Life is known to throw all sorts of unwanted and unfair events into the life of every person on Earth. People have now just accepted the fact that life is unfair sometimes and there is nothing to do about it. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the theme of life being unfair is shown through George’s struggles with Lennie and the struggles Candy faces.
Throughout his life, George experiences the unfairness of life through his burden of having to take care of Lennie. Steinbeck illustrates this in the first chapter of the story when George erupts at Lennie after Lennie says he wants ketchup with his beans (Steinbeck 6). During this eruption George exclaims, “ God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work,
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In chapter three, Candy is confronted by Carlson about getting rid of Candy’s old dog simply because he is old and smells (Steinbeck 21-22). This confrontation illustrates the theme of life being unfair because it forces Candy to make a decision about killing his dog that he has had for a long time. A decision like this one is not something anyone wants to make and shows how life forces you to do things regardless of whether or not you want to do them. In that same chapter, Candy tells both George and Lennie about his missing hand that he lost while working at that very ranch (Steinbeck 29). Losing his hand while trying to do his job changes his whole life for the worse; he can no longer do the same things he used to do any is now much less useful. Candy did not plan to lose his hand, but life had other plans-- other unfair plans. Candy’s life on the ranch is a prime example of life being unfair to people regardless of who they are.
The theme of life being unfair is shown throughout John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men. George being stuck with Lennie and the events that have happened to Candy are just two examples of life’s unfairness to people in the story. The task of living is already hard enough,but life also being unfair to each person can make it much
Candy's dog eventually gets shot for no reason, other than the fact that the others do not like him. The dog was hated by the other men living on the farm. The sense of feeling that others do not like you is one of the main contributes to lonliness in the world today. Steinbeck attempts to allow readers to recognize this, and change their actions and words towards others to prevent this lonely state in
Carlson complains to Slim about Candy’s dog and suggests, "Whyn't you get Candy to shoot his old dog and give him one of the pups to raise up? I can smell that dog a mile away. Got no teeth, damn near blind, can't eat. Candy feeds him milk. He can't chew nothing else" (Steinbeck 35).
He is an elderly man who used to be a handyman and is now only left with one hand due to an accident he had. He worries often that the boss of the ranch will see Candy as useless and kick him off. Candy also owns a dog that he has had since the dog was a puppy. As the dog was growing up it became a great sheepdog, but now that the dog is older it is seen as a “drag-footed sheepdog, with pale, blind eyes and a grizzled, moth-eaten coat” (pg. 24).
John Steinbeck's novella 'Of Mice and Men' contains various important themes. One of the significant themes of this novella is hope, friendship and loneliness, determination that empowers a man to endeavour with a feeling of self-esteem. In this novella, Loneliness is presented to be one of the dominant themes. The composer outlines the depression of ranch life in the mid 1930's and shows how individuals headed from town to town in an attempt to discover kinship keeping in mind the end goal was to escape from forlornness.
Of george And Lennie Everyone in the world, all the time, people experience unfairness in life, rather than experiencing fairness or even equality for that matter. To some of us, life may even seem more unfair than it is completely fair. The sacrifices you make in your life will determine your future. Of Mice and Men shows how making a sacrifice may be difficult, but it will typically pay off in the long run. We can see in Of Mice and Men several examples of sacrifices that are made for the well being of someone.
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
She is pushed to the edge of the ranch life and as a result gets ‘awful[ly] lonely’. Amongst racism and sexism there’s a theme of physical disability Steinbeck tries to highlight throughout Of Mice and Men. Candy is the oldest man working on the ranch and with that has
In today’s time period, Candy would be re-tired and drawing a deserved Workers’ Compensation check, but in the 1930’s this was not the case. Richard Moore writes, “Candy is an old man, reduced to cleaning the bunkhouse after los-ing his hand in an accident at work” (3). The ranch life is not meant for the elderly, especially the disabled elderly, but due to lack of social security at the time, Candy has no hope of seeing his retirement any time soon. Authors Umadevi and Saranya give prominence to the fact that, “Can-dy is a senior citizen with a physical handicap, and even though we get the sense that he has been at the ranch for some time, he has few ties or friends either, and tells Lennie and George later in the story that he has no family, no kids” (53). Steinbeck shows readers how poorly the elderly were treated before Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s social security program more formally known as the “New Deal”.
In the novel “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck portrays the theme of social injustice throughout the story in the lives of several characters that include Lennie, Curley’s Wife, and the stable buck, Crooks. All of these characters are mistreated in some way, shape or form. The hardships that these characters faced help guide us to see the social injustice that is prevalent in the story. Lennie is a victim of social injustice due to the fact that he is mentally disabled. He is not treated fairly when he was accused of rape.
Steinbeck 's characters show different types of inhumanity. Every character feels isolated and lonely, which causes some to attack those who are weaker than they are. Loneliness and the cruelty of others caused George and Lennie to stick together during many hard years, but the violence of their fellow workers overcame George’s good intentions to care for 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.
Candy lost his right hand in a ranch accident, which is why the owners “give me a job swampin’” as he says (Steinbeck 59). He believes he will that he will be “can[ned] purty soon,” so he wants to go with George and Lennie (Steinbeck 60). When Carlson wants to shoot Candy’s dog, Candy does not want him to. He says “No, I couldn’... I had ‘im too long” and “I had him from a pup” (Steinbeck 45).
Of Mice and Men; A Literary Analysis “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that 's why,” says George in the book Of Mice and Men. John Steinbeck wrote this book about two boys who took care of each other mentally and physically throughout. They endure many journeys together and are able to suffice over very little. They show the strength in friendships in many dissimilar ways and make diligent decisions that some may never be able to make. Of Mice and Men is not only about two friends and their journey together, but as well as giving one a deeper meaning of the book, such as showing the nature of their dreams, the characters as archetypes, and if the killing of Lennie is justified in the end.
In Chapter Three in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, there is a pressing scene in which Candy's dog meets his demise. Carlson first suggests Candy shoot his beloved companion and then turns it into a personal goal of his that the dog does not walk out of the room alive. He thinks the dog doesn’t have any real value, and is better off dead; this belief is a reflection of what happens when usefulness is outlived in this harsh society. The lonely silence that follows the killing shows the emptiness of the room, and the sorrow that follows. This scene is significant because it shows how the dog, who is a cripple and old, is a metaphor for Candy, who will soon outlive his usefulness; the dog is also a symbol of the loneliness the other men feel, and
In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, many of the characters faced times of great disappointment. They are disappointed because dreams or plans didn’t go as they wanted them to. George, Lennie and Curley’s wife are disappointed with their current place in life due to many of their plans going awry. George is one of the “main characters”, and faces times of hardship and disappointment.