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Examples Of Euthanasia In Of Mice And Men

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Should Euthanasia be Accepted?

Imagine someone you love is in the hospital and terminally ill. Even though you love them, you know they won’t get better, only worse. Would you make them suffer an anticipated death, or let them end their misery? In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, one of the main characters named George is put in a similar situation when Lennie (who is another main character) , accidentally kills the wife of Curley. Curley was a mean guy and he was also the bosses son. George knew that if Curley found Lennie before him he would kill him and it would be very painful. George makes a very tough decision to shoot Lennie in the back of the head thus preventing any unnecessary pain Curley could have caused. This method of dying is called euthanasia or mercy killing. I believe that this way to create a peaceful death is justified because it is a way for you to look out for your loved ones and prevent any further unnecessary pain.

I think George made the right decision of shooting and killing Lennie. In the story, Lennie kills the wife of Curley. As I said before, Curley is very mean and he is the bosses son so he doesn’t have much …show more content…

When George found out that Lennie had killed Curley’s wife, he knew Curley was going to get revenge. Instead of letting Lennie be in any kind of pain, he killed lennie himself so that he wouldn’t suffer. After Lennie killed Curley’s wife, he said “ I’m gonna get him. I’m going for my shotgun”(Steinbeck 96). This meant that Curley had no hesitation at the thought of hurting Lennie. George had also said. “ I ain't gonna let them hurt Lennie.”(Steinbeck 95). This shows that he wasn't being selfish, but selfless because he wasn't going to let anything or anyone hurt Lennie. George decision was very hard, but I think he made the right choice. Mercy killing is not something that only happens in non-fiction texts or movies, it happens in real life

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