Murder vs. Euthanasia in Of Mice and Men
Almost everyone has a close friend, someone they can rely on and trust. This is someone that will be with you through thick and thin, with you along the way. No matter the hardship, they will be there to help with hard decisions, sometimes making choices that may not seem beneficial, but are, in the end, the best choice that could have been made. A great literary example of this is in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, with the characters George and Lennie. George must make a tough decision about whether or not to kill his friend Lennie after he gets into serious trouble. A number of people will argue that George brutally murders Lennie, but in reality, George euthanizes Lennie, saving him
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They will say that George is constantly annoyed with having to deal with Lennie and that he kills him to relieve himself of his presence. In reality, George is only temporarily frustrated with Lennie, finding him inconvenient at times, but he does not dislike Lennie. He only gets upset with him from time to time, just as anyone would. Another example people bring up for the case of George murdering Lennie, is that he was a burden, stopping him from finding work, keeping a job, and getting him into trouble. George does not actually see Lennie as a burden but is looking out for him after he promised Lennie’s Aunt Clara that he’d watch out for him. If he was a burden, then George would have left Lennie a long time ago, but he still remains with him despite him causing trouble. A final example, and one of the more common ones, is that George murdered Lennie because he premeditated it. This holds very little merit though, as with the previous reasons mentioned, George didn’t want to murder him. He knew that killing Lennie was the best outcome for everyone, including Lennie himself. Planning to euthanize a living being is not an easy decision to make, especially if it’s the person you promised to protect. This was a difficult decision that he had to make beforehand, but not with ill