Candy’s physical disability limits him to making only thirty dollars on the farm. At an early point in life, Candy’s dog was a champion sheep herder, but he became old and no use to anyone. Candy’s dog was shot by Carlson, another worker on the farm, because the dog had lived beyond its value. When George and Lennie were going on about their dream house, Candy stated “They’ll call me purty soon. Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunkhouses they’ll put me on the county” (Steinbeck 60).
Other men like Carlson, Crooks, Candy, and Slim would go out on their own and would often be very lonely as they didn’t have any family with them. While many men in this age live on their own, they need to find a person or object to take hold of for companionship. The companionship between George and Lennie is unbreakable and many times the other ranch hands are jealous of their relationship. When George and Lennie first arrive on the ranch, they are met by a man named Candy. Candy is and old man who relies on his dog to act as a companion.
While they are there they meet people like Crooks, Curley, Curley’s wife, Carlson and Candy. Everyone on the ranch is faced with the difficulty of not only making money during the depression but also steering clear of loneliness. The novel Of Mice and Men demonstrates how loneliness can negatively affect someone's life by making them feel isolated and alone because they have no one to talk to and are lacking human connection. While on the ranch, George and Lennie meet a black man named Crooks who is shut out by the men on the farm and doesn't have anyone. Crooks is the only black man on the ranch and the other men on the ranch don't let him go in their bunkhouses, so instead Crooks lives in a small section of the barn.
William used to work on the ranch with Slim and all of the other workers. Despite hearing that his old co-worker’s letter is in a magazine, Carlson refuses to be a part of the conversation because of how bad Candy’s dog smells. Candy’s dog smells very bad and is getting old and worn down, so Carlson starts talking about how he can shoot the dog to end its and everybody else’s suffering. Candy has a strong connection to his dog that Carlson doesn’t care about. After the conversation about shooting Candy’s dog, Steinbeck says, “Candy looked a long time at Slim to try to find some reversal.
His behaviour and mindset following the revelation that his dream is no longer obtainable clearly indicate that George no longer believes in his dream, he has acknowledged the fact that his dream is no longer attainable. When George discovers that Lennie has killed Curley’s wife, he ignores Candy’s pleas to maintain hope that their dream can come true, rather he begins to envision himself living the life of a lonely migrant farm worker. A quote that illustrates this belief can be found on page 93 where George states “I’ll work my month an’ I’ll take my fifty bucks an’ I’ll stay all night in some lousy cat house. Or I’ll set in some pool room till ever’body goes home. An’ then I’ll come back an’ work another month an’ I’ll have fifty bucks more.” Here John Steinbeck uses repetition to make it abundantly clear to the reader that George has forsaken his dream, and chosen to become the lonely farm worker he once felt empathy towards.
Loneliness is a key aspect that flows throughout the Of Mice and Men plot line. Every character express some sort of loneliness at one time or another in this story. Some character express the fact that they are currently alone and others express that they have been lonely in their past. Others do not clearly state that they have even thought about loneliness, but they do give subtle hints at to it. The two main characters in this story are George and Lennie, they travel together and yet both express their struggles and fears of being alone.
The two main protagonists in Of Mice and Men, George Milton and Lennie Small, are migrant laborers looking for work on various ranches during the Great Depression in the 1930s. They arrive at a ranch in Soledad, California, and it becomes clear that the along with a majority of the other ranch hands, George and Lennie are lonely as well. Therefore, the town of Soledad, which by definition means loneliness in Spanish and is by no coincidence the setting of this story, is extremely relevant in Of Mice and Men because a vast majority of the characters experience various degrees of loneliness. The most prominent and easily identifiable character who experiences loneliness is Crooks. He is the stable hand who takes care of the horses and other livestock on the ranch and is named Crooks because of his crooked back caused by a damaging kick from a horse.
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
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
Of Mice and Men In the 1930’s there were lots of hardships during the Great Depression this made lots of people become unemployed. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck it is a novella released on 1937 which tells a tale of two workers named George and Lennie who lost their old job in Soledad and are going to their new job at the ranch. Largely the ending Of Mice and Men was inevitable because of these following themes; American Dream, cruel society particularly targeting minorities and friendships helping to build empathy. It was inevitable that George and Lennie will never get their own ranch because of the American Dream.When George and Lennie are at the campsite, George reminds Lennie of that their version of the American Dream. The American Dream is an impossible vision that leads to disappointment this is equaled through how the workers don’t have empathy.