Of Mice and Men Sacrifice
by John Steinbeck

George has clearly sacrificed a great deal of his individual freedom in order to care for Lennie, yet in the end he struggles much more to sacrifice the life of his best friend and companion. Killing Lennie is not easy for George by any means, yet George makes the difficult decision to kill Lennie while the latter is blissfully unaware of his circumstances rather than subject him to the torturous death he would face at the hands of Curley and the mob. In the end, Lennie’s death allows George to live more freely, and perhaps George may one day achieve his dream of owning his own ranch.