day he viciously killed Curley’s wife. In the barn she was consoling her loneliness by talking to Lenny in a â€Å"passion of communication†. With pleasure she talks of her dreams and of her life, about how her life would be if she â€Å"made somethin’ of herself†. How she was said to be a â€Å"natural† in movies and how her â€Å"ol’ lady stole† letters from a guy she knew that â€Å"was in pitchers†. Her dream dies as with her body as Lenny tries to shut her up. Not knowing his own strength he breaks her neck after she struggles to break free, and â€Å"her body flopped like a fish†, as Curley did when he tried to let go of his hand from Lennie’s strong grasp. As soon as Candy and George discovers the unlawful act that Lenny has done, they try to reason with his actions and find the best action that should be taken against him. Pessimistically George wants to â€Å"get ‘im an’ lock ‘im up†, for his own good so he won’t â€Å"starve† to death. In the end George decided to kill Lenny, for he thinks that if anyone should lynch Lenny, it should him that would kill Lenny, mercifully. I agree with the statement that Steinbeck’s opinion on life by the end of the novel is a pessimistic and negative point of view. By pessimistic I mean that he has a tendency to stress the adverse aspects of a situation, in this case expecting the worst possible outcome in life. Negative, meaning he expresses denial, refusal, prohibition, bad, or evil things in general. The ending of this novel in my opinion is very tragic, having three deaths occur in one day which not only does it represents physical death, but also emotional death. I see death as the negative side to life, but then again death can be seen as something positive, as religion tells us of something called heaven, which for Lenny might be â€Å"tending rabbits† and â€Å"live off the fatta the land.† On page 112 where George describes the perfect life: â€Å"Ever’body gonna be nice to you. Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ’em†, it is all positive things. But the fact that Lenny had to imagine it means that he can’t see it with the naked eye, therefore it does not exist in reality, leaving reality with the opposite of that imagination of the perfect life which is the negative things. I believe the puppy represents the death of trust and responsibility in the companionship between Lenny and George. George trusted Lenny to take care of his puppy, but once again Lenny acted irresponsible, not listening to Slim’s and George’s advice to not take away the pup from its mother. This is why Lenny was very nervous after the dog gets killed. He was afraid â€Å"maybe George ain’t gonna let me (Lenny) tend no rabbits†, that George would lose his trust on Lenny. He was afraid that George would pass a negative judgement on Lenny. The death of Curley’s wife I say would mean the death of the innocent. I thought she was caught in the middle of life in the 1930’s where her gender was discriminated against, and as a wife she should stay at home â€Å"where she belongs†. I feel pity for her living on a ranch where there aren’t many other women around. As her husband prohibits her to talk to other men, people might find her as â€Å"trouble†, â€Å"jail-bait†, one that â€Å"conceals nothing†. Lennie’s death, the climax of the novel situated at the end of the novel is very important. His death expresses the death of true friendship between George and Lenny, unlike the other migrant workers relations. The death of Candy’s dream of having a place he can call his own, the death of Crook’s hope to be treated as equal, as a human being and also as a friend. The relationship between George and Lenny are different from other guys. â€Å"We got each other†, not like other guys who â€Å"ain’t got nobody in the worl’ that gives a hoot in hell about ’em†. Lenny and George get a sense of security out of this. This may be considered a luxury for any other migrant workers. Candy who is old and weak also yearns for security. â€Å"Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunk – houses they’ll put me on the county†, shows how he is afraid of his future, how if he’s unemployed with no permanent residence and what would happen if he would be left out in the streets. He was deeply stricken with sadness, as â€Å"his eyes were blinded with tears† and how he just â€Å"lay down in the hay and covered his eyes with his arm†. Crooks who tries to â€Å"conceal his pleasure with anger† as Candy and Lenny both were guests at his bunk, is a man who lost all his pride and dignity because of racism. People degrade him in a level so low that he has no more self-confidence or even self-respect. With the coming of Candy and Lenny he gained them piece by piece. For a moment he felt to be part of something in Lennie’s â€Å"dream†, how he hoped to live a better life where people would treat him with the respect that he deserves. All is but a memory once Lenny is killed, no chance the dream would come true. I’d think everybody would just go their separate ways, living their lives in a straight line, hardly ever cross. Steinbeck’s style of writing noticed in the description of nature on chapter 6 is far more violent than described in the beginning of the novel. â€Å"A silent head and beak lanced don and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically. But one could argue that his negative view on life already started from the beginning of the novel. The title â€Å"Of Mice and Men† which is taken from a poem by Robert Burns says that no matter how you plan something, something always goes wrong. George expected the worst possible outcome, being pessimistic of Lennie, by foreshadowing him to get in trouble. If you look in the positive way, the end can also mean a new beginning.