“Loneliness is the ultimate poverty."-Pauline Phillips. Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men agrees with her statement, the book clearly shows that loneliness and isolation is the worst feeling someone can have. Crooks says “I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick”(73) Loneliness is having a lack of friendship/companionship. Throughout the story Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses the theme loneliness. The story takes place in the town of Soledad which means solitude in spanish, which foreshadows the problem of loneliness in the story. Loneliness is clearly evident in many of the characters in the book. Loneliness is mainly shown through three characters; Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife. Each one of them is lonely for different reasons, …show more content…
Candy says “A guy on a ranch don’t never listen nor he don’t ast no questions”(24) This quote reflects Candy’s life on the ranch, he is so lonely that he rarely has good interactions with people, he doesn’t have the chance too. Candy is described as old and weak. Candy has been on the ranch for a long time and is the only person on the ranch who seems to have struggles because of his old age. Candy is discriminated because of his age, but also because of his handicap. Candy is missing his right hand which obstructs him from doing many things the other ranchers can do. Candy’s only true companion is his dog. His dog is later shot in the book by Carlson. In a way the dog kind of symbolizes Candy. The dog is old and handicapped and nobody really wants him around, they say “he ain’t no good to himself”” the only person who wants and cares for the dog is Candy. Candy is like the dog because he is old, handicapped, and no one cares for him. When the dog dies, Candy’s companionless. The reason why Candy joins George and Lennie’s dream is because he wants a place where he can feel comfortable and safe. On the ranch he is heavily discriminated because of his age and missing hand, the guys won’t even hang out with him or go places with them. They always leave him behind. Joining the dream is his only way out of the misery at the
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.
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.
According to me, the definition of loneliness is a feeling that naturally occurs when there is no communication between you and someone else, or if you do not like to talk to anyone. This sometimes causes people to create rage (mentally, and physically). This can also sometimes cause death, for yourself or someone else. So in this book, what John Steinbeck is trying to say about loneliness is that, the people are lonely because of their physical features and this involves Candy, Curley’s Wife and Crooks. They all are lonely in their own ways, but have the same problem.
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...
He is described as a tall, stoop- shouldered old man. He tends to normally wear blue jeans and carries a broom in his first scene, with his ‘bristly, white whiskers.’ Candy is the person who offers to help out with George and Lennie’s dream. He found likeliness in their dream when, one of the other ranch hands, Carlson, shot CandyÂ’s only companion his ‘bitch’ dog. Furthermore, with Candy’s dog being shot it shows us that he is infact very lonely , hid dog is his company and his equivalent of a friend, ‘I had im since he was a pup.’
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.
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”.
Candy is a one-handed swamper that also gets ignored and discriminated like Crooks. Candy used to be a strong young man that was productive, but now Candy is left aging on the ranch with only one hand due to a machinery accident on the ranch. The other ranch hands disrespect Candy due to his physical handicaps and age. The only thing that really cheers up Candy is Candy’s dog. Candy’s dog is like a parallel version of Candy because of their many similarities like physical disabilities and age. The only thing that has a special place in Candy’s heart is Candy’s dog, and eventually, Carlson gets so annoyed by the dog Carlson shoots Candy’s dog in the back of the head, killing it. The quick and horrid death to Candy’s dog made Candy realize that he is going to share the same fate as his dog. Looking back on Candy’s life one can conclude that Candy is in a dissatisfied state about his life, given that Candy’s days of working are over and the only thing he loved is
The character Candy demonstrated his isolation by not having any relatives or good friendship in the workplace. He had his old dog that spent most of the time with and less interaction with his workmates due to the loss of his right arm. However, after Carlson shot Candy’s dog, Candy became really lonely since he spent the most of the time with his dog. He expressed his feeling to George and stated, “You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They say he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me”, (60). This also shows that although Candy had someone to talk to, it was not a human. He could not play cards with his dog or tell him how happy or upset he was. Also, Candy got really excited to
Loneliness is the sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned. John Steinbeck brought up the theme of loneliness in many characters in Of Mice and Men. Crooks, Curley?s wife, and Candy expressed the theme of loneliness in many different forms throughout the story. Early in the novella George said, life working as ranch hands is about the loneliness of living, for these people finding friendship seems to be impossible. Crooks expressed feelings of loneliness throughout Of Mice and Men.
Candy uses his frustration and blames Curley’s wife for everything: “You done it, di’nt you? I s’pose you’re glad. Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good” (Steinbeck 95). At this particular moment, Candy loses all sense of security. He feels the need to blame Curley’s wife because his almost-reached dream vanishes. Candy knows if Lennie gets caught, their dreams of owning a ranch will never be reachable again. Candy takes out his frustration and devastation on Curley’s wife in order to make himself feel better. After acknowledging that Lennie is no longer safe and the dream is gone, Candy falls back into a state of depression. He cannot fulfill his dreams of working on George and Lennie’s ranch because there will be no such ranch. If there is no future ranch, Candy realizes that his current boss will fire him soon. After this realization, all hope for a better future for Candy is lost. Much like Candy’s wife, Candy has no control over this situation. There is no possible way of knowing who or when someone will die. He also has no control over his disabled arm. There is only so much one can do without a
We all feel it, we are all alone at some point, striving to be with someone. I believe that John Steinbeck is pointing this out several times in Of Mice And Men, because we are all pretty much the same in our thinking process, Like Curley’s Wife says, ““I get lonely”she said. “You can talk to people, but I can’t talk talk to nobody but Curly””(Steinbeck,87) . We watch so many people come and go and we just want that one person to stay, just like George and Lennie, we want someone to always be there. Some of us get used to something/someone always being by our side we get so used to them, like Candy and his dog, they may be suffering but we want them to always be there.
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.
George also uses Candy for his own gain as he lets him join in on the dream ranch due to his money but abandons him when he can no longer do it with Lennie despite the fact that he and Candy could still afford the ranch. This lack of compassion for others shown by Carlson towards Candy in the killing of his dog parallels how in American society there was little sympathy for others. The theme of survival of the fittest that was the base of ranch life is shown through the shooting of Candy’s old dog to be replaced by Slim’s new puppies. It is also shown through how the weak characters take advantage of eachother to gain superiority over one another instead of working
Candy’s dog was shot towards the beginning of the book. The other workers convinced Candy to let him shoot it. The dog was old, smelly, and dragged itself around everywhere it went. I think the dog symbolizes Candy, old, drags himself around, and doesn’t do a lot. I think one of Candy’s fears is that they will realize they are paying him, feeding him, and giving him shelter for not a lot in return, and that they will just get rid of him. I think Steinbeck uses this because in that time they didn’t have giant tractors, they didn’t have the tools we have now so it’s all physical labor. Candy doesn’t have a hand and can’t do a lot of work because he’s old. So the boss might get rid of him, and Candy might be scared of that. According to SparkNotes “In the world Of Mice and Men describes, Candy’s dog represents the fate awaiting anyone who has outlived his or her purpose. Once a fine sheepdog, useful on the ranch, Candy’s mutt is now debilitated by age.” ““Look Candy, this dog just suffers himself all the time”” (Steinbeck 45). So I believe Steinbeck is trying to show that old people aren’t “worth” anything in the 1930’s. That’s why I think Candy and his dog were so connected and why he was so hurt and upset when they killed him. It also shows how I think Steinbeck uses this to show how older people were in the