Candy Of Mice And Men Essay

760 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: An analytical essay explaining how characters in mice and men influence the plot

Candy: A Helpless Man The novel, Of Mice and Men, is one that takes place during the Great Depression. It is a story of the struggle to survive and live on your own in a vicious world where every man is fighting for their own successes. One of the many characters who this applies to is Candy, an old swamper who has been working on ranches his whole life. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Candy is a futile part of the ranch. As he is getting older, he is becoming increasingly weak around the ranch and now fully realizes how expendable he is. Candy is living in a time period where there is no sympathy for the weak. Jobs are hard to come by and hope is at an all time low. Throughout the novel, there are an abundance of instances where Candy comes to a cognisance of the loneliness he is facing From the beginning of the story, Candy is seen with only one hand. Candy is known to have been a very productive worker in the past but now he is unable to do too much work around the ranch. When George and Lennie first arrive at the ranch, Candy is the one to greet them. As he shows the two men their new home, “he pointed with his right arm, and out of the sleeve came a round stick-like wrist, but no hand” (Steinbeck 18). Candy is tremendously misinterpreted by the other workers. He is hard working and really desires to succeed and leave the ranch. Even though he has always been a loyal and contributing member of the ranch, Candy will soon just become another lonely person struggling to survive in the world outside ranch life. This is perfectly symbolized by his “stick-like wrist”. It is nearly impossible to work well in his condition. A stick, a weak, little part that has broken off from a tree, is just like Candy’s hand; something that ... ... middle of paper ... ...to be able to escape the ranch with Lennie, who is being heavily hunted down. However, At this point all hope is not lost yet for Candy as he suggests the idea of him and George still getting the ranch. Despite asking, “Before George answered, Candy dropped his head and looked down at the hay. He knew” (Steinbeck 94). Candy understands that Lennie is not getting away from the vicious ranch men. He knows that without Lennie, George will not have enough money nor the drive to go get themselves a ranch. As if this all is not enough to devastate Candy, his hopes are further crushed when George kills Lennie and then proceeds to go off for a drink with the men. This is the absolute final straw in Candy’s aspirations to move on from the life of this ranch, With Curley’s wife gone and now Lennie as well, Candy might as well say hello to a future of never ending loneliness.

Show More
Related

  • Candy's Injury In 'Of Mice And Men'

    539 Words  | 2 Pages

    Candy’s amputation was caused by a farm machine incident on the ranch he works now. For Candy, the only way to get a farm and live happily is through George and Lennie, and the most probable thing to get in their way is Curley. In chapter three, Lennie crushes Curley’s hand after Curley starts to punch and thrust his face. Slim, saving Lennie and George’s job and Curley’s dignity and ego, tells Curley, “I think you got your han’ caught in a machine” (Steinbeck 62). Now the going story of how Candy’s obstacle in his journey was injured in the same manner that could have prevented him from achieving it in the first

    Read More

  • Of Mice and Men Epilogue Draft 2

    528 Words  | 2 Pages

    Candy thought "I am not going to no one for help. This ranchers was thrilled to kill Lennie and now they don't even care about George who was caught in their place."

    Read More

  • Social Outcasts in John Stienbeck´s Of Mice and Men

    732 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Of Mice and Men the character Candy is an old ranch worker. Candy has been working on otheres farms for years, while working on one of these farms he lost one of his hands in a farm accident. Candy was seen as a outcast to the other rach hands just like Lennie, Crooks and Curly's wife. The reasons they are seen as outcast is different and is what seperated them into different groups in American Society that they can relate to.

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men Candy's Loneliness Essay

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    The character Candy could be considered lonely after the death of his dog. Before that he seems relatively happy and, in fact, is quite gregarious in chapter two when George and Lennie first enter the bunkhouse of the ranch. He goes on about the other characters and describes the Boss, Slim, Crooks, Curley and Curley's wife. He even gossips with George, telling the story about the glove on Curley's left hand which is full of vaseline so he can keep "that hand soft for his wife."It is not until chapter three that Candy's life turns lonely. Carlson, a laborer on the ranch, believes that Candy's dog is too old and decrepit. He suggests that Candy shoot it to put it out of its misery. Candy can't do it and, because Slim gives Carlson the approval, the man takes Candy's dog and kills it.

    Read More

  • Of Mice and Men, 3 Characters with Loneliness

    406 Words  | 1 Pages

    Candy?s disability separates him from society, an example of Curley being set aside is when everybody else goes to town he is left in the barn with Crooks, Lennie, and Curley?s wife. Candy?s only friendship was with his old, smelly dog. Candy?s dog was a symbol of himself (old, and useless). When Carlson kills Candy?s dog, he kills Candy on the inside as well. Curley?s wife had the most pathetic and depressing life.

    Read More

  • The American Dream in Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, Two Kinds, and Sophistication

    1545 Words  | 4 Pages

    Candy shows great spirit throughout the book and really shows off the good aspects of the American Dream. It is only until the end of the book until the plan to go away starts to be questioned. He starts asking questions like ”You an’ me can get that little place cant we, George?”(Steinbeck,94) This denial was once again recognized by Kevin Attell, who said “George and Lennie’s dream is specifically necessitated by and responds to the limitations played on their lives. ”(Attell)

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men Movie And Movie Essay

    1579 Words  | 4 Pages

    In both the film and the book, Candy is often isolated from all the others. Because of an injury to his hand, he can 't work out in the fields, so much of his time is spent alone shuffling around the ranch doing small jobs. His one and only constant companion is his dog. It is a very old dog that he has had since he was a pup. Again, both the book and the film do a good job of showing the affection that the dog and Candy have for each other. However, the book does a much better job of conveying the importance of the dog to Candy after the dog is shot. In the film scene, Carlson broaches the subject of killing Candy 's dog to put him out of his misery. Candy looks anguished but gives in fairly quickly. Once Carlson takes the dog, he lies back on his bed and just waits for the sound of the gunshot. The men resume their card game. (DVD) Although it is obvious Candy is sad about the dog, it does not have the same emotional impact that the book does. In the book, Steinbeck better conveys Candy 's anguish and desperation to save the dog. He tries to put Carlson off by offering different arguments as to why not to shoot the dog. His arguments include that it might hurt the dog, that Carlson doesn 't have a gun, that tomorrow would be a better day and that he doesn 't mind taking care of him (44). He even pleads silently for help. "Candy looked about unhappily"(42). "Candy looked helplessly at him,

    Read More

  • A Man´s World in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    Steinbeck connects Candy with his dog in order to suggest that humans have created a society where the weak cannot survive. Earlier in the book, Candy describes his dog as the “best damn sheep dog I ever seen” (Steinbeck 44). However, in lines 9 and 10, Candy reiterates that the other workers shot his dog because “he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else.” As soon as the dog outgrows its usefulness by becoming old and blind, the other tenants team up to ensure its death, suggesting how society joins together to dispose of those who are weak. Steinbeck then connects Ca...

    Read More

  • Mercy Killing - Of Mice And Me

    1174 Words  | 3 Pages

    Soon after they arrive at the ranch, George and Lennie meet some new and delightful people that they will be living with, until they earn enough money to buy a place of their own. One of the new people that Lennie and George meet was Candy and his old dog. Candy was an old swamper, and was missing one hand, his dog was just like him, very old and in poor shape. The poor old dog was blind, deaf, had no teeth and everyone complained about it smelling horrible, “we can’t sleep with him stinkin’ around in here.'; (Steinbeck:47) All the farm ...

    Read More

  • Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    For Candy, he was lonely because he felt like he was the only one of the other ranch workers that is getting more useless everyday and feels uncertain of his future on the ranch. For Crooks, it was being segregated from the rest of the workers that made him lonely. And for Curley’s wife, it was the inability to talk to anyone else other than her husband. For George, the hope of such companionship dies with Lennie, and true to his original estimation, he will go through life alone.

    Read More

  • Of Mice and Men

    1567 Words  | 4 Pages

    This is the piece of speech, when Candy is trying to persuade George to let him in on the ranch their going to get. The language Steinbeck uses here, makes Candy seem overly eager to get in with George and Lennie. Mainly because, he’s dog dies so now he doesn’t have anybody, and he feels he might get canned. So as soon as he hears the opportunity to break away from being lonely, he jumps at it. I feel extremely sorry for Candy because he has nobody to turn to. He really does try to find friendship in people, but sometimes tries to hard.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast George And Lennie In Of Mice And Men

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    Candy and Lennie become two of the most similar characters in the book. Both of them are treated as if they aren’t as important on the ranch. Because of this, Candy finds comfort in spending time with George and Lennie. Like Lennie, Candy ends up finding friendship and purpose with George. As George and Candy’s characters evolve, so does the idea of symbolism in the

    Read More

  • Exploring Discrimination in 'Of Mice and Men'

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    This time it’s directed at curley's wife. When George and Lennie arrive at the ranch, one of the first characters they meet is curley's wife. After meeting her, George says to lennie, “well, you keep away from her, ‘cause she's a rat trap if i've ever seen one. You let curley take the rap. He let himself in for it,” (32). Even after George and Lennie meet her for the first time, George is already calling her a “rat trap”. They had such a brief encounter that the two men are already talking about her is ridiculous. If that’s how they treat one women they barely know, imagine how awful she is treated by the rest of the men. Eventually, curley's wife took a turn for the worse. When she went to go talk to lennie, a simple conversation caused her death. After the death of curley’s wife, sexism is still shown when candy whispers, “you god damn tramp… you done it, di’n’t you? I s’pose you’re glad. Ever’body knows you mess things up.” (95). Her death wasn’t even her fault, so when candy says that she's probably dead, it’s showing how much she was blamed for everything and how disliked she was. The men didn't try to hurt her, they ended up killing her. After all, she would have lived if it wasn't for how negatively she was treated. Steinbeck is able to show how women were treated, and how everything was their fault, thu the way curley's wife was treated throughout the

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men - Symbolism

    473 Words  | 1 Pages

    The central element of this novella is its symbolism. This novella has plenty of symbolical forms, such as people, creed, and some of the animals. Candy has several terms of symbolism, for example his disability is a symbol of the migrant workers who are just literally forgotten about, they are forgotten when they are no use to the owners. Candy’s dog is a symbol of a life only for advantage to others Lennie also for shadows this, he is belittled of his mind but enormously commented for his strength. Also he is compelled to lie about the fight he had with Curley, this is a symbol of typical male society in the, “Depression era”.

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men Vs The Pearl

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    George and Lennie have to continue to move around the country looking for work until Lennie screws up again. The instability of work only makes it that much harder for them to complete their dream of a farm of their own. Candy’s participation in the dream of the farm upgrades the dream into a possible reality. As the tending of rabbits comes closer to happening fate curses them with the accidental death of Curley’s wife. The end of their wishful thinking is summed up by Candy’s question on page 104, “Then-it’s all off?”

    Read More

More about Candy Of Mice And Men Essay

Open Document