Chapter Three In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In this chapter, the gloom is relieved by the hopeful planning of the three men — George, Lennie, and Candy — toward their dream. For the first time in his life, George believes the dream can come true with Candy's down payment. He knows of a farm they can buy, and the readers' hopes are lifted as well, as the men plan, in detail, how they will buy the ranch and what they will do once it is theirs. But while Steinbeck includes this story of hope, the preponderance of the chapter is dark. Both the shooting of Candy's dog and the smashing of Curley's hand foreshadow that the men will not be able to realize their

Candy is the loneliest person because he loses his only friend which was his dog.” Look , Candy. This ol’ dog jus’ suffers hisself all the time. If you was to take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head-” he leaned over and pointed, “- right there, why he’d never know what hit him”. Candy’s dog was the only thing he had left to keep him occupied he had no other friends or family. Candy is so attached to his dog that when people said that he stinks Candy doesn't notice. “ Get him outta here, Candy! I don’t know nothing that stinks as bad as an old dog. You gotta get him out.” “ I been around him so much I never notice he stinks.” When I go to other people house they have a certain smell to it and all though I notice it they might not because that's their house and they be there so much that they might not even recognize the smell.

Throughout the novel we see his connections to his dog, and how although it may have not had the most desirable traits still held incredible personal meaning to him. Without the dog he becomes very lonely. An example of this can be found when he says, “Well hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him. You wouldn’t think if you took a look at him now, but was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen” (62). Through these words we can see Candy really loves his dog. A part in the novel occurs where he is told by the others that due to its old age and other disabilities that he should put his dog down, and to stop its suffering. At first Candy is hesitant and holds out for a while. But under immense pressure his put the dog down. After this Candy falls into a deep depression and isolates himself. This is not the first example of Candy being very lonely and isolated. Candy is an old man who has only one hand from a working incident. So as an result Candy spent most of his life alone on the ranch. Through the quote where he says, “A guy on a ranch don’t never listen nor he don’t ask questions” (60). We can see that Candy is a very isolated man who never questions anybody or listens to them. The only continuous positive reaction he had was with his dog. So once that is taken away from the equation all that is left is a poor old man who suffers deeply from depression through isolation and the loss of his beloved

In chapter three, after Candy’s dog is killed, Candy lies down in the corner of a room, since he is sad. In the same room, George and Lennie start talking about their dream, having their own ranch and being together, without noticing Candy in the background. Soon, Candy starts talking and becomes a part of the plan. The idea gives Candy some joy. However, later in the book, Lennie kills a woman, which ends the dream, because George cannot be with Lennie anymore. Since the dream is ended, Candy again has nothing left to look forward too. To express his anger and sadness, he talks to the dead body and says, “You God damn tramp... you done it, di’n’t you? I s’pose your glad... I could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them guys” (Steinbeck 96). Through this quote, Steinbeck shows Candy’s passion for their dream, but more importantly shows how Candy doesn’t have a say in anything. Although the dream could still happen without Lennie, Candy is in no position to ask George to continue the dream, because George can criticize Candy on how he never helps society, including Lennie. Because of the situation, Candy is powerless. Again, Candy has no purpose in life, and is therefore useless to

Steinbeck focuses on the scene where Carlson shoots Candy’s dog to foreshadow George shooting Lennie in the end of the novel. The killing of Candy’s dog possesses many glaring similarities to George killing Lennie.. For example, Carlson states, “He ain’t no good to you, Candy. An’ he ain’t no good to himself. Why’n’t you shoot him, Candy?” as justification to end the dog’s life. This dialogue resembles the questions and thoughts of many people when they see George and Lennie together. Most people inquire why a guy like George would coexist with a guy like Lennie. Another similarity comes from Candy’s answer when he responds, “Well-hell I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup.” as a way to convince the men of sparing the dog’s life. This

In the story Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses the dog to represent loneliness of Candy. The men in the bunkhouse where complaining about how bad the dog stunk so Carl said let me do it he won’t even feel a thing. Curly says, “ I had him since he was a pup though”(Steinbeck #44). Steinbeck is trying to show that because the dog has been with Curly all this time he is going to be lonely once Carlson kills him. Curley won’t have a person or a dog to wake up to and talk to or attend to the dog. Therefore Steinbeck shows the amount of loneliness Curly has now since his best friend is gone. “ I ain’t got no relatives or nothing” ( Steinbeck 59) . Steinbeck is telling the reader that Curley has no family or anyone around to talk to. Therefore it tell the reader that Curley

Carlson wanted Candy’s dog to be put down because of the stench and how the dog was in no position to be any use. “The way I’d shoot him, he wouldn’t feel nothing. I’d put the gun right there.” He pointed with his toe. “Right back of the head. He wouldn’t even quiver” Carlson stated (Chapter 3 pg. 45). This smaller act of violence will later play a part in the decision that leads to George’s shocking action. Carlson promises Candy that his dog won’t suffer. In the conclusion Of Mice and Men George will hope that the fact that he is killing Lennie himself won’t cause Lennie any pain. George and Lennie fled from violence for awhile until it led them on the same

As Steinbeck progresses through the book he creates a motif of loneliness is revealed throughout the book from various characters. Overall, the book shows how loneliness is threaded from beginning to the end, especially in the most crucial paragraph. In the beginning of the book on page 45 Candy has a dog that he 's “had from a pup” and he 's “so used to him,” but since the dog is so old, Carlson points out the fact the dog is incapable of doing anything. Ever since Carlson killed Candy’s dog he has been lonely because he 's one of the oldest members isolating him from the rest due to

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

John Steinbeck leads the readers to the end of the novel, Of Mice and Men, by going deep into the characterization of the character Lennie Smalls, showing a progression of Lennie’s destruction, and using foreshadowing to indicate the conclusion of the story. Foreshadowing is the hinting in a story that shows something that will happen later in the story. Characterization is a technique used by writers to develop a character and make them believable. The author teases the ending of the story by making connections between different aspects of the story and hinting the audience to the abominable ending of the novel. Also, John Steinbeck links the reader to the end of the story by revealing aspects of Lennie’s character during

The author, Steinbeck, used the death of Candy’s dog to foreshadow Lennie being shot in the back of his head by George. “And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger.” (Steinbeck, 147). In the book, “Of Mice and Men”, both Candy’s dog and Lennie represent the weakest existence in the story. The dog is suffering from old age, and Lennie is weak mentally. George doesn’t want Lennie to suffer anymore, so he quickly shoots him in the back of the head. He thinks it is better to die peacefully rather than Lennie being lynched by Curley and the other ranch hands. George knows Lennie is already weak, and he cannot handle the stress in life, which is a result of the trouble he caused, so he decided to let him die without knowing just like Candy’s dog. Adding the right amount of excellent foreshadowing caused the story to become more interesting, and it allowed readers to be curious and keep

In the novel, Steinbeck’s Mice and Men is set in the Salinas Valley in California during the 1930s. At this time there was a great depression and the death toll in the United States was 7 million people. There are many characters that are plagued by loneliness in the novel, and they are Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks in the novel they are all searching for friendship and acceptance and to make people understand how it feels to be alone and not to have any friends. And they show and express the way they are lonely in many ways.

“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty!!! by mother Teresa, humanitarian. This quote by mother Teresa, who was a humanitarian is saying that people who are lonely feel poor. In the novel, of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck many characters who lead lonely and isolated life. Three characters who lead a lonely isolated lives are Candy Crooks Curly Wife.

Loneliness is a significant theme in John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men because this specific feeling is the motive behind Crook’s pessimistic nature, Candy’s determination to keep his old dog around, and Curley’s wife’s unfaithful behavior. All three of these characters have more to them than meets the eye, and Steinbeck shows this through the theme of loneliness. So many people mistreat Crook because of his skin tone, that Crook has no hope left of ever reaching his American Dream. Candy is so old and fears that one day nobody will need him anymore, which is why he keeps his dog around for company. Curley’s wife never wanted to marry Curly and when she does, everyone expects her to just stay at the

Candy’s dog might have been old but it was not right what Carlson did. Candy walked into the bunkhouse with his old dog, after a long hard day. When Carlson came into the bunkhouse and realised the old dog was in here. He looked at Candy told him to get the dog out of the bunkhouse. Carlson nag at him about how the old dog had no teeth and rheumatism. All Candy could say was I had him scene a puppy guess I have never noticed how much he had smelled. Carlson kept bugging Candy till he gave in about Carlson going to shot his dog. Then Carlson took the old dog and shot him.