...130 terminally-ill patients commit suicide, had to decide whether or not he was justified in assisting the death of these patients. After reading Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the readers have a chance to take a side on relatively the same issue of whether or not mercy killings are justified. The novel is about Lennie Small, a huge, mentally impaired man, and George Milton, a friend that looks after Lennie, searching for work in California during the Great Depression. Towards the end of the novel, Lennie enrages Curley by accidentally killing his wife, and George is left with the decision of whether or not to kill Lennie himself. George decides to shoot him solely out of love for his friend, but this killing initiates a debate in which the readers can take sides about his righteousness. Some people believe that George is justified in killing Lennie and should have done it, while others would argue that George should not have done it and should be held accountable for murder. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, George Milton should have shot Lennie Small because George is his friend and knows what is best for Lennie, and he knows that if Lennie lives, he will suffer. Other people may believe that George should not have shot Lennie and should therefore be punished because Lennie has mental issues and his killing of Curley’s wife is a complete accident. Because of his mental disability, Lennie has a tactile deficiency and likes to pet soft things to help calm himself down...
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...Should a mentally retarded person be sentenced to death for killing another person? Do they truly have the ability to understand the consequences of their actions? In the story “of mice and men” by John Steinbeck, George has the option to kill lennie or let Curley kill Lennie, because Lennie accidentally killed the wife of his enemy and is now on the run not completely realizing the impact of what he did. George can not find any other option but to kill Lennie. George feels like here is no other option but this one,and that it is the best choose for Lennie. George shooting Lennie is justified because George will not have to take care of two people, Curley will not kill Lennie with hate, and George would feel bad for Lennie if he was not the one that killed him because him and George have been through alot together lately. First of all,George was justified because Lennie does not know right from wrong....
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...accused of a crime will have a fair trial and will be justly judged by their peers. It is an elaborate system established to thwart prejudice and to prevent the public from jumping to conclusions, to protect the innocent and to punish the guilty. In John Steinbeck’s Great Depression-era story Of Mice and Men, justice is carried out without a trial. No laws are taken into consideration, but instead an angry mob of men with guns is present. Mobs react with violence for real or imagined crimes at their own discretion, not waiting for legal justice to take course. Steinbeck expresses the idea that when justice fails people take matters into their own hands through George’s decision to kill Lennie. On the surface, the answer seems obvious to most people. Of course George should not have killed Lennie; murder, after all, is wrong no matter what the circumstances. Yet it is not as simple as that. Throughout the book, Lennie seems to be unaware of what is right and wrong, and this makes him a burden to George. Every time Lenny did something bad, they had to quit their jobs and start somewhere else. If George had let Lennie live, Lennie would not have been able to look after himself properly. Lennie couldn’t look after a puppy – let alone himself. Lennie was bound to hurt someone after the Weeds incident. No one could control Lennie from doing all the “bad things” he does. Even George does not know how to stop him because in the end Lennie kills Curley’s wife. George provides justice...
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...and Men, George kills Lennie. There is question whether or not George was validated in his decision. Provided Lennie did not have malicious intent, George was justified in his decision to shoot Lennie because Lennie caused trouble and burdened George. To begin, Lennie caused many of the conflicts in the novella. In chapter three, Slim and Carlson were giving Curley a hard time about his wife's carelessness. Lennie is smiling during this event. Even though Lennie is thinking about the ranch, this is not the time nor place to be smiling. Curley says brutally, '"What the hell you laughin' at?'" (Steinbeck 62). In this quote Curley shows he is heated. He is also putting all of the blame for the situation with his wife on Lennie. This tends to be a theme throughout the book causing more trouble. After Curley confronts Lennie, he becomes very aggressive. "Curley was balanced and poised. He lashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right"(...
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...Candy from day one. In addition, Lennie has an illness with no antidote, he’s intellectually disabled. With that in mind, George knows about this and is frightened about what Lennie does throughout the day, making sure he’s not causing any trouble, or who Lennie speaks to. Considering what Candy and George were going through, before they decided to mercy kill their best friends, it must have hurt them more than it hurt the dog and Lennie. In the book, Candy’s dog...
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...Is it acceptable for people to kill? Is it EVER justified, even if the person committing the crime thinks it is satisfactory? In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men , George Milton is confronted with these questions, which have major consequences, with little time to think of the possible outcomes. Even though George may be able to keep his crime hidden, the law is the law. If a person disobeys it they pay. Ignorance of the law is no excuse and Lennie would have been better off in prison serving out a sentence for the crime he committed. Thus, George should be punished for killing Lennie because he is supposed to take care of Lennie, George wanted to be by himself, and he stole a gun and used it when it was not permitted to him. One of the many reasons the killing should not be justified is because George Milton made a promise to take care of Lennie, and murdering Lennie did not fulfill that promise. In fact, it was the exact opposite. In chapter 2 when George was speaking to the boss about...
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...the relationship between George and Lennie. The friendship that George and Lennie share forms the core of the novel, and although Steinbeck idealizes and perhaps exaggerates it, he never questions its sincerity. From Lennie’s perspective, George is the most important person in his life, his guardian and only friend. Every time he does anything that he knows is wrong, his first thought is of George’s disapproval. He doesn’t defend himself from Curley because of George’s stern instruction for him to stay out of trouble, and when he mistakenly kills his puppy and then Curley’s wife, his only thought is how to quell George’s anger. He has a childlike faith that George will always be there for him, a faith that seems justified, given their long history together. George, on the other hand, thinks of Lennie as a constant source of frustration. He has assumed responsibility for Lennie’s welfare and has, several times, been forced to run because of trouble Lennie has inadvertently caused. Life with Lennie is not easy. However, despite George’s frequent bouts of anger and frustration, and his long speeches about how much easier life would be without Lennie, George is clearly devoted to his friend. He flees from town to town not to escape the trouble Lennie has caused, but to protect Lennie from its consequences. The men are uncommonly united by their shared dream of a better life on a farm where they can “live off the fatta the lan’,” as Lennie puts it. George articulates this vision by...
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