Euthanasia is a mercy killing of a person who is suffering mentally or physically. It’s usually not able to be treated. Lennie from Of Mice of Men is suffering from a mental problem. Even though it is clear that Lennie is incapable of making a decision for himself, others might think he is capable of deciding for himself. It can be proven that he is incapable of thinking for himself.George is justified in euthanizing Lennie because he prevented suffering, he realized that Lennie would continue to harm others and himself, and he knew that Lennie was incapable of making a decision for himself.
One reason George euthanized Lennie is when he realized that Lennie would continue to harm others and himself. Lennie is not even aware of how strong he is. Whenever he pets a mouse, he ends up crushing it not even realizing he killed it. Lennie doesn't understand the long term effects that come along with killing a living creature. Another example is when he had killed Curley’s wife by accident. All he did was shake Curley’s wife and her head snapped. Once he saw that Curley’s wife was not responding, then he realized that he had done something bad. According to Source A, “
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Lennie depends on George for many things. George feeds Lennie and knows how to find a job. Lennie just follows along with what George says. For example, Curley had slapped Lennie, and George gave permission for Lennie to fight back. As a result, Lennie broke Curley’s hand. This showed that Lennie had to check in with George to see if it was right to defend himself. According to Source D, “It is claimed that sometimes it is permissible to cause such a harm as a side effect of bringing about a good result even though it would not be permissible to cause such a harm as a means to bringing about the same good end.” This shows that Lennie is incapable of thinking and making decisions for