George never cared for Lennie. He was a burden a nuisance. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. George shoots his traveling partner Lennie to try to save him from an angry mob. After Lennie snaps the neck and kills the wife of the boss's son Curley. In the phrase “Mercy Killing” one word is killing and it is never okay to kill another person. The action that George chose of killing Lennie was the wrong decision. It is never the right decision to kill another person.George had many options in this situation but he decided to take Lennie's life instead of the other options available. Just like when Carlson was pressing Candy to put down his dog but he says he can’t because “I’ve had him to long”(Steinbeck 45). Lennie and George have been together a long time but that doesn’t affect George's decision to kill Lennie. While George was trying to calm down Lennie, he said “No Lennie I’m not mad”(166). …show more content…
If George isn't mad he would have let Lennie live instead of shooting him. George had other choices he should have chosen one of them. People that really do face this have many choices as well and should deeply consider all of them Mercy Killing is an evil you can’t justify something as terrible as killing another person.
Involuntary mercy killing without asking consent or against the patient's will is illegal. Even though it is illegal it still happens to many people. Their family and friends think they are helping or taking away the pain but they really are just killing them. For instance in the Terri Schiavo case Terri's brother stated “ People think that Terri was on machines they think she was dying. She could breath on her own.(NY Daily News,2017 ) If she was still breathing I don’t know how she could be killed. If you can breath you can live she could breath therefore she could live. In the case George Felos ,who was a lawyer who had worked against Terri Schiavo, said “It was their attempt to supplant Terri's wishes with theirs”. Early in the case they said that she was unable to communicate well if she is unable to communicate then how do they know her wishes. The Terris Schiavo case was a wrong decision to some. Other people still say they made the right conclusion on the
case. “Mercy Killing will free up hospital beds”(Debate Wise). The open hospital beds are necessary for the people that are for sure going to live. There is no way that there. Is that many people in a hospital that they can’t spare one single bed. It makes no sense to kill and end the life of someone else just so some else can be tended too. In the phrase “Mercy Killing” one word is killing and killing another person is never okay no matter what the circumstances. People’s lives are the. Most important thing. The other side of this issue even has to agree on that statement. The real question in this topic is if you see a 90 year old man sitting in his hospital bed 4 different tubes hooked to him. He’s so weak and fragile he can barely speak and you are going to tell him that you need his bed. So you say that you are going to take away his oxygen tank? I think you now know what side of the topic this topic is the right one to be on.
One of the reasons why George should have killed Lennie is to keep him out of an institution. It is clearly not on the bright side for Lennie to be put in an institution. This is backed by Slim saying “…An’ s’pose they lock him up an’ strap him down and put him in a cage. That ain’t no good, George.”(pg. 97) Lennie would obviously be miserable without George anyway, his only kind friend. Without George, Lennie wouldn’t know a lot of things he does now, or what to do in situations. Lennie has one of the rare mentalities that always needs someone by their side. These are all good reasons that it would be a good thing for George to put Lennie away rather than in an institution.
C/R: It is true that George was only trying to save Lennie from a horrible punishment that the boys were going to bring upon him however, there were other options than killing Lennie. George didn’t have to kill Lennie, they could have run away from the mob that was chasing them, for George got to Lennie before anyone else did. They had time to escape. Therefore, George is at fault for Lennie’s death; if George really thought of Lennie as family, he would have thought of another way to get out of the problem.
As we journey through life, we must make difficult decisions, even when few options exist and the situation is grim. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the decision George faces after Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife is complicated, as none of his choices are good. The importance of his relationship with Lennie forces George to look at the big picture and act in Lennie’s best interests, even though the action he must finally take will result in a weight that he will carry forever.
In ending of "Of Mice And Men", George kills Lennie after he killed Curley's wife. However, I can still feel sympathy towards George, and see his action as justifiable. In the beginning of the book I had sympathy towards George. The book starts with George talking to Lennie and from this you learn a lot about their relationship. After Lennie asks for ketchup, which they can't get, George gets angry at Lennie and says, “Whatever we ain’t got, that’s what you want. God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble" (6). This shows the reader that George has given up a lot to take care of Lennie. He has given up his job security and a lot of his happiness because he takes care of Lennie. In chapter 3, the reader finds out how George and Lennie started traveling together, and from this the reader can infer that George travels
Killing someone is never right. No one pointed a single finger to George for killing Lennie. They all thought it was ok since Lennie killed Curley’s wife, it is not ok to kill a person. All of them went out to drink after Lennie was dead. George did not even care, Lennie trusted George with everything. Lennie would probably be arrested for killing Curley’s wife, but he did not deserve to be killed. Lennie was a special person, he did not know his own strength. He never meant to kill Curley’s wife. George knew that but decided to kill Lennie anyways. That is not the definition of a true friend. No one accused George of anything, but instead were happy that Lennie ended up being
George felt though an extremely difficult choice, killing Lennie himself was the right decision. Curley was gonna get his revenge and George did not want that because he did not want Lennie to die painfully. “‘I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. I’ll shoot him in the guts.’”(Steinbeck 96). When Lennie killed Curley’s wife, Curley wanted to give him the most painful death. Curley wanted to shoot Lennie in the stomach which wouldn’t kill you at first, Instead you would bleed out slowly and painfully. George didn’t want Lennie to suffer so he knew he had to get to Lennie before Curley did and kill Lennie the fastest and least painful death he could which he did. Lennie would be arrested and thrown in jail for
One important reason that shows George's actions of killing Lennie is a euthanasia is a very important reason. The reason is that Lennie can't really tell George that that he wants to die, but he actually does in a more indirect way. Lennie's mental state is very low and it would be hard for him to tell George directly and give his constant.
After Lennie makes his mistake of killing Curley's wife the other characters want to brutally kill him being led by Curley but George who realises that this is a cruel way for Lennie to die and that he can’t save Lennie he decides that Lennie must have a merciful death. The reader infers when Curley says “ ‘I know who done it,[...][It was lennie].I know he done it. [...] I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun[...]I’ll shoot him in the guts’ ” ( 96). In this quote we understand that Curley plans on killing Lennie but in a more painful way than Lennie deserves. Thus George realizes that Lennie is about to be killed in a horrific way so he intervenes and kills Lennie in a peaceful way. This shows that mercy killing is to be done over the horrific way that Curley wants to take out Lenie. Because Lennie would have a much worse death than needed and Lennie could have put up a fight, George completes a mercy killing as the safest
Was George to harsh or too fast with his decision to kill Lennie? Ever since Lennie was born he has needed help “living” and it started with his aunt Clara. When his aunt Clara died Lennie needed someone to help him with his everyday life and someone that could be there and tell him what to do. Lennie starts to travel with a good family friend George. In the book “Of Mice and Men” there is many cases where Lennie just “holds on” to George.
George kills Lennie because he did not want to witness Lennie being hurt or killed carelessly, run off by in his own and not being able to take care for himself, and Lennie’s mental disorder will never change how Lennie reacts to certain situations. Many believe taking the life of another without consent is unacceptable but in certain situations like George’s, he has to decide due to Lennie’s mental disorder that was leading him into unpleasant situations. George is an admirable character who choose to protect and do justice to his distressed friend,
Lennie’s unintentional mistakes resulted in the sudden end for him, but was done in the best way possible. As Lennie would’ve been subjected to a life of loss, running and suffering, George correctly made the decision in euthanizing him. While contemplating whether or not to euthanize him, George knew he very well could but it wasn’t the easiest decision to make on his part. If George wouldn’t of made the decision he did, Lennie would’ve had to run for the rest of his life with no account of what happened or what to do due to his mental illness. He would’ve been seen as a criminal and hunted down like animal which is inhumane and cruel. Although his mishaps weren’t meant to be as extreme as they were, the consequences were foreshadowed throughout
In conclusion, George killing Lennie was a murder because of lack of consent and Lennie was not suffering physically. In this society, people are scared of the unknown, and that is how they lived. No one realized what they were doing was wrong. But Lennie was just like everyone else, only different because of a small, mental setback. The characters did not seem to realize that Lennie believed in a future ahead of him, and that he had hopes and dreams just like them. Life is incredibly short, and no one should deserve
Is There Mercy in Murder? Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is about two men who care for each other very deeply. They have financial struggles and one partner with mental disabilities. They battle their hardships together, but when Lennie, the mentally disabled, makes a mistake and kills someone, it forces George to have to take away Lennie’s life. Critics believe George Milton committed cold-blooded murder when he killed his close companion, Lennie Small.
After Lennie gets into the debacle with Curley’s wife, he runs to the oasis described at the beginning of the book. George fears the men will tear Lennie apart and murder him. He also knew he would be institutionalized, or “caged” if he survived the attack. He had the moral clarity that let him see that killing Lennie was the best thing for him. When George kills Lennie, it’s a kind of mercy killing.
The novel makes it clear that mercy killing shouldn’t be allowed, because it is unjust. It is unnatural and not merciful. Although the title says mercy killing it doesn't show mercy. George killing Lennie wasn't justified because he could have easily ran from Carlson and Curly. Mercy killing is not moral because the patient has the choice to live longer and go on and enjoy life. Some say it is good because it frees up hospital beds but just because someone else needs a bed doesn't mean you should kill the person who is using one.