Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Mercy Killing

The book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck have the characters George and Lennie. In the end George kills Lennie out of mercy. This type of mercy killing is unacceptable; I am for mercy killing, but only in certain circumstances. Mercy killing should only be offered by a doctor when you are in complete and constant pain. Lennie however was not; he was mentally challenged and did not know his own strength. George knew how to control him well enough, and could have prevented a lot of damage and avoiding death by taking Lennie away the first chance he got and placed him in protective hands.

In this case with Lennie and George, I am not for mercy killing. My first reason is that he didn't give the choice to Lenny. Instead he took it in his own hands to decide Lenny's fate. Lenny, however mentally handicapped, should be able to choose whether to take his own life or to start over and be more careful. Granted this was not the first time Lenny has harmed a creature, but George should take responsibility and find somewhere safe for Lenny to reside. Especially when he knows the woman had her eyes on Lenny and was very flirtatious. Lenny has the ability to understand right and wrong and also is simple minded enough to take his death in to consideration. He knows that it is hard for George to handle him, the risks of living alone, how Curly would hurt him, and that some people weren't as nice to him as George is.

My second and final reason for being against mercy killing in this type of situation is because Lenny was not in pain. I point out my reasoning by saying this: I am for mercy killing if you are in complete and constant pain. Lenny was not in complete or constant pain. Therefore in this situation I stress that his death is unacceptable. He was not begging to die and also he did not die at the hands of a professional doctor, but at the hands of a gun. Lenny took a bullet in his head for nothing. If George had taken him to the doctor, a professional could have diagnosed him and decided whether or not he should live or die. Lenny was not in any pain and would have accepted George's help for a doctor, the way the author made him out to be.

I believe mercy killing should not be based on someone's morals; it should only be permitted when someone is in complete and constant pain. Though George loved Lenny he had no right to end a life just simply based on his morals. Also Lenny was in no pain whatsoever, and had a whole life ahead of him, if George had only given him the chance to change. George took this man's life, strictly out of love. No matter how noble this makes him feel, that he put Lennie out of misery, mercy killing is not acceptable in this situation.