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Of Mice And Men By John Stenbeck: Mercy Or Murder

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Isaac Abelin Irby English III 5 March 2024 Mercy or Murder Did you know that the Bible does not say thou shall not kill? Within the ten commandments of the King James version, the word “ratzach” in Hebrew was interpreted as kill, although the word for kill is actually harag. Ratzah’s translation to English is murder, thus the bible prohibits unlawful killing but not killing itself, truly saying thou shall not murder. In the book Of Mice and Men by John Stenbeck, Lennie was a genital soul in a gentle body. This caused him lots of trouble and in the end caused his partner George to shoot him. Although some claim George murdered Lennie, George euthanized him out of mercy. Many claim that George killed Lennie in cold blood. One argument that …show more content…

This is shown throughout the story, but in one way Lennie was often exhibited as an animal. Displaying him as an animal was a symbol showing that he was like an animal George needed to put down to prevent his suffering. Similarly, if Curly got Lennie he would have been put in a cage like an animal and tortured to death further showing that George needed to Euthanize Lennie. Furthermore, George made sure Lennie had a beautiful view while thinking about what he loved, showing that just as you give a dog a bone, he gave Lennie a treat before the euthanasia. Another reason George did not murder Lennie but euthanized him is in deciding for Lennie what was best. George spent a lot of time with Lennie and out of anyone in the world to decide Lennie’s fate, George is the one. Lennie lets George make almost every decision for him constantly because he trusts George and, in this way, George has Lennies accord in decision making. Therefore, George had Lennie's consent in knowing George would do what was best for him. This trust was especially shown when Lennie was being beat to the point of becoming bloody by Curly and would not act unless George told him to. This further shows that Lennie trusts George with both his life and wellbeing. The final reason George euthanized Lennie was to protect Lennie from himself. If Lennie were captured by Curly rather than being killed and managed to escape Lennie would most likely run into the woods

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