• Compare with Steinbeck’s most famous work, The Grapes of Wrath, which also addresses themes pertinent to the Great Depression
• consider other books that have been censored or banned, such as To Kill a Mockingbird
• compare with other iconic works of American literature from the 1930s, such as Fitzgerald’s Tender Is the Night
• compare to Old Yeller, another example of a character being forced to kill something he loves
• compare to Rainman, a film about the love between a mentally handicapped man and the man who helps him through life.
• compare to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, another example of a mercy kill to prevent a character from suffering a worse life
