“The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved” was once declared by the well-known saint Mother Thresea. The feeling of being lonely is a universal experience that everyone at one point in time has encountered. This can also be shown in the novel Of Mice and Men, where John Steinbeck uses the characters to express that outcasts are often forced into isolation because of society's unfair standards. Utilizing the fictional element of characterization, Steinbeck conveys how several of the characters are forced to isolate themselves because of their identities. For instance, Candy is old and disabled, which keeps him from being able to work as a farmhand; Crooks is the only black worker in a community that favors the …show more content…
As an old and sick dog, Carlson pushes Candy to let the dog go, but in an angered response, he declares, “Well—hell! I had him for so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him.You wouldn’t think to look at him now, but he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen” (Steinbeck 23). Candy’s relationship with his dog reveals a moving example of the loneliness and isolation experienced by individuals considered outcasts in society. Despite his companionship with his dog, Candy still feels the weight of isolation, as evidenced by his emotional reaction to his dog's killing. Having his dog as a pup and working alongside him as a sheepdog emphasizes their strong relationship and the loss Candy feels as his companion grows old. Furthermore, Candy's relationship with his dog connects to his sense of being out of place within the farm community. As an older disabled worker, Candy is excluded and overlooked by others, further contributing to his sense of isolation. He realizes that the farm won’t need him for much longer, and with this, he hears George and Lennie talking about their dream and comments, “I’d make a will an’ leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, ‘cause I ain’t got no relatives nor
In the novel, Of Mice and Men, Candy, Lennie, Crooks, and Curly's wife are all seen as four social outcasts as they each relate to a specific group in American Society. After reading Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and looking at these characters you can see that they are all social outcasts in someway.
Candy’s dog is very precious to him, not only because he had been with him ever since he was a pup but also because he could see himself in the dogs place after a very short period of time. He was getting old and would be of no use soon. Just like the dog, everyone would be eager to get rid of him. He had lost his hand at the ranch. He is disabled, both, physically and mentally.
didn't allow him to hang out in the bunkhouse with them. At one point in the
Steinbeck describes Candy right after the men hear the shot that kills the dog. Candy's loneliness over the loss of his dog is short lived as he becomes part of George's and Lennie's plan to get their own farm. In fact, Candy makes the dream seem almost possible because he has saved $300 which he will contribute to the price of the property George can buy. The three men believe that one day they will up and leave the ranch and go live on their own "little piece of land." In the end, however, Candy is plunged back into despair and loneliness after he discovers Lennie has killed Curley's wife. The dream is shattered. He poignantly communicates his feelings over the loss at the end of chapter five: “You done it, di’n’t you? I s’pose you’re glad. Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good. You ain’t no good now, you lousy tart.” He sniveled, and his voice shook. “I could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them guys.” He paused, and then went on in a singsong. And he repeated the old words: “If they was a circus or a baseball game .
In conclusion, all of these characters from “Of Mice and Men” are lonely in their own ways. Candy is old and he lost his only friend, his dog. Crooks is segregated from the society because he is black and not allowed to be with the whites. Also last but not least, Curley’s wife is lonely because she is a woman and she is born with that. In our society, right now, women have a lot of rights, from getting jobs to voting. Blacks are no longer segregated from Whites, and our President, Barack Obama is black himself. Also, old people are respected a lot because we now understand, what they have been through.
Steinbeck expresses the theme of loneliness in the character of Candy. Candy is lonely because his is missing half an arm. 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.
As the novel continues on we are introduced to another pair whose relationship is just as strong as George and Lennie’s, the two being Candy and his old pup. Candy and his pup have been together for years on end and have formed a indescribable love for one another. However, as the years have rolled past, age has caught up with the Candy’s best friend causing many to suggest euthanasia. Regretfully, Candy agreed, afterwards uttering, “I ought to of shot that dog myself George. I shouldn’t ought to let no stranger shoot my dog” (Steinbeck 61) Often with age, humans and animals alike become impaired and quite sentinel. In the case of Candy’s pup, his age had progressed to the point where life was too difficult and pain was more relevant than pleasure. It would only be fair for Candy to place his feet where paws lay and imagine if he could go out peacefully rather than through heavy slow breathing every day. Although Candy recognized this and allowed this procedure to be completed who showed he had the best intentions for his pup, he did not take manors into his own hands. Rather than stand shoot his pup out of love, he remained inside and allowed the dog to be killed without emotion, almost as though there was no meaning. Sadly, the past cannot redo itself so Candy is forever regretful of the loss of his canine friend, yet by
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,
Candy is an elderly man working on the farm with his dog who was killed tragically because the men on the farm perceived the dog as useless. With the passing of his dog, Candy grew mindful of death and yearned to die happy and have something to call his own before death. After overhearing Lennie and George plan to buy land, Candy wanted to be a part of the plan. Candy declared,"I'd make a will an' leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, 'cause I ain't got no relatives or nothing…" (Steinbeck 59). Candy was willing to give money despite the fact that he might not live to see the day where the men got their own land. He had no relatives but had felt a need to help these men achieve their dreams. At this stage in his life, Candy understood the significance that family played in the day to day life and wanted to have a chance to be happy. Candy’s actions gave George and Lennie hope they'd never had before. ENDING
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...
During the era of the Great Depression in the 1930’s, many people lost their jobs and became very lonely. This was around the time when John Steinbeck released his famous book about these “bindle stiffs”. The book was called, Of Mice and Men. Loneliness is one of the major themes of this novel. Several of the characters in the book are alone. In this novel, John Steinbeck shows how being alone affects different characters. Each is affected in a different way. Throughout the novel, the theme of loneliness is mostly expressed in the important characters of Candy, Curley’s wife and Crooks.
As Candy’s dog is about to be shot, Candy looks for a new partnership with George and Lennie, he carries,“You know where's a place like that?(59)." Candy, who has no family, very few connections with the ranch workers, and a huge disability, looked to his dog to solve his extreme loneliness. When everything that he has is taken away from him, he is lost, so he immediately looks for a companionship with Lennie and George in order to cope with his loneliness. He is desperately alone and always needs to be attached to something, which makes him so eager to jump into Lennie and George’s dream. Steinbeck expresses Candy’s loneliness through situational irony, and it shows how badly Candy needs a companionship, at all times.
When Richard was young he would always be the person to help out. But as he became older and more feeble, his capabilities were not as they were before. This was difficult for Richard to cope with because other people would reject his help, but this did not stop him from accomplishing his dreams. The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck contains the character Candy, an old ranch worker who lost one of his hands in a farm accident. Like Richard, Candy is old and disabled and faces problems with people discriminating against him. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses dialogue to characterize Candy as a neglected, misunderstood idealist.
I have been analysing the novella ‘Of Mice and men’ by John Steinbeck, which was published in 1937. Steinbeck wrote the novel based on his own experiences as a bindle stiff in the 1920’s, around the same time when the great Wall Street crash happened, causing an immense depression in America. Throughout the novel he uses a recurring theme of loneliness in his writing, which may have reflected his own experiences at this time. This is evident in his writing by the way he describes the characters, setting and language in the novel.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck looks at the theme of loneliness as it affects many characters on the ranch. Crooks, Curley's wife, and Candy are the most excluded characters on the ranch, because they all have dreams that they will not be able to live out and they all are at loss when it came to companionship. Crooks is lonely because he is the only black man on the ranch. Since this book is set during the Depression, Jim Crow laws are still in effect, whites and blacks had separate facilities for socializing and living. Crooks comments that he can't live in the bunkhouse, and cant even play cards in there.