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Euthanasia In Suzanne Collins's Of Mice And Men

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“For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.” (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games) In Of Mice and Men two young men, George and Lennie, set out to work at a ranch to eventually aim for a piece of land of their own. Lennie is developmentally challenged and gets into trouble without meaning to. Lennie takes it too far, even for him, and accidentally kills a young woman. George kills Lennie himself in order to save his friend from a possible slow and painful death from the woman's husband. It is true that in many cases it offers a suffering person a better alternative but euthanasia is immoral and provides an all too easy blame for questionable situations as well as euthanasia is often is abused by the very people who are supposed to be trusted with the health of their patients. …show more content…

In an American Medical Association letter discussing the ethicality of Dr. Jack Kevorkian's conducting of 130 assisted suicides, Kirk Johnson states: “Mr. Kevorkian’s actions are not those of a primary treating physician. Rather, he serves merely as a reckless instrument of death.” (American Medical Association AMA). The analogy between reckless instrument of death and an educated physician truly represents how the public could start to to view once trusted doctors. This lack of trust could transfer to other aspects when you bring in mercy killing among close friends or family. When thinking about George’s reasons for killing Lennie in this way it becomes evident George was wrong in his decision because had no right to give himself the duty of killing Lennie especially without given

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317 Words | 2 Pages

So it is considered murder either way you look at it throughout the book. Do you think this book is for students? Well if not I have another piece of evidence I have to give you. Another one would be Euthanasia, Euthanasia is known as mercy killing, which is what George HAD to do to Lennie so he wouldn’t suffer. Other people like you maybe would see it as murder like I said in the other evidence, but in this situation I would say it's not murder its euthanasia.

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George makes the correct decision in shooting Lennie because Lennie is happy when he dies instead of being afraid and in pain as he would be if he had died another way. George has to kill or turn in Lennie because Lennie committed murder and George has the responsibility to deal with him. George deserves freedom from Lennie’s mistakes and by killing Lennie, he receives that liberty. Lennie is not a bad person. He has a good heart and does not mean to do the bad things he does.

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Another reason Lennie should not have been killed for what he did was because Lennie doesn't know his own strength. George should not have killed Lennie because he should of taught him that he is stronger, when the first accident happened in Weed. George should have taught Lennie how to control himself when he was little.

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757 Words | 4 Pages

He doesn’t take everything into consideration, for instance, Lennie’s disability to understand, comprehend, or lack of intelligence. Therefore, George’s decision to euthanize Lennie is not justified because Lennie doesn’t know any better, he gets scared easily and does things out of fear, and he isn’t aware of his own strength. One reason George killing Lennie wasn’t justified lies in the fact that Lennie doesn’t know any better. He doesn’t know the difference between wrong and right, he never means any harm to anybody on purpose.

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This save Lennie from a lot of pain, also helps george become free, and Lennie does not even know what is happening. George is justified because he makes the choice that protects Lennie from a lot of pain and makes himself feel guilty. The choice let's lennie die without guilt and pain. Lennie was also incapable of caring for himself. He counted on George for everything.

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532 Words | 3 Pages

The main reason George killed Lennie is because Lennie would have killed somebody again. And the evidence is clearly there, the pet mice that he killed, the poor puppy that he accidently hit to hard, and especially Curley’s wife. He almost killed the girl in weed if he had gone any further. The sad thing is is that he doesn't know how strong he really is, nor does he know what he’s done wrong in the first place.

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690 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel, Non-voluntary euthanasia is expressed when George killed Lennie because George thought it was the right thing to do, and if he didnt then Lennie might have been tortured and would have suffered. At the end of the novel, George was justified for performing non-voluntary euthanasia on Lennie, or in other words, killing Lennie without him knowing. George was justified for performing non-voluntary euthanasia on Lennie because Lennie would have had a more brutal and painful death. A quote from the book that supports this is, “I’m gonna shot the guts outta that big bastard myself, even if I only have one hand”(Steinbeck 98).

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802 Words | 4 Pages

Some readers of the story determine that there was no indication that he was saving Lennie from a worse fate or that there was no other option for either character; however, Lennie was in danger of being lynched by Curley and the ranch boys, who were close to discovering them during this scene. If George had tried to stop Curley, it's likely that he would have ended up injured as well, and if Lennie had tried to run off, he would not have lived long, as the book established that Lennie doesn't have any survival skills. However, some argue that the case against George is still valid, as Lennie wasn't given an explanation and didn't consent to be killed, thus making the decision murderous. However, Lennie's disability- potentially autism- inhibited his understanding of social dynamics and conditions, thus rendering him unaware of the reasoning behind George's actions, if George had tried to explain them to him. The final accusation against George is that his actions are seen by some as selfish, as killing Lennie would allow him to keep job and live easy, as the book acknowledges the animosity George feels toward Lennie.

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293 Words | 2 Pages

Euthanasia has a strong presence in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, “also called mercy killing the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, a person or animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition”(Dictionary.com). In the book there is a pattern of killing for selfish reasons, the people and animals are killed for the good of someone else which is almost the opposite of euthanasia. The euthanasia of Slim’s puppies was a sudden occurrence, most people do not usually drown their dog’s puppies. This killing was more for the benefit of his dog and himself than for the puppies.

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652 Words | 3 Pages

"Of mice and men" a novel by John Steinbeck which will be discussed in this paragraph evaluating two specific points, one of them is that George did the right thing by killing Lennie for many circumstances to be discussed later; and the second is about George was not supposed to kill Lennie under any reason because the life of every human being must be respected by every person in the world. George, seeing that Lennie did not have the ability to live on his own, always got into very serious problems and seeing that neither of them could get ahead because of those motives as you can see in the next quote: "I done a real bad thing," he said. "I shouldn 't of did that. George 'll be mad.

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376 Words | 2 Pages

Although many believe that mercy killing is wrong or unjust, Mercy killing, also knows as euthansiss is and a moral way to show empathy and compassion to a loved one in need. For example, In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. George, one of the main characters in the novel, killed his best friend Lennie because he thought that killing him was the best for him. Lennie is “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, and pale eyes” who acts and thinks like a child who doesn't know right from wrong.

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482 Words | 2 Pages

Is killing something that is in pain or is sentenced to live a life of misery murder or euthanasia? Murder is usually defined as the act of killing someone unlawfully and that has been preplanned and thought out, whereas euthanasian is killing to end one's pain and suffering. While euthanasian is usually associated with putting down animals that are suffering or had a troubled life it also applies to humans, over the course of history it has been commonly used in people with mental disorders, the terminally ill and criminals given the death penalty. In John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men, readers see the death of Lennie caused by his friend George and can either claim it is murder or if George euthanized Lennie.

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1064 Words | 5 Pages

Lennie’s death is inevitable, and to soften the killing, George uses the

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737 Words | 3 Pages

Lennie with his simple mind, always gets into trouble. This time, Lennie gets himself in a bind once again, that George can’t save him from. George decision to kill Lennie in the story, was due to his responsibility, sympathy, and love for Lennie. George’s decision to kill Lennie was out of sympathy for him.

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443 Words | 2 Pages

Although, Lennie’s actions probably weren’t his fault, with him not being able to learn from his actions and remember that his own strength is too much for him that he became a threat. George, pained to do it, knew what was best for Lennie and other people/animals, and had to end his life. Overall, even though George had to make some pretty drastic decisions and someone’s life got taken away, it was all for the best and nothing bad will no longer happen and who knows, maybe George will get to live his

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