“Is it morally right to put those who are suffering out of their misery?”

To die or not to die. Suffering or death. 

During World War I, soldiers on both sides faced either traumatic experiences or major physical injuries. More often than not, these major injuries likely caused death for these soldiers and an immense amount of suffering. Sometimes, these soldiers would rather face death than to continue suffering, and there would be those responsible for putting them out of their misery, or even themselves. But is this okay?

As represented in the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, several instances of extreme suffering occur, in which death was the solution. In response to an fairly injured recruit, Kat, one of the experienced soldiers, proposes the idea of putting him out of his misery to end his pain. Additionally, when Paul, the main character, kills a French soldier within a shell hole, he constantly feels remorse for his actions and wishes him a quick death, as he couldn’t stand the “gurgling” of the dying man. Even Albert Kropp explains he would rather kill himself than live the rest of his life as a cripple. During war, death was commonly used to rapidly end another’s continuous pain and suffering.

Even today, some accept death as a way to end their suffering. For example, some pet owners may have to unfortunately “put down” their pets if they are in an excessively painful situation. No pet should have to live through such horrible conditions, which is the reason why they are chosen to be put down. Not only pets, but humans face the same problems. There are some situations where a person may be bedridden and unresponsive from disease, injury, etc. and are on life support. This is where the phrase, “pulling the plug” originates, in which they are taken off life support and face the end. This decision can be unfortunate but is justified if the person has no chance of returning back to life as it should be. In accordance, suicide is not a justifiable reason to put an end to it. If one can be helped and stopped from suffering, death is not always the answer.

Overall, putting those who are suffering out of their misery is a difficult choice, but a choice necessary to be made if justifiable. Depending on the condition of the victim, death can be an option, but should never always be considered.