Preview

The Role Of Mercy Killing In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
603 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Role Of Mercy Killing In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
“Lennie broke in.”But not us” An’ Why? Because… I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you and that’s why,”(Steinbeck 13). John Steinbeck the author of the novel Of Mice and Men writes a story that takes place in Soledad, California on a ranch. In the story George and Lennie, friends who travel together, get into a tough situation. Lennie had murdered Curley’s wife, and George has to decide whether he should run away with Lennie, let Curley kill Lennie and let him suffer, or mercy kill him. George had decided that mercy killing would be the best option for Lennie and himself. Mercy killing is not ok it, murdering and mercy killing are the same thing.
In the story George is supposed to take care of Lennie. George chose to
…show more content…
In the article “Euthanasia’s Slippery Slope” the author says “Distelmans also put to death identical 45-year-old deaf twins who said that they lost the will to live upon learning they would eventually go blind”(Lane). They still could've had a long life to live, and just because they were deaf, and they were told that they were gonna be blind, doesn't mean that their life is completely over. Helen Keller was deaf and blind, and she still learned how to live her life. In the article “Euthanasia’s Slippery Slope” the author talks about a clinic that was opened to get people the injections that they their regular physicians wouldn't give them, Lane says, “In the next twelve months the clinic approved euthanasia for six psychiatric patients, plus 11 people whose only recorded complaint was being, “tired of living” according to a report in the Aug 10th issue of JAMA Internal Medicine”(lane). There are many other options other than mercy killing just because you're “tired of living” or tired of taking care of something, or someone. You can find lots of help many different ways. Mercy killing isn't write and it shouldn't be done with people.
Some people think that euthanasia isn't killing, and they don't think of it as murder. I the article “A Dangerous Euthanasia Ruling”, the author writes, “The decision allows euthanasia and assisted suicide for not only physical but psychological suffering without limiting it to clear parameters” (Schadenberg). They are allowing people to use euthanasia bot end people's lives because of depression and that shouldn't be an

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the novel “Of Mice and Men” written by John Steinbeck George kills Lennie. Did George have the right to shoot Lennie? Or in further words did Lennie choose the right decision? This debate may cause a disagreement or friction between the readers. Although, it was a good idea for George to kill Lennie because he kept Lennie from suffering more. If George decided to let Curley kill him Lennie would have had a long and painful death. In the story Curley states,…

    • 320 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    George had made the right decicion to shoot Lennie as he would have faced worse consequences. If you were in a similar situation, would you want to be the one to kill your best friend, or have a stranger do it?In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck tells the story of two best friends living life on the run, struggling to keep a steady job working as ranch hands. George and Lennie are faced with many obstacles throughout the course of this book, beginning with Lennie and his slow mindedness, George is always side by side with Lennie, practically holding his hand to coach him through life. The story begins with the two men running away from Weed, the ranch they were previously employed at; we later find that George and Lennie had to flee after Lennie had touched a ladies dress and made her feel uncomfortable. Upon arrival at the new ranch, George had told Lennie to stay away from Curley’s wife, Lennie disobeyed George and similar trouble has followed…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Steinbeck wrote a book called “Of Mice and Men.” Of Mice and Men is an engaging novel about two migrant workers, Lennie and George, who are trying to obtain their dreams of having their own home together. George is small and quick and is the alpha. The other is Lennie, who is big and strong, but has a mental disability, making him slow and in constant need of help and guidance. Throughout the book, trouble becomes increasingly worse, and George ends up having to kill Lennie. Most people believe that is was George’s responsibility to look after Lennie, making his killing unjustified. However, George was justified in killing Lennie because Lennie had previously hurt people, Lennie is not going to get a trial, and George cannot always be there for Lennie.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However George’s actions could also be condemned, Lennie was his best friend and he could have just run away and he would have been happy. He told George that he could go live in the mountains so why didn't George just let him run, let him be happy. George and Lennie had a dream, they were so excited about their dream and he just threw it all away with one shot. He let go of everything he had ever wanted in life and he also betrayed Lennie. Lennie did what George had always told him to do if he encountered such an event and Lennie followed through with those actions and even so was still killed, which isn't all that fair. Yes, he may have killed another human being, so he should be punished, but not killed. It is never…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “In any moment of decision, The best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” Teddy Roosevelt. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, towards the ending (spoiler) one of the main characters, George, has to kill his best friend Lennie after he accidentally kills Curley's wife because she was screaming and he got scared, and broke her neck, killing her. The quote from the beginning relates to this in that George did the right thing killing Lennie after what he did, The question is though, is it justified for George to kill Lennie to save him from the lynch mob heading for his lead by Curly himself. the argument that it was that it was justified, because he was going to do it as an act of mercy, he was thinking about how he could not save Lennie from society and vice versa, and that George could never make money and get Lennie his “American dream”…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George and Lennie have a very close relationship and their companionship is quite deep. During the 1930s, which was during The Great Depression, George and Lennie escape from Weed because they get into trouble. George has to look after Lennie because Lennie’s Aunt, Clara, is dead and no one takes care of Lennie. Then, they go to the Salinas Valley where they are going to work on a ranch. In the novel, George is morally right to kill Lennie because George wants to protect Lennie from the painful death and save other people from Lennie’s uncontrolled strength.…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In of mice and men, characters are cruel when they have power to control others of lower status. Many characters display a disregard for ones feeling or emotions through physical and verbal actions. On the ranch, hierarchy is extremely prominent and cruelty is a side effect of it. The characters that are lower of status are not cruel to those above. The character Curley’s wife, is an impeccable example of this. Even though she is of lower status on the ranch, she still has power over those below her. Crooks is one of those character, he is a coloured man and she uses this against him. During section 4, crooks is discusses plans with Lennie and candy, he forgets his circumstances in the ‘white man’s world’. He tells Curley’s wife that she has…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The story takes place during the 1930s at a small ranch south of Soledad, California. The country was struggling through the Great Depression and focused on isolationism, preferring to settle troubles at home rather than the rising crisis in Europe. Though, the Eugenics Movement, a movement based on the idea of improving the human race through selective breeding – largely seen in Nazi Germany, was also beginning to spread in the United States. Stemming from the Eugenics Movement, public talk of euthanasia also dramatically increased. Due to the subtle ideologies of the Eugenics Movement and the ending reference of euthanasia, modern interpretations of the book will greatly differ from thoughts from the books original release. because of the…

    • 1239 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many are out of their misery every day. It is unfair and unkind to make others live a life of pain and suffering. Many people would not want to be stuck in a vegetative state. Would you want to live in a vegetative state the rest of your life? Medical examiner found that Terri Schiavo was completely in a vegetative state and the most civil thing to do was to put her out of her misery. Schiavo could not get better, keeping her alive would have been cruel. “ if you have damage to your hippocampus, you cannot remember anything, so there is no way for you to learn or improve at all.( bauers, Sandy)” mercy killing is right in most cases. Being in a vegetative state cannot be a good thing, making anyone suffer is cruel and putting them out of their misery is the most humane thing to do. Cases like Terri Schiavo, and many others show why mercy killing is the right thing to do.…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Death is a horrendous thing that can cause an irreplaceable hole in somebody’s life. Death can also represent chaos and the pain of another character in the story. In Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, the deaths of Johnny, Dally, and Bob created an intriguing plot and unveiled the hidden feelings and personalities of characters who react to the deaths, like Dally and Randy. The major deaths in The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, which are the deaths of Candy’s Dog, Curley’s Wife, and Lennie, displayed the personalities of the characters who killed them and developed the story in the book. The theme of death reveals hidden elements of characters who strongly felt a certain way about the character. Even though death is the end of a character, it…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although society views compassion as a weakness,in reality compassion is a strength developed through a person overcoming suffering. People view compassion as a weakness,it is not it’s a strength when people are suffering during tough times they overcome it and become a stronger person because of that.Though many characters in the book”Mice and Men have really good friendship they also have a really good compassion towards one another they are frighten of each other.…

    • 355 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Violence is never the answer, as some may say. Although, what if acts of violence are the result of trying to achieve the right answer?…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When it comes to the way people view murder, they are usually pretty one sided. Some people on earth have stubborn minds, they are full with static. The main opinion shared between these folks seems to be “Murder is murder. Murder is bad. The person who murders is therefore bad.” These bland, stale statements need to be thought through more thoroughly. What if the person who committed this crime had other intentions? What if they weren’t cold hearted and actually had a soul? In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men, Lennie, a person with mental issues, doesn’t deserve to be held accountable for his actions for several justifiable reasons.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although you obviously can't punish a dead body for killing themselves, suicide is illegal. Our society does not promote suicide or homicide, and Euthanasia is in fact murder. If it is illegal to kill yourself or someone else, then deductive logic tells us that Euthanasia should remain an illegal practice.…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Big Brother Little Sister

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Recently the parents of a young man helped him to end his own life because he had been paralyzed from the neck down and he felt he could not face life anymore. Euthanasia is NOT the same as suicide, for it to be euthanasia the person who dies must have had a very poor quality of life, or be unable to live with dignity. Euthanasia is about ending the suffering of an individual who WILL NEVER GET BETTER. (Someone who is depressed for example may have a very poor quality of life and want to commit suicide, but depression is generally only a temporary, treatable condition).…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays