Mercy or Murder?
The ending in, Of Mice and Men was a very emotional conclusion not only because Lennie perished, but because George was the one to kill him. I do not believe this act to be considered murder, but more so mercy. Although I think that in today's times this would be considered murder by the law. This is an act of mercy because Curley was going to slaughter Lennie by shooting him in the stomach and letting him die a sluggish and excruciating death. George decided it would be best for him to kill Lennie and not Curley; he made this disturbing decision out of love and compassion. I have confidence in that George made the right decision and sometimes the right choice isn't the most pleasurable choice. George knows that they can't run forever, eventually the police will find them and who's to say what will happen then. They might kill Lennie where he stands or take him to prison to deteriorate for the rest of his existence. All George knows is that at least Lennie was happy when he died and still had the vision of the rabbits dancing in his head. I think that's another reason why he killed Lennie was he knew their dream wasn't ever going to be a reality and he didn't want Lennie to live a doomed dreamless life with nothing to look forward to.
…show more content…
After Carlson shoots candy's dog in the back of the head Candy regretfully states “I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.” George knows this and sees that it is only right for him to kill his best friend and not an enraged blood-hungry man like Curley. The most chilling part was that George killed Lennie just like Carlson killed candy's dog, a bullet through the back of the skull. Although Lennie's execution was more prolonged because George loved Lennie no matter how many bad things he
It sounds weird, but if he was put in a mental institution Lennie would probably wish he was dead. At the time of this book mental institutes were horrible places where people would be abused and treated like animals. Also if George didn’t get there before Curley would have shot Lennie in the stomach. If Lennie got shot in the stomach that would cause a lot of pain and Lennie getting shot in the back of the head he didn’t feel anything. It was for the best when George shot Lennie.
George had no way of knowing what would happen to Lennie. He made the decision to shoot Lennie because he assumed that Curley and his gang were going to torture
Lennie killed Curley’s wife (not on purpose) and got into a fight with him. Curley is ready to shoot him and torture him, except George has the choice to shoot him painlessly first. Some people may say that Lennie should have had a say in this situation and that Lennie didn’t do anything on purpose, he
According to debatewise.org 52 percent of people agree with mercy killings while 48 percent disagree. In the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, one of the main characters by the name of George fires the round of a Luger pistol into the back of his best friend’s head, Lennie Small. Without context, this would be seen as murder, as a crime. In this particular scenario, th George’s act was not murder, it was mercy.
Of Mice and Men has one of the most controversial endings of all time. Most people that read the book will argue about whether George had to kill Lennie or if he didn 't have a choice Things are a little more complicated because George wants to keep Lennie around but he can imagine a life without him. There is evidence to prove both sides but it is never truly clear that 's what it makes it so complicated. George wants Lennie around because he enjoys having Lennie around.
Ultimately, George shot Lennie in the back of his head. But was he justified? Though some might say it is always wrong to kill someone, in this situation it could be justified because Curley would have killed Lennie if George didn't, Lennie’s disability would have continued to cause problems, and George
It does not directly state that George is doing this in order to end Lennies suffering like with Candy’s dog, it is implied that George shoots Lennie to end his suffering and to make his death
George cannot stand to see anything bad happen to Lennie because of how much he loves him. So, do to how influential the decision by Curley to kill Lennie, George decides to just kill him himself. “I just done it” (118). When Slim (another worker on the farm) ask George why he did it he does not know how to answer. There was no simple answer, he loves, and cares for Lennie so much there is no way he wants to kill him.
Curley wished to kill Lennie and out of pity for Lennie, George takes matters into his own hands and kills Lennie because George felt Lennie would end up better off dead than alive. “‘An’ s’pose they lock him up an’ strap him down and put him in a cage. That ain’t no good, George.’”(Steinbeck 97). George had other options for Lennie and made the decision for himself when really the final decision does not come from him because the law always ranks at the top.
You may think killing someone is wrong, no matter the circumstance, but there are some cases where murder is the only option. In John Steinbeck 's Of Mice and Men George kills his friend Lennie, but what you don 't know is that Lennie 's death was justified. Even though it is wrong to kill someone george did nothing wrong in the situation he was put in. George is innocent because he new Lennie would get in more trouble, George also knew that the dream would never come true, so he had to end it, George knew that if he didn
After Curley’s wife is killed, there is no way George and Lennie can exist peacefully and continue their lifestyle. George has to put Lennie out of his misery. If George doesn’t kill Lennie, he
One piece of evidence that supports this claim is from “Ohio Man’s Shooting Of Ailing Wife Raises Questions About ‘Mercy Killings.” One quote is “...meant only to end the suffering of his wife, Barbara, 65.” This relates to Of Mice and Men because she was going to die anyway and he wanted to end her suffering. This is exactly what George wanted for Lennie. If he didn’t kill him Curley would’ve killed him and then he would’ve died without dignity.
Curley says “I’m gonna shoot the guts outta that big bastard myself, even if I got only one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im” (Steinbeck). It was better that George killed Lennie painless by shooting him in the back of the head other than Curley painfully shooting Lennie in the gut. To conclude, killing in some cases is justified.
But George did the right thing when he shot Lennie, because he would have been attacked by other men in the worst case for what he had done to Curley’s wife, and be arrested in the best case. In my opinion, mercy killing was the best thing George could do for Lennie; there was no other way. The Great Depression was not a great time for even the most competent men. Lennie couldn’t function back then, he needed to be treated, but back then treatments for the mentally impaired were hard to come by in that time. He never had a chance at being normal, nobody understood him nor took the time to understand his behavior.