Of Mice and Men

In Of Mice and Men I believe that George is an anti-hero. I believe this because he tries to protect his clueless, child like friend Lennie from all the things that he does wrong. But George does not do this in the way you might think. A lot of the time George gets really angry with Lennie because of the stupid things that he does, for instance Lennie wanted to keep a dead mouse in his pocket, but as George tries to take it away, Lennie starts crying. At first George shouts at him until he realises that this is just making Lennie worse, so he calms himself down and speaks to Lennie in a child friendly way. George explains to Lennie that it is not a good idea to keep the mouse because it will make people thick that he is crazy. After a while Lennie agrees with George and he tosses the mouse into a bush. Lennie is also constantly raving on about when in the future, he and George will have a big house and farm. Along with this, Lennie is constantly asking George when he does have a big house, can he look after and pet the rabbits. George tells him yes every time, but Lennie constantly forgets. Often George will hit Lennie because he is acting stupid. This shows he is an anti-hero because most normal hero’s don’t hit people that they are trying to help, unless they need to of course. George often has to repeat most of the things he does, too try and explain to Lennie that some things he does are good, and some things he does are bad. It works almost every time. Almost. George and Lennie had just got a job on a ranch, when Lennie does something that will ultimately end his life. The boss has a son on the ranch called Curly, nobody likes him, but he is married to a young, pretty women who nobody trusts. Curley has an immediate dislike of Lennie and ends up having a crushed hand when he and Lennie has a fight. This makes him hate Lennie even more and he will now use any excuse to kick George and Lennie out of the ranch. One day, Curley’s wife finds Lennie petting the puppy he had been given and comes down and sits next to him. They start talking and Curley’s wife lets Lennie touch her hair. Lennie’s love for soft things suddenly ignites and he doesn’t let go of her hair. Curley’s wife begins to scream and Lennie tries to keep her quite by picking her up and shaking her. Lennie shakes her so violently that her neck snaps. Lennie knew he would be in trouble with George, but he told him anyway. George tells Lennie to run and wait for him next to a near by river. All the workers at the ranch find out and Curley immediately blames Lennie. He gets his gun and goes out looking for Lennie along with the rest of the workers. When George finds Lennie, he has to make the ultimate decision. Does he choose to kill his best friend to save him from what the others will do to him, or does he let his best friend rot in jail and get beaten to a pulp by Curley and some of the ranch workers. This is the main thing that makes George an anti-hero. George creeps up behind Lennie, holds a pistol to his head, and pulls the trigger. Immediately all the ranch workers run to the sound of the gun shot. They see Lennie slumped down on the floor, and George standing there with an empty look in his eye. George did the worst thing possible to make sure Lennie did not suffer. That is the my definition of an anti-hero.