The Issue Of Mercy Killings In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Killing to relieve the pain another person is in. George killed Lennie because he felt he was doing the right thing. George did not want Lennie to get in trouble and cause George problems. George did not want Lennie to suffer when he died and he did not want Lennie to be confused. There are many cases of mercy killings, but when George killed Lennie, the killing was justified, as so many other cases can be.
George and Lennie travelled the country together looking for work and sometimes because Lennie did something he was not supposed to. When George and Lennie start their new jobs the boss is confused why Lennie does not talk much, and George tells him, “We travel together” (Steinbeck 25). The last town that George and Lennie worked in Lennie touched a woman’s dress and she claimed that Lennie had raped her. Everyone was looking for George and Lennie even though George did nothing wrong. Lennie always gets George …show more content…
George get very easily angered with Lennie, but many times Lennie did not understand the full extent to which George gets mad. “ ‘I got you! You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get’ ” (Steinbeck 11). Lennie knew when George was mad at him or when he did something wrong, and he knew when he killed Curley’s wife he did something wrong. Once Lennie would have been found everyone would have been mad at him and it would have made him feel awful. He feels bad when George gets mad, but if everyone was angry with him he would have been in great emotional pain.
George killed Lennie with his best intentions in mind. He did not want Lennie to suffer more than he already had. George tried to save Lennie from the physical and emotional pain he would have, had to endure, along with helping himself by keeping Lennie from getting himself and George in trouble. George felt he did the right thing and trying to do the right thing is all anyone can
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“Oregon's "Death with Dignity" law… allows doctors… to write lethal drug prescriptions for terminally ill people” (Briggs). The controversial topic of the difference between mercy killing and murder is brought up in John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men. George and Lennie, the main characters in the story, are two migrant workers looking for a job and a place to stay. Their work in the past has not worked out well because of Lennie’s mental disability. Although Lennie is tall and strong, he has…

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