The quote “To save a mans’ life against his will is the same as killing him” describes Euthanasia (Horace). Many people during this time struggled with this topic and John Steinbeck shows the reader what it is like to be surrounded by struggling people in this era throughout the book Of Mice and Men. Euthanasia is still seen today all over the world. Steinbeck uses the death of Candy’s dog and the death of Lennie to show how a helpless and defenseless person or animal can be killed against their will. Mercy killings have been committed by people since the seventeenth century and are described as a happy end to suffering. This suffering is usually from a disease or a cancer the person are just done fighting. It is said “mercy killing means …show more content…
Candy’s relationship with his dog is very close. When Carlson notices the dog is struggling, he says, “If you want me to, I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with. Ain’t nothing left for him. Can’t eat, can’t see, can’t even walk without hurtin’” (Steinbeck 47,ch. 3). Candy says no that his dog is fine but Carlson thinks differently. Behind Candy’s back, during the night, Carlson takes his dog out back and shoots him to end his suffering. While he might have ended the dogs suffering, he started the suffering of Candy with the loss of his dog. When he heard this news about his dog, he knew of nothing to do but lay down and stare at the …show more content…
Lennie has killed Curley's wife, and George knows if he doesn’t do something, Curley will make Lennie’s death slow and painful. George knows what action he has to take: “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, 6). This was the best option for Lennie so not only could his suffering end, but also George’s suffering. Euthanasia is shown between Candy’s dog's death and Lennie’s death and how their suffering was taken control of by Carlson and George. Even though it was a hard decision, it was the best one regarding the situation. Steinbeck shows the controversy about this topic throughout these two characters and their deaths in the novel. Mercy killings are continually seen around the world and Steinbeck decided to show the reader a version of this through his writing of this