Mercy Killings In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Words: 462
Pages: 2

Of Mice and Men Theme John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men features several different themes. However, the most important theme from the novel is of mercy killings. A mercy killing is to kill a person/animal in order to put them out of their misery. These mercy killings take place throughout the novel and demonstrate the theme, “Sometimes, if you love something, you have to let it go.” This theme is demonstrated in two places in Steinbeck’s novel as well as in a real life case. When the reader meets Candy in the second chapter, they also meet his old dog. Candy’s dog walked “dragfooted” and was “gray of muzzle, and with pale, blind old eyes” (Steinbeck 24). Candy loved his dog but the dog had gotten very old and was having trouble just surviving