Sacrifice In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Putting your dog down can be one of the hardest things to do in life, yet it may be necessary to do what’s best for them. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, this is what Candy has to do. He, along with many other characters in the novel will have to make sacrifices that’ll benefit the other person or people in that relationship because they have more power. This theme is seen first through George and Lennie. George sacrifices a lot of things in his life to take care of Lennie. He does this because he feels he has power over Lennie and it is his responsibility to make sacrifices in their friendship. While by the river with Lennie, George says “I could get along easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail” (07). George feels like he is being held back because he not only has to worry about taking care of himself, but taking care of Lennie as well. He is also upset that he has to …show more content…

Candy’s dog used to be a great shepherd dog, but is now old and smells. Workers at the farm, especially Carlson, are starting to get really sick of the smell. While in the bunkhouse with Candy, Carlson asks him why he doesn’t just shoot him. Candy can’t even imagine killing his own dog. He even “squirmed uncomfortably” (44) and says that he can’t get rid of a dog he’s had since he was a pup. Finally, he agrees to let Slim shoot his dog. Candy sacrifices companionship to let his dog out of it’s misery. Not only does this sacrifice benefit Candy’s dog, but it also benefits the workers by taking the smell of the dog away from them. After his dog was dead, Candy felt useless that he couldn’t work up the courage to shoot his dog himself, saying “I ought to shoot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to let no stranger shoot my dog” (61). He wants to shoot his dog himself because, similar to how George feels about Lennie, he feels it is his responsibility to take care of his dog, and not anyone

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