Dear George

Dear George,

I think that you made the right decision when you chose to kill Lennie. He was obviously not capable of keeping himself out of trouble. You knew he meant well, that was clear, "I di'n't care much," said Crooks. "Lennie's a nice fella." and "He ain't mean," said Slim. "I can tell a mean guy a mile off." But in the end, just him meaning well wasn't enough. He always unintentionally managed to find himself in situations that ended up being detrimental to both of you, but himself especially. If you had somehow managed to escape and start over yet another time, you would have inevitably been put in the same situation again and it was good that you got it over with while it was on your own terms.

You made Lennie happy before he died. That was another reason that I think you made the correct decision. You were able to keep him calm, and provided him comfort by letting him have hope that everything was going to be okay. "No Lennie. I ain't mad. I never been mad, an' I ain't now. That's a thing I want ya to know." You didn't let him see it coming, so he died peacefully. If it had been curly, he would have experienced a very violent, and harsh end. "I'm gonna shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself,even if I only got one hand. I'm gonna get 'im." That would have made things harder than they had to be, on Lennie, but also on you. I think this was logically the scenario that would cause both of you the least grief, but nevertheless, it was very hard for you to do what you did. I personally don't think that even knowing it was the right decision I would have been able to make it.