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Examples Of Euthanasia In Of Mice And Men

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The Moral Thing To Do
Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. It is often looked down upon and is illegal in most places. The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about two farmers named George and Lennie who are going around and looking for work. Euthanasia was used in the book to end the life of an old dog and the mentally disabled man, Lennie, and these two instances demonstrated how taking a life isn’t always an immoral thing to do.
When Candy’s dog died, it demonstrated that taking a life could be merciful. When Carlson wants to kill Candy’s dog because of his stink, he is still showing mercy by relieving the …show more content…

George killed Lennie so that Curley couldn’t get his revenge. The antagonist of the book, Curley, wanted to kill Lennie and said, “‘I’m gonna shoot the guts outa that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im,’”(Steinbeck, 98). The reason that George killed Lennie was to prevent the brutal and painful death that he would have received from Curley. Curley wanted revenge for losing his hand to Lennie instead of grieving over the loss of his wife. He wanted to seem like he was a tough guy in front of the other guys at the farm to make up for his height since people could have easily picked on the short guy. He didn’t really care much about his wife. The moment when George kills Lennie also shows mercy because George didn’t want him to suffer. During this moment, “Lennie giggled with happiness…And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger,’”(Steinbeck, 105-106). George didn’t want Lennie to perish with a cold-hearted stranger, so he thought that it would be better if he died happy with loved ones, even if it meant that he had to kill him. He didn’t run away with him because he realized that what happened in Weed would keep on happening and that they will never get their dream because of him. George feels responsible for Lennie and any of his actions, so

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494 Words | 2 Pages

For instance he likes to pet mice, but he ends up killing them because he pets them too hard, but that was normal for him because he does it too often. Killing Curley's wife was the first time Lennie has ever killed a human being. A human being is different from a creature, therefore, If Lennie were to get captured, he could possibly be charged with attempted rape and most likely be put in jail. Therefore, George shot Lennie because he doesn't want Lennie to suffer and die with pain. For example on page Lennie said, “An’ you get to tend the rabbits."

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587 Words | 3 Pages

George killing Lennie is “Mercy Killing”. George had to kill Lennie or else he would have killed more people without even thinking. George did not want to do this and did it as peacefully as possible but he felt he had to do this action. Although George loved Lennie, it was hard for him to keep taking care of him. When they went to new farms to work George would have to keep his eye on Lennie at all times and he was scared to leave him alone while he went in town because he did not know what he would do and if Lennie would them both fired or even killed.

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667 Words | 3 Pages

Another reason is the ranchers would’ve killed him no matter what so this way George ensured it was fast and painless. On the other hand, this was condemned because George had been saying how his life would be so much better without Lennie and this allowed him to be able to live that life. George's decision to kill Lennie was justified because Lennie was going to be killed no matter what. After all of the ranchers find out that Lennie killed Curley’s wife, Curley states that he is going to kill Lennie, "I'm gonna get him.

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656 Words | 3 Pages

Just because he was George’s best friend did not give him any reason to shoot him. Lennie is a person that is childish, a little slow, and irresponsible adult. George is his caretaker that is responsible, caring, and a wiry person.

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532 Words | 3 Pages

Curley used this as an excuse to kill Lennie. He really wanted to kill Lennie because he destroyed his hand though. Curley said he was going to blow Lennie's guts out and make him suffer and be in pain. George prevented this by shooting Lennie in the back of the head and ending him quickly. George killed lennie because if he didn’t, Curley would have made him suffer.

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955 Words | 4 Pages

A Death in California On average, about 270,000 people in California pass away each year. When one thinks about deaths in California, they would most likely think about gang violence. But some of these deaths could be considered euthanasia. Euthanasia is the painless killing of someone or something that is suffering.

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522 Words | 3 Pages

Euthanasia is killing of someone who is suffering mentally or physically. It’s sometimes unable to be treated. Lennie from Of Mice And Men is tormented by a mental downside. despite the fact that it's clear that Lennie is incapable of constructing a choice for himself, others may suppose that he's capable of deciding for himself. It may be established that he's incapable of thinking for himself.

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600 Words | 3 Pages

George killed Lennie because he thought Lennie was worthless, as said in an earlier book about Candy’s Dog. Although Candy did mention that he wished he had killed his own dog, and that made George realize that if he does not do it then he will get killed by someone else because of his autism. Another reason George murdered Lennie is that George is tired of having Lennie around because he is a pain and always forgets things George tells him. Being around Lennie limits how George lives his life. Then again, George liked being with Lennie.

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655 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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792 Words | 4 Pages

Euthanasia can be done to terminally ill patients. In “Of Mice of Men” by John steinbeck George was in the right whenever he euthanized Lennie, because Lennie was becoming more violent, out of control, and mentally unstable. Lennie was becoming more and more violent throughout the book. Lennie became so violent that he broke Curley’s hand, a puppies neck, and Curley’s wife’s neck. In the book Curley attacked Lennie and George told Lennie to stop Curley.

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450 Words | 2 Pages

After all the anger that George has shown towards Lennie, he utters these words now so Lennie can die with a sense of peace. George does not want to pull the trigger, but he knows that the further consequences of Lennie’s actions will only worsen. To save Lennie from Curley’s wrath, possible imprisonment, and perhaps years of suffering, George takes Lennie’s

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961 Words | 4 Pages

That small action implies that George did not want Lennie to die with the thought that George had been angry at him. Perhaps George did it because he wanted to allow Lennie to die happy, or perhaps he wanted to get the guilt off his conscious and let Lennie know that he had never been angry. Considering all of this, George’s decision was done out of love for Lennie, to protect him from a much more gruesome and unhappy death at Curley’s

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867 Words | 4 Pages

After Lennie accidentally kills the wife of a farmer working on the ranch with him, he flees to a nearby pond; a place George told him to go if he were to get into trouble. George, knowing the ranchers would shoot Lennie in the best-case scenario and lynch him in the worst, George meets him before they arrive, and he shoots Lennie himself. George, while believing his actions to be merciful, had many viable alternatives that would not have led to bloodshed. The simplest and most effective would have been to simply lead the ranchers away from Lennie, as George was the only other person who knew where Lennie was. Had he done so, Lennie would have been in no danger at all, thus there would be no need to kill him.

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704 Words | 3 Pages

George’s decision to kill Lennie was ultimately for his benefit. “The hand shook violently, but his (George) face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 106). The quote which states how Lennie dies also shows that George was nervous and hesitant in killing Lennie. Scarseth explains in the article, “Friendship.

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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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