Of Mice and Men. (Spoiler Alert)

So, Of Mice and Men was on TV the other day and, along with being one of my favorite books, it's also one of my favorite movies. We read it in freshman year at my school and watching it again made me remember a discussion we had in class.
At the end of reading books in class, we would have "fishbowl discussions," wherein we sit in a circle and then have a smaller circle on the inside and only the small circle can talk. If you have something to add, you walk up to someone in the inside circle and tap them out, so to speak.
So I was in the outside circle when an interesting question came up. "Does George deserve to be punished by the law for murdering Lenny." I knew my answer in my head right away. The inner circle began to debate.
Although, they weren't debating.
They were all agreeing that the emotional pain of George having to kill his best friend was punishment enough. I was floored, completely appalled.
So I got up and tapped a girl out.
I sat down and gave this speech, obviously not word for word.
"I get it. Killing your best friend is not how most people imagine spending an ideal Friday night out. George is probably tormenting himself inside for what he felt like he had to do. He's probably in an insane amount of emotional pain.
But unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the law doesn't consider your emotions when considering your punishment. Murder is wrong, no matter the reason it happens, especially when not done in self defense. George killed a man. He deserves to and will be punished firmly by the law. The law is harsh and the law is firm, but it is the law."
With that, and without being tapped out, I left the circle.
Of course, my teacher didn't dig the dramatic exit and asked me to come back in for debate. And even with my awesome speech, kids still refused the idea that George would be punished. And don't get me wrong; I loved George! I empathized with him! But he broke the law. If my brother broke the law, I would understand people wanting him punished. The law doesn't care about you, it cares about being just.