Of mice and men - Criminal Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Of mice and men - Criminal Justice - Essay Example Thus, in his mind, he did not think it possible to live without his rabbits, which he loved. However, to understand the reasons for which he could not stop himself from murdering Curley’s wife, it is essential to look first at the factors that had made Lennie who he was. First, the events that led up to Lennie’s murder of Curley’s wife show that it was not entirely his fault that he committed the act. To begin with, despite Lennie asking her to leave, she refuses and actually moves closer to him and places his hand on her head (Steinbeck 45), thus beginning the physical connection that eventually results in her death. She did this in the full knowledge that, this was a man who had crushed Curley’s hand and, also killed a small puppy. In this case, it is possible to argue that Lennie was totally responsible for killing Curley’s wife and, therefore, committing manslaughter. This is because he had killed a puppy just before Curley’s wife came into the barn (Steinbeck 42), while he had also been accused of rape when working on a farm in Weed and crushed Curley’s hand. In essence, even though he does not fully understand his crimes, he is aware that he has done wrong as he flees the area and accepts that he has d one wrong. Now, Lennie has murdered another person and, thus, needs to be jailed to protect other people, as well as himself. However, looking at it from another perspective, Lennie is not guilty of homicide because he is mentally handicapped and killing Curley’s wife was not an intentional action. Although he is a grown-up, he is described as being child-like and not responsible for any of his actions. Lennie has shown that he at least has some understanding about what bad behavior entails in the past. For instance, he is aware that his rape in Weed was bad behavior, while he is also aware that killing the small puppy was a