Hadlee Creech Mrs. Lutrell 30 January, 2018 In John SteinBeck 's classic novela “Of Mice and Men” he bestows upon an elderly man a loss of hope for life. The elderly and the handicap are seen useless to themselves and to society; SteinBeck crafted Candy’s character to demonstrate how corrupt society dehumanizes all hope of the elderly and the handicap living the American Dream. Our society shows senior citizens, especially useless senior citizens, are expendable; Society only wants you when you’re young. It doesn’t matter if you contributed a lot when you were young because once you get old, you’re useless. SteinBeck introduces two characters, one character named candy with his dog and the other character named Carlson who brings up the …show more content…
All the men were in the bunkhouse with Candy when Carlson brought up the idea to put Candy’s dog out of its “misery”. “At last Carlson said, “If you want me to I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with. Ain’t nothing left for him. (47). Candy’s dog who was once an spectacular sheep herder but is now toothless, horrible smelling and brittle from age supports Candy’s fears. Candy’s past accomplishments and current emotional involvement to his dog matter very little as Carlson makes clear when he strongly insisted Candy let him put the dog out of its misery. In such a society Candy’s dog represents an unpalatable reminder of the fate that awaits anyone who outlives their usefulness. For a short time, his dream of living out his days with George and Lennie on the farm they dream of buying distracts Candy from his grim reality. He considers the couple acres of land they explain was worthy of his hard earned life long savings, which bespeaks his desperate need to believe there is a kinder world than the one in which he lives. LIke George, Candy grips to the idea of having the amount of freedom to take or set aside work as he
After reading the novel and watching the movie “Of Mice and Men”, I have learned about the lifestyle of migrant workers in California during the 1930s, which I did not know about before studying the novel. California back in the 1930s is very different from what I pictured it to be as the conditions of life weren’t that good. This is also the first novel that I have read in my years as a student that contains so much foreshadowing. Never before had I read a book where the author produced so much foreshadowing in such a short book. Steinbeck uses Lennie as a source of motivation and hope in achieving the dream farm that George, Candy, Crooks and Lennie himself desire.
His coworker , Carlson, doesn't like the dog. This is where the dilemma begins. Candy should euthanize the dog because of the dog's poor quality of life and he is replaceable. The most important reason to put the dog down is the poor quality of his life.
However, Candy is somewhat forced to have his dog killed to put it out of it’s misery. It can be noted that Candy did not want to loose him after reminising on all the history the two had shared together, “Well-hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him.”
Candy’s dog symbolizes age and the loss of purpose. When the dog was no longer contributing to the the ranch or Candy, it was killed by Carlson. Similarly, Candy is reduced to cleaning the bunkhouse because of his disability and old age. Candy was very attached to his dog, like how many are attached to the notion of youth. However, the dog faces an inevitable end, like the fate Candy and others fear they will
They believe that Candy should put down his dog to end it’s suffering from its many ailments. Carlson and Slim decide for him that his dog’s life is no longer worth living. This establishes the theme of another person deciding if someone else should die. Later in the novel, George decides to kill Lennie before he gets lynched by Curley; George is in the same position as Candy previously was in Chapter 3. Candy regrets not shooting his dog himself and shows solidarity for George due to experiencing the same
While in Crook’s room, Curley’s wife states her doubt that Candy would be able to reveal her threat, when Candy admits, “‘No…’ he agreed. ‘Nobody’d listen to us’” (81). The absence of a fight suggests that Candy no longer has any self confidence. He has done this to himself through his negative outlook on situations, a habit that naturally comes with worry. With this tendency, Steinbeck has a method to show flaw and weakness in reality, since these branch from fear.
In chapter three, Carlson is complaining about Candy’s old dog while trying to convince Candy to kill it. Candy says how he’s had his dog for so long while Carlson explains how much better he’d be without it; akin to how George complains to Lennie how much better he’d be without him. Carlson then offers to shoot Candy’s dog painlessly for him. Candy reluctantly agrees. Carlson shoots the dog in the back of the head outside the bunkhouse.
When people are not helpful or useful to a cause due to a disability like age, they are forced to move on and leave that place. But what if that place is society? In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, an old character named Candy is faced with the same problem. This event takes place during the Great Depression when people worked as migrant workers. Candy was also a migrant worker but due to old age, he now works as a cleaner.
He ain’t no good to you Candy. An’ he ain’t no good to himself. Why’n’t you shoot him, Candy?’” (Steinbeck 44) Carlson doesn’t understand why Candy keeps the dog because he doesn’t have any worth, and he isn’t useful.
When Candy loses his dog, he is deeply affected, which is detected by the audience when he says, "You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They say he wasn't no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody'd shoot me. But they won't do nothing like that. I won't have no place to go, an' I can't get no more jobs" (Steinbeck 60).
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is a story about discrimination due to someone being different in any way. The reader learns how people were treated and discriminated in 1930s during the great depression. This is important because this issue continues even to this day. This problem has been around for a very long time. Steinbeck uses Archetypes,Symbolism, and Setting to convey the theme of discrimination.
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step” (Lao Tzu). Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about two migrant workers, Lennie Small and George Milton. These pair travel together to find various jobs, which is uncommon since most migrant workers are solo. Throughout the book, they meet a few new characters who impacted their decisions. Of Mice and Men has a constant theme that goes through it: Dreams.
As candy wanted his companion to be with him at the end, as did george for lennie. Candy represents the old person who isn´t needed anymore, which is an inevitable outcome. As someday , you will grow incompetent of fulfilling demands, or needs, and will be let go. I determined this through his actions, quotes, symbolism, and foreshadowing. Candy is one of the most important characters to understand, as he is representative of
They were seen as useless and as extra mouths to feed. Candy faces the endless fear that the boss will fire him once he loses his worth on the farm. Candy’s fears are portrayed when Carlson shoots his old dog because the dog is too old to be of use. He tells Lennie
Steinbeck states in the novel, “You seen what they done to my dog tonight?”(60). An example of Candy telling George and Lennie his problems. Candy still feels upset over his dog death by Carlson. But by using that excuse he got George to agree with him, to let him live in the ranch once they earn enough money. With Candy’s help with George and Lennie’s dream, it is easier and now faster for the three of them to get their ranch.