Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Like Candy's dog, Lennie depends on George to take care of him and show him what to do. Candy, like George, is different from the other ranch hands because he has his dog as a constant companion, someone devoted and loyal to him. Past accomplishments and current emotional ties matter little, as Carson makes clear when he insists that Candy let him put the dog out of its misery. In this world, Candy’s dog serves as a harsh reminder of the fate that awaits anyone who outlives his usefulness. Candy gives responsibility to Carlson to shoot his dog prompting George to take responsibility for Lennie’s

George killed Lennie with mercy and love. George had to do what he did or he would have felt awful if someone else killed Lennie in front of him. When George heard that Candy was sad when he didn’t kill his dog when he wished he did it really changed George’s perspective on the whole situation. “I wished somebody’d shoot me, but they won’t do nothing like that.” George was also giving Lennie a good and peaceful death. He

Candy wanted to shoot his own dog because it's his responsibility. Lennie is George's responsibility to take care of and George feels if anyone is going to kill Lennie it would be him. If someone else brutally slaughters Lennie, then George would be outraged, so George does it himself. Lennie could get scared so George doesn't let him know that it's coming.

In the story Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to predict a lot of upcoming events in the book. An interesting quote that Steinbeck uses to tell what will happen in the story is “The best laid schemes of Mice and Men go often askew” is from a Poem called “To A Mouse.” This hints that the plan that George and Lennie have made will not follow through. The story is about two men traveling together in search for work, and when they find jobs they plan to make a stake then get out of the jobs and buy some land for themselves. Unluckily, they face some bumps in the road that spoils their plans.

This exhibits the fact that both Candy’s dog and Lennie were killed because someone else decided it was better for them. Both Lennie and the dog had their final moments at the time that they did, due to the people they trusted the most. In the conversation leading up to the dog killing, Candy says he couldn’t kill him because: “Well-hell! I had him for so long. Had him since he was a pup.

This comes into the story when Candy asks George about the farm. Recall that George and Candy had a talk. "Then—it’s all off?" Candy asked sulkily. George didn’t answer his question. George said, "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 poolroom till ever’body goes home. An’ then I’ll come back an’ work another month an’ I’ll have fifty bucks more." At this point, Georgie knew that it was time to put Lennie

After the loss of Candy’s dog, he becomes lonely but has to find a way to overcome loneliness. John Steinbeck creates Candy to be an old and crippled man. Candy, since he is a older man, might not get as much work. That isn't the only reason. Steinbeck describes Candy with, “a round stick-like wrist, but no hand” (18). At this moment, George and Lennie are meeting and observing Candy for the first time. Throughout the story, the reader does not hear of Candy doing much work on the ranch. He “[shifts] his broom” on the first day but that might be the only deed he does (18). The farm workers stereotype him to be weak because he is old and only has one hand. When we first meet Candy, we learn that Candy has one main friend. That is his

Compare the episodes in which Candy’s dog and Lennie die. How has Steinbeck made these events effective for the reader?

Because of his mental disability he does things that further put him out of the “normal” group of ranch hands. Lennie has a good friend in George but he is portrayed as being lonley in the book anyway. He just wants to be like every one else on the ranch.

Even from the very start of John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, the uniqueness of George, as a character, is already noticeable. He is described as "small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp strong features" and has an obvious dominance over the relationship between Lennie and himself. This lets the reader know from a very early stage in the book that George is different, and probably the essential character. George's character seems to be used by Steinbeck to reflect the major themes of the novel: loneliness, prejudice, the importance of companionship, the danger of devoted companionships, and the harshness of Californian ranch life.

Like Candy, Candy’s dog is faced with the ultimate punishment for his age and disability. Candy’s dog is old and said to smell bad and isn’t worth anything, the dog is shot because of its disabilities. This event foreshadows Lennie’s fate at the hand of George. Both of these characters’ euthanasia is rationalized to put them out of their misery and to prevent future suffering from happening due to their disabilities. Which is almost a mirror image of George and Lennie’s relationship where George has known Lennie for a considerable amount of time and George knows that he is completely responsible of Lennie’s well-being and when that well-being is in jeopardy George feels a moral obligation just like Candy did when he gave permission to Carlson to shoot his dog. The euthanizing of Candy’s dog is a “foreshadowing of what will happen with Lennie and George” (Thomas Scarseth) because both Candy and George’s relationship to those dependent to them end with them killing them in order to save them from suffering.

There are similarities between the relation of Candy and his dog and the relationship between George and Lennie. The first reason why they are similar is because Candy and his dog have been together since he was a pup, and George and Lennie have been together since his aunt Clara passed away which has been a long time. For example, Candy did not want to kill his dog because they have been together for a long time, and George does not want to leave Lennie because they are like brothers. Another reason why they are similar is because Candy liked the companionship of the dog, and George likes how Lennie is always there with him. For example, Candy and the dog did everything together.

Lennie and Candy’s dog are parallel. Candy’s dog is old, stinky, it cant take care of itself and he’s useless. Lennie cant take care of himself of others, and when he gets scared he holds on to whatever hes got. Candy’s dog had to be put down, just like Lennie. They were also killed the same way. “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. Can’t eat, can’t see, can’t even walk without hurtin’” (48). In this scene Carlson took Candy’s dog out and shot him. Though Candy did not want his dog to be dead, he still went through with it. This is just like when George went to kill Lennie, he didn’t want too but it had to be

On the other hand, Candy’s dog is probably incapable of doing harm to people. But the dog is seen as an object rather than an individual, so the way that he feels towards other characters is unclear; therefore it’s hard to say what actions he would take against people if he were given the chance to. It is said in the novel that Candy’s dog is strong, but he is too weak to make use of his strength. While Lennie could hurt anyone he wanted to, but he chooses not to. This is one of the differences between Lennie and Candy’s dog; Lennie is in control of his actions, Candy’s dog is not. However, George tries to control Lennie’s actions. While he thinks this will help Lennie, by doing this George is robbing Lennie of his voice. Contrastingly, Candy is doing the opposite for his dog. By speaking up for his dog, Candy is giving his dog a voice; his dog cannot communicate in the way humans can. Another difference between Lennie and Candy’s dog is their quality of life. Much of the excitement and happiness that Candy’s dog probably used to have in his life is now absent. He is only wanted by Candy-he’s considered useless to everyone else, and he has nothing to look forward to. Candy’s dog may have wanted to die. Lennie, however, had a life that was practically just beginning. He dreamt of owning a farm with George, and he actually had a chance to make this

The parallels between Lennie and George’s relationship and the relationship that their workmate, Candy had with his dog reaffirm the power dynamic between George and Lennie. In the novella, Candy must kill his dog because it is old and weak. Candy felt such extreme regret when it came time to kill his dog, that instead of doing