Taking someone's life; is it really wrong? The question is not so simple, because every time a life is taken it is not in cold blood. Sometimes it's just the opposite of that thought. The portrayal of George and Carlson in the book Of Mice and Men is that of those who take life. They differ in moral position; the bonds they share with the character represent the life they take and how that character's life affects them. While George takes his own life out of mercy, Carlson did what he thought was necessary. They made the same decision for different reasons and different interpretations of why it needed to be made. George is Lennie's hot-tempered older brother figure, who is a big and kind but deadly boy; on the other hand, Carlson is a ranch hand with no very close ties. Aunt Clara asked George to promise to take care of Lennie. He sees Lennie as a little brother who doesn't know any better; George is tied to Lennie for life, not only because of the promise he made, but because of George's love for him. When Lennie is sad to calm him down, he makes up a story about a ranch with bunnies with the promise that they will leave and go there when they are old. He cares so much about Lennie that he begins to believe his own story; Skip Town quits his job just for Lennie's sake. Carlson is a selfish man. If something is no longer useful, he gets rid of it: “that dog was an excellent sheepdog in his youth” Candy would have told Carlson. If something has no value there is no longer any need for it to exist. Basically Carlson isolates himself from others, so he won't become attached to them once they are no longer useful. It will shed them like the skin of a snake, but even though it may seem... a middle of paper... a question, because every time a life is taken it is not in cold blood. As we see with George, your moral character may say it's wrong, but if it's a family member, your brother, your sister, even your best friend who was in trouble, and a group was chasing him, and there wasn't other choice: they will die if the party catches them; they would have been set on fire. Like Clarkson, we also understand the means of necessity; if something doesn't work you throw it away or, in his case, kill him. For George to take life is difficult, even more difficult when the life you are taking is closest to you, and placing that responsibility in someone else's hands is cruel to those you care about. Carlson has no problem taking life; it's not that he doesn't care about life, it's just that it's necessary for him that life be taken, and the outcome is no different no matter who pulls the trigger.