My Arm's So Hot Analysis

Death. Disease. Fear. This is the recipe for euthanasia - the quick and painless answer to incurable and painful diseases. Euthanasia is essentially a patient signing a waiver agreeing to allow a doctor to inject them with toxin fluids that will quickly and quietly kill them. This suicidal method was meant only for patients with terminal illnesses. That is, diseases that will eventually kill you, or that cause terrific pain and suffering without killing you anytime soon. Euthanasia has been a very controversial topic over the past ten years or so. There are people who say that it should be illegal, claiming that doctors can abuse it too easily, as seen in Amsterdam, and that it discourages medical research. Others also criticize it for religious …show more content…
Although credited for its role as a reliever of pain for the terminally ill, euthanasia has an atrocious reputation as a method to murder someone. The book Amsterdam ultimately ends with the two main characters, Clive and Vernon – who have now turned against each other – killing each other via euthanasia. “‘My arm’s so hot,’ Clive whispered. ‘Poor Clive. That’s why I’m rolling up your sleeve, silly. Now, Paul wants to show you what he really thinks of your work by sticking a huge needle in your arm.’” (McEwan, 168) “From the perspective of the Dutch doctor and nurse, the composer lifted his head and, before closing his eyes, seemed to attempt, from his pillow, the most modest of bows.” (McEwan, 169) “Vernon would never tell anyone about the scorching pain in his upper arm, and that he had just begun to grasp, though feebly, where he really was and what must have been in his champagne and who these visitors were. But he did interrupt his speech and fall silent for a while, and then at last murmured reverentially. ‘It’s a spoiler.’” (McEwan, 173) These quotes are from their final moments, where they both coincidentally planned to drug each other via their drinks at a party, and then proceed to have a pair of Dutch doctors euthanize the other once he was drugged and hallucinating. This was obliviously illegal, as Vernon and Clive had to be drugged in order for the Dutch doctors to obtain their …show more content…
They would rather plan their death ahead of time. In Amsterdam, “He continued, ‘I mean, to die that way, with no awareness, like an animal. To be reduced, humiliated before she could make arrangements, or even say goodbye…’” (McEwan, 4-5) These quote refers to when Clive and Vernon were talking about the sudden death of Molly Lane, of whom they were both lovers at one point. They mention how she did not have a chance to say goodbye to anybody, and how her death was so sudden and so awful. This is an example of how euthanasia gives people a chance to prepare for their deaths. In an article posted by The New York Times, a doctor illegally helps a woman with a severe form of leukemia overdose on medications and kill herself. “Diane said tearful goodbyes to her closest friends and to Dr. Quill. Two days later her husband called Dr. Quill to say that Diane said her final goodbyes to him and their college-age son that morning and died peacefully after asking them to leave her alone for an hour.” (The New York Times) This quote describes how the patient, Diane, did not want to suddenly die unexpectedly. She chose euthanasia, and so this gave her a chance to say goodbye to her doctor, her husband, her son, as well as all her close friends. This is an example of why people choose euthanasia in order to prepare themselves for