nd his dog were together since the dog was a puppy. One of the farm hands pointed out that the dog was no good to himself anymore. The dog was old and would surely die a slow death. Knowing this, Candy agreed to let the man shoot the dog in the back of the head so the dog would die without feeling a thing. "I don’t see no reason for it," said Carlson. He went to his bunk, pulled his bag from underneath it and took out a Luger pistol. "Let’s get it over with,"... Candy looked a long time at Slim to try to find some reversal. And Slim gave him none. At last Canady said softly and hopelessly, "Awright -- take ‘im." " A day later Candy is talking with George and Lennie, and he says that he wishes that when the day came that he was no good to himself anymore just like his dog had been, that someone would shoot him. Of course, the most obvious example of euthanasia is at the end of the novel. Lennie who is fond of things that are soft to touch is stroking Curly’s wife’s hair. He becomes carried away and breaks her neck and kills her. George, fearing Lennie’s life, takes his gun and runs into the bushes with him. As the dogs and the men from the farm run after them George realizes that when they catch Lennie they would either torture him, or send him to a mental hospital. George knows that would just kill Lennie. So George takes his gun and kills Lennie with one shot to the head. "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." With every example of euthanasia there are some people who agree, and some that disagree. To date, there is still much controversy about the legalization of euthanasia. So far, 35 states allow the withdrawal or withholding of life sustaining equipment of terminal patients at their will. The trend in mercy killing will continue...
