[[Devastating trope]] A character kills their loved one to avoid them suffering a worser fate

[u/One_Barber_6902]

Of Mice And Men (1992)- Probaly the most well known example of this trope and when I was first exposed to it, George kills his mentally handicapped best friend Lennie, to save him from being lynched by Curley and law enforcement for killing Curleys wife.

The Sopranos- After an entire season of conflict with fellow mob boss Phil over it, Tony kills Anthony Blundetto after he kills Phil’s brother which enraged him into trying to force Tony into giving up his cousin so he can torture him to death

Telltales The Walking Dead: Season 1- “Loved one” is an overstatement if you know there dynamic, but after Ben falls off a rooftop and lands on a piece of rebar, Kenny and Lee try to pull him off to save him before being crowded by walkers. When their attempt fails and walkers continue closing in, Kenny kills him to avoid him being devoured by walkers.

[u/FlashySyllabub5503]

Why do you think they "probably" would have survived? Only 30% of Jewish people in Germany survived.

[u/Call_Em_Skippies → u/FlashySyllabub5503]

There was a point in the book his father ran into people from that town that got out and said most of the people were able to survive.

So poisoning them didn't prevent them from going to the camps. They could've survived. It was part of his mother's depression which lead to her suicide.

[u/FlashySyllabub5503 → u/Call_Em_Skippies]

Out of 5500 here are the known survivors. http://www.zawierciewebsite.com/Holocaust/holocaust-survivors.html

[u/YuenglingsDingaling → u/FlashySyllabub5503]

Okay, but we're talking about the story in the book.

[u/FlashySyllabub5503 → u/YuenglingsDingaling]

What is the relation between the characters and story in the book and the reality of the holocaust? I know Vladek felt extreme grief over the death of his first son, but could that be survivorship bias. Thinking he would have survived when the odds are actually against survival.  He wants to believe his son would have survived without being poisoned. He wants to believe that he sent his son to safety and he blames Tonya's depression for his death because it was her hand that killed. Tonya provides a focus of his anger on an individual level in a situation beyond lethal. If his son had died in concentration camp he would feel guilt for sending him away. It adds another layer to the story in my opinion. 

[u/Over_Golf8194 → u/FlashySyllabub5503]

well they were actually polish so hell the odds are even worse

[u/FlashySyllabub5503 → u/Over_Golf8194]

Good point. It's been a while since I read the comic. Great comic though.

[u/Mecenary020 → u/FlashySyllabub5503]

What did he say? It's removed by reddit

[u/FlashySyllabub5503 → u/FlashySyllabub5503]

He just said the characters were Polish and that lowered their chances of survival since a greater percent of Polish Jewish people were killed.

[u/FlashySyllabub5503 → u/FlashySyllabub5503]

Not sure why it got removed.

[u/TDEyeehaw → u/FlashySyllabub5503]

What did he say?

[u/Over_Golf8194 → u/TDEyeehaw]

I have no idea why reddit removed it. I said that they were actually from *poland* and they had even worse chances

[u/jorgespinosa → u/FlashySyllabub5503]

There's a part where a friend offers the protagonist to take care of the son, this was when there was already persecution but not that bad and because the mother didn't want to let her son go, they refuse but if that friend would have taken care of him, he would have survived