Of Mice And Men Mercy Or Murder Essay

Murder or Mercy

Mercy killings are very controversial, many believe it is a form of murder where the perpetrator can masquerade behind the victim’s problems as an outlet of innocence, while others believe it is an ethical way to save someone from further pain or problems in life. Such as what Gigi Jordan was faced with, “The weepy mother confessed to taking Jude Mirra’s life in February 2010 at the swank Peninsula Hotel but insists that it was a ‘mercy killing’ to spare him from abuse at the hands of almost half a dozen people”. In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, we see a very similar thing happen when one of two migrant workers, George Milton, is faced with the decision of killing Lennie Smalls, his mentally disabled companion, after

he fatally wounds a woman on the ranch they work at. George ends up deciding that killing Lennie is the feasible decision to make, he does not want him to be tortured or be subjected to further punishment by Curley, the husband of the woman Lennie killed .George’s decision of killing Lennie was a mercy killing, because he realizes the situation and circumstances Lennie would be in if George had let him go.
If George had not killed Lennie, he would be subject to much more violent punishment.

“Curly's face reddened. ‘I’m going,’ he said. ‘I’m gonna shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself. Even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im’” (Lee 98). George realizes the trouble Lennie has gotten himself into and what will happen if he does not get to Lennie first, when Curley finds out about his wife’s death, he is furious and wants Lennie to be severely punished. George feels that he is the only one that should be able to put him out of misery because of all they have gone through together. This is a decision made of compassion and understanding of Lennie’s situation, a mercy killing. Not a cold, malicious killing that murderers are characterized

for.
Lennie was already suffering from mental disability and his memory was bad, George killed him in order to put him out of further misery or harm.

The event is similar to a killing that happened in Ohio when a husband shot his dying wife as a death pact. “Murder or mercy killing? One story that dominated headlines this week raised that question in a particularly dramatic fashion: An Ohio man is accused of shooting to death his ailing wife of 45 years, possibly as part of a "death pact" promise to prevent her from suffering” (Lynch). Many Americans are starting to speculate if mercy killings are murder or to prevent suffering. An event that started this debate was when John Wise, 66 of Massillon, Ohio shot his wife while she was in the hospital as a death pact. Wise said that his wife was in a very serious medical condition and said that there was a feeling that she would never recover to any quality of life. Many believe that John’s actions were warranted as a mercy killing, because of his wife’s situation. However other believe his actions were uncalled for, without a doctor’s diagnosis of a terminal illness. Although most of the evidence points to the killing as a mercy killing, judges and juries still realize the situation John’s wife was in out of sympathy for her condition. There is similarly another event like this in Of Mice and Men, when George kills Lennie in an effort to put him out of his misery, to stop any other harm or pain to fall upon

him.
Opposers of mercy killings often point out the brutality and forced suicide of the victims, by saying that most of the time family members make the decision for them , similarly in Of Mice and Men, when George mercy kills Lennie . However that was not the case with Brittany Maynard, a 29 year old diagnosed with cancer. She had been planning to die because of her situation and pain against her disease. “Maynard had planned since spring — a bittersweet stretch packed with "bucket list" moments, seizures and excruciating headaches — to escape the final stages of her cancer on Saturday by drinking a lethal mixture of water, sedatives and respiratory-system depressants” (Briggs). Maynard died peacefully with her family in her bedroom, after suffering through a painful, incurable disease. Her suicide was not forced, coldhearted, malicious murder, she took time to reflect upon her own problem and made the decision herself, this example of a mercy killing was not a brutal, evil murder like opposers like to point out. It was a peaceful moment where Maynard passed with her family, ending her struggle with cancer. There is a similar event that happens in Of Mice and Men, George ends Lennie’s struggle with his behaviour and mental disability like Maynard had ended her struggle with cancer, both to put each other out of further misery or harm.
George’s mercy killing of Lennie was a mercy killing, not a murder, George put him out of other problems he could of had. . Mercy killings are not murders, they are a way to prevent any other suffering,pain or mistreatment to happen to someone. Murders are spiteful, venomous killings with no remorse or regret. In Of Mice and Men, when George decides to put Lennie down to prevent any further harm done to him, he does this out of his compassion and love for Lennie and all they have been through together. None of these traits are characteristics murderers have, murderers kill for fun, George killed Lennie because of what would happen if he did not, he did not want to, but he did out of his compassion and love for Lennie.