Of Mice and Men

The classical Steinbeck. He is one of my favorite authors. I attended a book discussion on Of Mice and Men last Thursday. We had a lively discussion about each of the characters and the ethical implications of the novel. I still say that George turned bad and killed Lennie not out of necessity but out of selfishness. He was sick of the cycle. He had finally made friends. Lennie never did anything bad out of malicious intent. He had a child-like innocence. The death of curley's wife was no different than him accidently killing the little mice and puppy. If Lennie hadn't been so focused in on how George wouldn't let him take care of the rabbits, then he wouldn't have panicked and done bad things in the first place. George's sins seems to get everyone in trouble. Why was Lennie the one who had to pay for them?