The Paths We Choose Essay -- John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men

To take someone’s life; is it truly wrong? This is not that simple of a question, because every time a life is taken it isn’t out of cold blood. Sometimes it is just the opposite of that thought. The portrayal of George and Carlson in the book Of Mice and Men is of life takers. They differ by moral standings; the bonds they share with the character is life they take, and how take that character's life affects them. While George takes a life out of mercy, Carlson did what he thought was necessary. They made the same decision for different reasons and different understandings of why it had to be done. George is hot tempered older brother figure to Lennie who is a big and gentle but deadly guy; on the other hand, Carlson is a ranch hand with no really close connections. George was asked by Aunt Clara to promise to take care of Lennie. He sees Lennie as a kid brother that doesn’t know any better; George is life bound to Lennie, not just thought the promise he made, but George’s own love for him. When Lennie is sad to calm him down, he invented a story of a ranch with bunnies with the promise that they leave, and go there when they are old. He cares for Lennie so much he starts to believe his own story; Skip town leaves jobs just for Lennie sake. Carlson is a selfish man. If something no longer has a use, he gets rid of it â€Å"that dog was a great sheep dog in it prime† is something Candy would have said to Carlson. If something has no value there’s no need for it to exist anymore. Basically Carlson cutting himself off from others, so he won't get attach ed to them once they are no longer usefully. He will shed them like a snake shad’s skin, but while it may soun... ...f a question, because every time a life is taken it isn’t out of cold blood. As we see with George, your moral character may say that it’s wrong, but if it’s a family member, your brother, your sister, even your best friend who was in trouble, and a group was after them, and there was no other choice: they’re going to die if the group got to them; they were going to be torched. Like Clarkson, we also understand the means of necessity; if something doesn’t work you throw it out, or in his case, kill it. For George taking a life is hard, even harder when the life you’re taking is closer to you, and to put that responsibility in someone else hand is cruel to those you care for .Carlson has no problem with taking life; it is not he doesn’t care about life, just to him it is necessary for life to be taken, and the outcome is not different no matter who pulls the trigger.