Euthanasia In John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

George and Lennie were best friends for a long time, more like brothers. Lennie is about as bright as a 2 watt bulb, so George couldn’t really get mad at him when he accidently killed Curley’s wife while feeling the softness of her hair. “…’I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know’”. The two had planned a future together—a future in their own dream ranch, a ranch where no trouble would ever bother them. “’You…an’ me. Ever’body gonna be nice to you. Ain’t gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from ‘em’”. Then after he tells him about the rabbits that Lennie is so fond of, he shoots him in the back of the head where he knows it will not hurt him, and Lennie will not know what hit him. This is the peaceful alternative to what Curley had in store for him. Curley's exact words were "shoot the bastard right in the guts." George's euthanizing of Lennie makes the mentally incompetent Lennie die with dignity. Had Curley gotten to Lennie first, Lennie would have suffered. This shows you how much George cares for Lennie, no matter what he does or the crimes he commits. He’d always be there to help Lennie get right back up to his feet, make him forget all his worries, and move on like nothing happened. I strongly believe George was the right person to kill Lennie, and made the right decision in doing so, rather than to let him suffer in the hands of Curley.

Throughout the novel, Lennie is put to the test against obstacles he has to overcome; he always turns to George for the right answer. Lennie trusts George to make the right decision for him. When Curley was fighting Lennie, Lennie was covering his face with his hand until George screams, “Get ‘im, Lennie” and instantly Lennie puts his hand on Curley and breaks the bones in his hand (Steinbeck 63). Lennie can’t think for himself and never truly means to be mean. Lennie doesn’t know how to control his own body, “He was so little… I was jus’ playin’ with him…an’ he made like he’s gonna bite me…an’ I made like I was gonna smack him… an’…an’ I done it. An’ then he was dead” (Steinbeck 87). In other words, it foreshadows that he is too strong for his own mind and that something potentially worse could happen. Sadly, George made the right decision for Lennie by killing him to prevent future suffering and

George eventually finds out about the death of Curley’s wife so he sets out and kills Lennie by the river. Lennie dies a gentle death, thinking only the happiest thoughts. The moment before he died, his mind is filled with their farm and there rabbits and there dream. Steinbeck reminds you that Lennie is still as gentle as he ever is, despite the fact that he killed

The first reason why George is justified in killing Lennie is because Lennie is worthless like Candy’s dog. Candy’s dog is causing trouble for the men, and suffering while it's still alive “Ain’t nothing left for him. Can’t eat, can’t see, can’t even walk without hurtin’( Steinbeck 47). Like Lennie, the dog is physically impaired. The dog can hardly walk and Lennie has some trouble moving around. Lennie is worthless, because he does

As George found out about the puppy and Curley’s Wife he immediately ran down to the river. Once he got there he was talking to Lennie and knew he was going to have to shoot him. As he was getting ready to shoot Lennie he pointed it to the back of his head and did it. Lennie’s death is the same as Candy’s dog’s death.

Any good person does not want to watch a friend to be hurt, and George is no exception. George is most worried for Lennie when Curley says ‘“i’m gonna shoot the guts outta that big dumb bastard myself, even if i only got one hand.”’ (steinbeck 48). this is when Curley, Slim and Carlson are getting together to find Lennie and hurt him and kill him. George thought

Once again, Lennie finds himself in trouble, when he killed Curley’s wife. He remembers what George told him, “...I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush” (Chapter 1). That is exactly what Lennie does, he runs straight to the camping spot. When everyone finally sees Curley’s wife dead, they all know who it was and set out to kill him. George sets out as well to see if he can reach Lennie before the rest of the men. “I oughtta of shot that dog myself, George, I shouldn't oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog” (Chapter 3). That is what Candy said to George after Carlson shot his dog. “George… reached in his side pocket and brought out Carlson’s Luger…” (Chapter 6) This is when George finally reaches Lennie and decides to go ahead and put him out of his own misery, so he shoots him. John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing by clearly using Candy’s dog to represent Lennie’s

In the book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there are many human and animal deaths all throughout the book. The most significant death was when George went against his will and killed Lennie. Lennie’s death was unjustified since he was never given any opportunity to make up for it or to just run and get away. After Lennie killed Curley’s wife no one could trust him and with that the workers on the ranch believed it was Lennie’s “turn” to die. Over the course of human history there have been many unjustified deaths leading to no charge against the assailants. Such as, death row, self-defense and euthanasia, these types of deaths are all unjustified and there are many reasons to authenticate it.

It's been four months, the doctors don't know what else they can do. You don't want to accept it but, she tells you to. Your daughter, your own flesh and blood, pride and joy, is begging you to stop the pain and suffering with her big cloudy doll eyes. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, one of the main characters, George, had come upon an unthinkable situation, where he best friend, Lennie, murders the wife of Curley. George faces the decision to weather let Lennie live, and suffer from Curley's vengeance, or to end Lennie's life permanently, and save him from suffering. The novel makes it clear that mercy killing, the act of putting an animal or human down painlessly without suffering, is a human way to show compassion towards

In John Steinbeck's classic novella, Of Mice and Men, George makes the decision of killing Lennie because he knows it is in Lennie's best interest. His act of killing Lennie is not considered criminal. George has good intentions in killing his companion. George is trying to prevent Lennie from being tortured and from his constant desire to please George and not cause trouble. Additionally, Lennie repeatedly places himself in difficult situations, and as a result, brings George into the circumstances. There is a close friendship between George and Lennie, and George had carefully thought out whether or not he

In order to prevent this agony from befalling his dear friend, George took it upon himself to kill Lennie with a quick, painless death by shooting him in the back of the head. This form of killing someone results in a painless, instantaneous death, as by shooting in the back of the head as done by George and Carlson, the spinal cord is obliterated, instantly killing the victim, so that they feel nothing. George decided to kill Lennie at his very happiest, while he was thinking about their plans for their piece of land. In doing so, George prevented Lennie from causing any harm to anyone else, or himself. He also saved Lennie from any grief or pain from being executed or shot by someone without sympathy, as well as having Lennie know of his death. One moment, Lennie was bubbling over taking care of his rabbits, the next he was dead, blissfully unaware of dying. This is the noblest motive for killing, and one that was highly justified by George, as well as preferable for Lennie. "And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie 's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred and then settled slowly forward to the sand, he lay without quivering."(p. 106)

The narrator says “And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the mussel of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again.” This quote shows that due to Lennie killing things George had to kill Lennie.

George knew that Lennie would never be truly happy without him. George knew that if he didn’t get to Lennie first, than Lennie would go to jail . He also knew that Lennie couldn’t live without him, because Lennie depends on George to always be there for him. Lennie humiliated Curley when Lennie broke Curley’s hand. Curley said to the guys around him, “‘I’m going in shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand’” (98). George knew that Lennie would be tortured by Curley because Lennie killed Curley's wife and humiliated him when Lennie broke Curley’s hand and won the fight, so George had to kill Lennie to keep him from suffering. Lennie would either in jail and suffer because Lennie doesn't have George, or be killed and tortured by Curley and suffer because Curley won’t kill him fast. George only had one choice and that was to kill

“I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.” (Steinbeck pg 61) Steinbeck included this quote to foreshadow that George was going to shoot Lennie. It also helps justifies his reasoning for shooting him because George was not going to let a stranger kill Lennie. Lennie was a strong and useful man when it came to work, but he had the mind of a child. He could not survive without George because he did not understand what was to far and, was always getting into trouble without even knowing it. Near the end of the book, Lennie, in bewilderment, accidently killed Mr. Curley’s wife. After that incident, George knew that if he did not kill Lennie then he would suffer. So, even though some say George did not make the right decision by killing Lennie, it was the better option because prison life would

The value of human life has been shifted over time. For example, the life of a worker was worthless; during the Industrial Revolution, the Third Reich killed babies with disabilities as part of their cleansing of the race. They justified their decision as mercy killing. In Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck confronts this theme in his climax; when George pulls the trigger and kills his best friend Lennie. The story takes place during the Great Depression, and like thousands of other people trying to find jobs. The bulky and strong Lennie is not as intimidating as his appearance indicates. Lennie suffers from a mental disability, which causes him to be a full-grown man with a mind of a child. Together George and Lennie arrive at a ranch; where they get work. They hope to fulfill their dream of owning their own piece of land, some day. Right after Candy, an old swamper at the farm, offers money to achieve their goal, Lennie accidentally kills the wife of Curley, the boss’ son. Outraged and ready to kill, Curley calls Carlson and George together, to hunt Lennie down. As George finds Lennie at the river, he makes the decision to kill Lennie, which leads to the controversial discussion of whether George’s actions were ethical or not. Because the term ethical is very subjective, theories have been developed to define ethical behavior. Utilitarianism, states that an action that creates the greatest amount of happiness and and the least amount of suffering is what really matters;