Butcher Final (probably)

George: Hello, Ralph.

Ralph: Do I know you?

George: I read all about your time on stranded on an island with Piggy and other kids.

Ralph: Right. Can I assume that you are the same George who traveled with Lennie to go work on a ranch?

George: Correct. You know, Lennie and Piggy are two people that I would like to talk to you about. Do you feel like you had to take care of Piggy?

Ralph: Yes, I had to look out for him to ensure that other boys wouldn't be cruel to him.

George: Why did you do that?

Ralph: I needed Piggy's help on the island. He was an incredibly bright person, but wasn't any good at working or sticking up for himself. So I took responsibility for his safety, and he helped me try to maintain order and get rescued. I noticed that you seem to take care of Lennie, but for different reasons.

George: Right, I did look out for him. He was a nice guy and a great worker, but he had a tendency to get himself in trouble. I tried to keep him out of trouble.

Ralph: So you took responsibility for him?

George: Yes. Every time I spoke of how well I would be doing without him, he said he would run away. But I knew that he wouldn't be able to survive on his own, and I felt that I should help him. After his aunt died, he had no family left, so I thought I should watch out for him.

Ralph: I felt that being elected the chief on the island, I should try to protect everybody on the island who needed my help. Therefore, it seemed right that Piggy should be my responsibility.

George: So having power means that you need to be responsible?
Ralph: Exactly.

George: I didn't have any position of power that I used to protect and help Lennie, but I felt a responsibility because I had the capacity to help or hurt him.

Ralph: Doesn't that mean you had power over him?

George: I guess so.

Ralph: Why did you have to protect him?

George: He was constantly making mistakes, and people would be angry with him. I had to help him escape from mobs. Curley in particular was a problem. He wanted to fight Lennie just for the sake of fighting, and wasn't understanding of Lennie's disability.

Ralph: Curley sounds sort of like Jack. Jack was always antagonizing Piggy because he didn't want to listen to reason. Piggy was always trying to keep us focused on getting rescued and ensuring that we can survive until that rescue comes.

George: So Jack's behavior seemed illogical?

Ralph: Yes, almost as though he refused to consider any ideas but his own. Thinking about this Curley guy, he seems to make a lot of stupid choices.

George: He picks a fight with Lennie just because Lennie was smiling at a story I told when he was complaining about his wife.

Ralph: How did that work out for him?

George: Lennie broke the guy's hand into a thousand pieces.

Ralph: So Lennie could stand up for himself? Piggy never could have done anything like that.

George: No. Lennie makes mistakes, and doesn't know what to do when he makes a mistake. He accidentally killed Curley's wife.

Ralph: I can see how that would cause problems...

George: So Curley got a lynch mob together to hunt him down and kill him. I took one worker's gun, and found Lennie hiding where I told him to. Knowing that he would be killed by the mob if they found him, I shot him in the back of the head. I had to. I couldn't let one of those workers hurt him.

Ralph: It was good that you didn't have to watch Curley and his mob kill Lennie. I had to watch Roger, one of Jack's friends, kill Piggy by dropping a rock on him. It made me feel helpless, since I failed to protect Piggy.

George: Why are there people who will do that?

Ralph: I guess they have something to prove. Jack felt hunting and killing validated him as a powerful figure on the island.

George: Curley seemed to have similar motives. He was a small guy, and fought big guys to prove himself. But that wasn't his sole reason for wanting Lennie dead.

Ralph: Sounds like he wanted revenge. Lennie would have hurt his pride by breaking his hand, and killing his wife was the final straw.

George: I see. It's his own damn fault for picking a fight and having his tart wife around.

Ralph: I know, but he refused to see things that way. Jack also wanted vengeance. After I was elected chief he hated me, and took his anger out on Piggy.

George: These two guys sound like they'd be best friends...

Ralph: Yeah, they could go kick puppies together.

George: You know we should go have a drink sometime. After you turn 21 that is.

Ralph: Funny. But we do have a lot in common.

George: It's strange how similar an American farmhand and a British schoolboy can be. I guess there are some aspects of human nature that are almost universal.

Ralph: It appears that way. See you later.

George: Take care.