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I don't wish to minimise his situation but it seems like he considers his father's suffering not quite as bad as his own suffering were he just to do the killin

by jl6 13y ago

I don't wish to minimise his situation but it seems like he considers his father's suffering not quite as bad as his own suffering were he just to do the killing himself and take the jail sentence.

Houshalter 13y ago
That's a good point actually. Especially if you could do it with low risk of being caught/convicted. Which should be possible with someone who is dying anyways and you have full access to them in the hospital and could just slip some poison or something into them. I don't blame the author for not doing that though. Maybe it didn't even occur to him. But it's a good point that if you truly thought it was so terrible you should want to try to stop it even if it's illegal.
- PavlovsCat 13y ago
  But there is also the risk of inflicting even more suffering. Even killing (instead of, say, crippling) oneself with all the time and resources in the world to do it is not an easy task; but killing someone you love, without inflicting even more pain and without getting caught, in a hospital of all places, now that seems near impossible for a layperson.
  - Houshalter 13y ago
    Depends on the method of killing. And even a painful one is still probably preferable than long drawn out suffering. I assumed the poisoning would be easy and doctors wouldn't look for it but that may not be trivial. But if you actually cared it would be worth a few hours of research at the very least.
- unethical_ban 13y ago
  Doctors can tell when someone has been suffocated or poisoned.
billmalarky 13y ago
Scott wants what he believes his father wants (since his father can no longer make decisions Scott must decide in a way he believes his father would want him to decide for him) and is best for his father. To kill his own father and risk prison (not to mention the devastation it would cause to Scott's immediate family) is simply not an option. What kind of man would want his own son to risk life in prison in order to end their own suffering?

by jl6 13y ago

I don't wish to minimise his situation but it seems like he considers his father's suffering not quite as bad as his own suffering were he just to do the killing himself and take the jail sentence.

Houshalter 13y ago

That's a good point actually. Especially if you could do it with low risk of being caught/convicted. Which should be possible with someone who is dying anyways and you have full access to them in the hospital and could just slip some poison or something into them. I don't blame the author for not doing that though. Maybe it didn't even occur to him. But it's a good point that if you truly thought it was so terrible you should want to try to stop it even if it's illegal.

PavlovsCat 13y ago
But there is also the risk of inflicting even more suffering. Even killing (instead of, say, crippling) oneself with all the time and resources in the world to do it is not an easy task; but killing someone you love, without inflicting even more pain and without getting caught, in a hospital of all places, now that seems near impossible for a layperson.
- Houshalter 13y ago
  Depends on the method of killing. And even a painful one is still probably preferable than long drawn out suffering. I assumed the poisoning would be easy and doctors wouldn't look for it but that may not be trivial. But if you actually cared it would be worth a few hours of research at the very least.
unethical_ban 13y ago
Doctors can tell when someone has been suffocated or poisoned.

billmalarky 13y ago

Scott wants what he believes his father wants (since his father can no longer make decisions Scott must decide in a way he believes his father would want him to decide for him) and is best for his father. To kill his own father and risk prison (not to mention the devastation it would cause to Scott's immediate family) is simply not an option. What kind of man would want his own son to risk life in prison in order to end their own suffering?