Soylent Green & Euthanasia
English 20
Soylent Green & Euthanasia Soylent Green was based on the short story by Harry Harrison entitled “Make Room! Make Room!” It offers solutions to many near future problems. Overpopulation is one. Euthanasia is another. Feeding the masses is yet another. In fact euthanasia is a solution to the problem of overcrowding. What I choose to deal with here is euthanasia. Simonson, a character in the book, helps himself to the latter's food, liquor, bathroom, and books. Through this he discovers the nefarious deeds of the Soylent Company, The entity that feeds people. He treats it as a necessary evil. A concept that pulls the hearts strings of all readers. In the story food is provided for the overpopulated world by a lottery where old people are killed in euphoric ways to provide food. The meals are called Soylent green. Some people are aware of what the lottery is for, some are not. These are important for the fact that overpopulation in today’s society is already a problem. I will address that later. The movie is very disturbing. The idea that humans are food for other humans strikes the wrong cord in the reader, as it should. That is the author’s intention. The movie and the story are made to provoke a viewer to think about different perspectives. The one that stuck with me the most is Euthanasia. I disagree with the author’s inedited meaning. Personally I feel that euthanasia should be allowed. Not out of necessity but because people should not suffer. To address the modern day relevancy it must be mentioned at the time of the book and movie. It was understood mathematically that eventually there would be too many people to feed. It is the same way today and the number of people that are growing every year is such that it is exponentially. Also euthanasia is constantly debated today. Some people believe that it is an issue reserved for only Gods judgment. I.E. it will never
Soylent Green & Euthanasia Soylent Green was based on the short story by Harry Harrison entitled “Make Room! Make Room!” It offers solutions to many near future problems. Overpopulation is one. Euthanasia is another. Feeding the masses is yet another. In fact euthanasia is a solution to the problem of overcrowding. What I choose to deal with here is euthanasia. Simonson, a character in the book, helps himself to the latter's food, liquor, bathroom, and books. Through this he discovers the nefarious deeds of the Soylent Company, The entity that feeds people. He treats it as a necessary evil. A concept that pulls the hearts strings of all readers. In the story food is provided for the overpopulated world by a lottery where old people are killed in euphoric ways to provide food. The meals are called Soylent green. Some people are aware of what the lottery is for, some are not. These are important for the fact that overpopulation in today’s society is already a problem. I will address that later. The movie is very disturbing. The idea that humans are food for other humans strikes the wrong cord in the reader, as it should. That is the author’s intention. The movie and the story are made to provoke a viewer to think about different perspectives. The one that stuck with me the most is Euthanasia. I disagree with the author’s inedited meaning. Personally I feel that euthanasia should be allowed. Not out of necessity but because people should not suffer. To address the modern day relevancy it must be mentioned at the time of the book and movie. It was understood mathematically that eventually there would be too many people to feed. It is the same way today and the number of people that are growing every year is such that it is exponentially. Also euthanasia is constantly debated today. Some people believe that it is an issue reserved for only Gods judgment. I.E. it will never