Murder or Assisted Suicide?

Use this forum to discuss the October Book of the Month "McDowell" by William H. Coles.
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OrlaCarty
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Re: Murder or Assisted Suicide?

Post by OrlaCarty »

I would consider Hiram's judgement heavily clouded on this one. Perhaps he could claim assisted suicide if he were actually only thinking of Jeremy. But throughout he maintains his defense that Jeremy was a killer and deserved to be punished. Unfortunately, that doesn't sound like a caring grandfather carrying his grandson's true wishes out to take away his misery. Jeremy affected Hiram's prized reputation, killed his granddaughter, tried to kill his daughter and destroyed part of his family.

In my opinion, Hiram killed Jeremy out of revenge and disgust. Whether it was right or wrong is an entirely different conversation, but I don't think he can qualify as having carried out assisted suicide.
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Post by Cristina Chifane »

I would say murder because Jeremy was only a lost child, confused and unaware of the consequences of his actions. Hiram has no justification for his gesture. He can't pretend he was actually following Jeremy's wishes to commit suicide. He can't even pretend he was helping Ann get over her trauma. He can't just murder a child simply because the lives of all those around him would be more difficult if he remained alive.
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Post by Natalie Charlene »

While I agree with the concept of assisted suicide, I think in this case I would call it murder. Assisted suicide should be discussed and planned out, to make sure everyone is okay with what is happening. And it should be as non-violent as possible.
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Post by kristine29 »

For me it's assisted suicide . Jeremy clearly wanna die but he didn't , and Hiram as adoctor knows that there's no point in prolonging his agony.
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Post by Lynsyn »

In general, what Hiram did was murder. But if you look closely within Jeremy's actions and Hiram's thoughts, it is assisted suicide although in a more informal way.
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Post by holsam_87 »

Jeremy had no quality of life after his attempted suicide, so what Hiriam did isn't murder in my eyes. It was assisted suicide since he was putting the kid out of everyone's misery.
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Post by lara_haelterman »

I saw Jeremy's death as a murder. Even though he previously tried to take his own life, Hiram had no right whatsoever to decide it for him. Jeremy was only a child and could have been helped mentally.
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Post by Joe Hadithi »

The boy had already tried to commit suicide and failed, so I would say assisted suicide.
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Post by cvetelina_yovcheva87 »

I think that McDowell commits a murder. I think that his grandson should be punished by the law and by his own guilty conscience.
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Post by bdu15062 »

It's a very touchy subject but I say murder. He never heard in words that this is what Jeremy wanted as he wasn't fully awake. Hiram did save him a lot of heart ache but that still does not make it completely right.
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Post by Lisa A Rayburn »

Had Jeremy been in any way able to consciously make his wishes known at the time, or even if he had left a suicide note that indicated his intention, it would be assisted suicide. Lacking this moves it into the realm of euthanasia. Given the circumstances, I do not think murder would be an appropriate verdict.
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Post by Fozia-Bajwa »

it is not suicide but it is murder according to my information. It is a story of all the events containing thrillers and terrible actions.
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Post by TALIA ONYANGO »

Hiram is guilty of assisted suicide. The death is an occurrence in his course of duty. there was no malice forethought.
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Post by Sweetp120 »

Honestly from the description of the original post, I would call it both. Murder in an assisted Suicide. Murder means you straight killed someone with or without premeditation however assisted suicide could be either before or after the fact. Before knowing and helping the plan of suicide or afterwards like in this case "helping" put the person "out of their misery". (Please do not think I agree with it because I don't I'm just trying to explain what I think on the matter) I call it murder in an assisted suicide because the person attempted a suicide failed and when unable to speak on their own behalf Hiram acted of his own accord killing him by the sounds of it. point blank in my opinion because he killed to finish the suicide attempt he assisted in the suicide pushing it past suicide to murder. it makes sense to me how I explained it maybe it makes sense to someone else to.
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Post by Ursadsong »

My first view was murder, but if you dig a little be depeer Jeremy wanted to die and he committed suicide, plus he was the cause of the split of his family. I think Hiram did the best to end his life.
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