Importance Of 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.

His aforementioned characteristics lead to a detrimental event: the murder of Curley’s wife. George realizes that Curley will not leave Lennie alone as quoted by Candy: “‘Curley gon’ta wanta get ‘im lynched. Curley’ll get ‘im killed.’” (). George decides to kill Lennie compassionately to prevent further afflictions by lettting Lennie die at his happiest moment.

Furthermore, it is a parallel to the death of Lennie, George has to kill Lennie on his own, so as to make sure thatCurley will not lock Lennie up in a cage and torture him.As for the death of Lennie, George saves Lennie by killing him. As mentioned above, Curley may lock him up and torture Lennie to take revenge for his hand and his wife. “This ain’t no good”, as their leader Slim said. Slim knew that Curley may torture Lennie, so he told George. This is why George chose to kill Lennie and not let Curley do it which would be a huge mistake and put George in a serious

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.

Defend or challenge the notion that George's act of killing Lennie was one of kindness

Two girls died the other day, one sadly took her own life while the other’s life was taken from her brutally. Everybody's upset, putting up suicide prevention posters and talking about how this is terrible and being sorry for the families who lost a loved one. Someone else ended their life through the process of Euthanasia, yet the third death was accepted and was hardly talked about. In Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, one of the main characters, George, is faced with a decision to kill his friend Lennie. George has a hard time doing so because he has known Lennie for so long. In the end George decides that it would be best if he killed Lennie, in a form called Euthanasia, instead of Curley brutally killing him. Euthanasia, also known as mercy killing, is when a doctor kills a patient painlessly because they have no more desire to live. Therefore, mercy killing is cruel and an unnecessary practice that seems to be very similar to a suicide and homicide.

He also knew the best way out for Lennie. Referenced to how Lennie is killed, earlier in the book Candy says, “I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog” (Steinbeck 61). After analyzing the quote deeper, one can see this theme runs throughout the book. It is foreshadowed in a way how George will kill Lennie.

George knows that Lennie remembers everything he says and he wants one of the last things that he says to him to be something that he does not regret. Not only does George regret what he did but he knows he is going to remember it for the rest of his life because killing your best friend is not something you forget. Much like their friendship, Lennie’s death is the best and worst decision George might ever make in all the years he has left. George knows that it was impulsive and he regrets it, that there were other options. George also knows that if they run away and Curley finds them than it would have happened in a worse way.

Since George acts as a parent figure to Lennie, he must take care of him like he is his child. George is supposed to keep Lennie out of harm's way just like “the primary duty of physicians is to never harm their patients” (Kon). Some dispute that George was not fulfilling his duty of protecting Lennie, which makes him euthanizing Lennie unjustified. However, George was actually protecting Lennie from a more painful death by Curley: “‘I’m gonna shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im’” (Steinbeck 98). In some cases, “It would be better if their lives were ended without this unnecessary delay” (Boseley). To spare Lennie all the pain and suffering, George shot Lennie himself. If George waited for Curley to come, Lennie would have been more scared, and experience much more pain. George was protecting Lennie from the suffering that was about to come . Lennie died happy and pain free because of George’s

Throughout the story, George acts like Lennie’s dad, always making sure he didn't get into any trouble and scolded him when he was bad. Lennie and George have been partners in crime for years. They travel together and work together every single day. They are each other's family. Now, during the book, Lennie gets himself into some trouble. All of it was totally by accident, however when one of those things was accidentally killing a woman, it didn’t matter if it was by accident. This is where George comes into play. George finds Lennie and tells Lennie that he forgives him. Then he had Lennie look out onto the water and imagine their life together in the future, while George pulls out a gun. It takes a long time, however George finally builds up the courage to kill Lennie so that Lennie wouldn’t have die die in fear or pain when Curley found him. “The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering. George shivered and looked at the gun, and then he threw it from him, back up on the bank, near a pile of old ashes” (Steinbeck 106). This part of the story is where the reader’s body will be so overtaken with compassion, their heads will be spinning. Only those made of stone will be able to make it through this ending without shedding a single tear. Lennie is George's best friend and is

I think George proved just how much he cared about Lennie at the end of the story when he shot Lennie in the back of the head by the creek.  George made the ultimate sacrifice in killing Lennie and putting himself in the position that he feared the most which is being along.  George knew if anybody else found Lennie, especially Curley, they would have made Lennie suffer to pay for killing Curley’s wife.  It was interesting what happened earlier with Old Candy and his dog being put to sleep.  Old Candy seemed just as upset about not shooting the dog himself as losing the dog.  “I should have done it myself”, Old Candy said near the end of the book.  Maybe George learned from that.  George believed the right thing was for somebody who cared about Lennie to end his life no matter how much it hurt.

Even though George is responsible for Lennie ever since his Aunt Clara died, George did not so the right thing by killing him. Ever since Lennie’s Aunt Clara died he has been traveling and working along side of his friend George. Lennie is not very bright and does not make the best choices so George has to help him stay out of trouble. Once George finds Lennie by the River, where George told him to go if he ever got into trouble, he tells the story about how their lives are going to be when they get the money. Before George even goes to the River he tells Curley, “Don’t shoot ‘em. He didn’t know what he was doin’.” (Steinbeck 98) George didn’t Lennie to die and he even tried to stand up for him. George tries telling Curley that he isn’t the

George killing Lennie is the only choice George had. If George don’t kill Lennie, Curley would have torture him and kill Lennie because Curley is humiliated by Lennie, breaking his hand and kill his wife. They would chain Lennie up like a dog. George said to Candy ‘“I ain’t gonna let’em hurt Lennie’” (95). If Lennie is taken by the police he won’t able to survive because Lennie can’t be by himself without George. George and Lennie only know how to survive with each other. Lennie needs George because George is the only who can take of him. They would have take advantage of him at the jail. If George is not with Lennie, Lennie would get angry like when Crook’s said what if George doesn't come back. If Lennie gets lock up in the dark, he would

When Carlson finally shoots Candy’s dog, his pain and suffering are over. Readers also think that euthanasia is supported when George shoots Lennie at the end of the novel. Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife by violently shaking her neck because he undermined his own strength during an attempt to get her to stop yelling at him. Some readers argue that euthanasia is endorsed because George shoots Lennie in order to save him from a more painful death by Curley, who promises to “shoot the guts outta that big bastard (Steinbeck 95).” When George finds Lennie hiding in the brush, their safety spot in case Lennie was ever in danger, George makes the decision to end Lennie’s life because he knew Lennie wouldn’t be able to survive in prison without him.

Euthanasia is the mercy killing of a person suffering from a very painful disease or in a coma.Euthanasia is a problem worldwide many parents don't know what to do with the child that is born with a very painful disease. Like In “Mice & Men” at the end of the novel George kills Lennie all because of something that Lennie didn't mean the death of Curley's wife.Lennie was born mentally ill with the mind of a child at that moment he didn't have any idea that he was going to kill Curley's wife.That is wrong to kill someone who is born with a disease.Nobody should be able to end your life in such a way in this case without knowing.George did not do the ethical or right thing by shooting Lennie.Lennie had the right to keep living and to fulfill his