Mercy Killing In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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More than half of the United States disagrees with mercy killing and votes against it. The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck demonstrates a form of mercy killing in the end chapters. George is the caretaker of Lennie, a mentally handicapped young man who causes havoc. George is a young man who is a typical build of a man while Lennie is very large and muscular . With George’s help, Lennie is escorted away from trouble he causes. Curley is the boss’s son at the ranch George and Lennie are staying at. He is very hot tempered and overly protective of his lonely wife. The setting of this book takes place at a southern ranch during the Great Depression. While Lennie was having a conversation with Curley’s wife he again messed up. He had killed…show more content…
“And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger.” (Steinbeck 106). This section from the book shows that George knew Lennie would suffer without him putting him in peace. If this was murder, George would not have trembled and delayed himself from shooting. He reacted the way that he did because he loved and cared about Lennie. He wanted to let him die peacefully. This is an example of a mercy killing out of love. To continue, George killed Lennie out of love by comforting him on his last moments on Earth just like in the situation of Kay and Lynn. “Kay Gilderdale administered a cocktail of lethal drugs to end Lynn's life in ­December 2008 after her daughter called her for help when her own attempts at suicide failed.” (Mercy 1). This brave mother just like George, killed a beloved on behalf of their condition. Lennie was going to be murdered a very painful death in his future and Lynn was going to suffer from her serious illness. George killing Lennie was a mercy killing just like Lynn killing her daughter. They both had good intentions and did this to save them from

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