Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Candy is presented by Steinbeck as a pitiful miserable character. Candy has lost control of his life and of his future and has been reduced by society to a gossiping cleaner. The only characterisation we receive about Candy and other characters is through their speech. Candy is given new confidence when he speaks negatively of Curley’s wife. He enjoys the audience of George and relishes the sense of power, in that he knows more about the ranch than George.

But when Lennie killed Curley’s wife, Candy’s dream crumbled as he saw her dead body. “Now Candy spoke his biggest fear. “‘You an’ me can get that little place, can’t we, George? You an’ me can go there an’ live nice, can’t we, George? Can’t we?”’

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

Steinbeck is foreshadowing the death of candy through the death of his old dog. When candy says ¨awright take ´ im¨(47) he is giving up the last part of his youth. Later when he starts to talk to George about their own farm he says “ I´d make a will an´ leave my share to you guys incase i kick off¨ (59) Candy, an old man, with his dog now dead sees this and realizes he is close to his demise. This convinces Candy that he has to start to live whatever life he has left to the fullest. He goes so far that he joins the crazy farm idea that George and Lennie have.

The dog lived just because Candy loved him too much, but it was inevitable he would be put down because the dog was causing problems for other people which was what really led to his death. Very alike to Candy’s situation, George had to make the same decision with Lennie. Lennie is a good and strong worker, but he causes a lot of problems for not only himself, but for George as well.. George and Candy share a similarity by showing compassion toward their “children”. George could have just left Lennie at any time and traveled on his

had an old dog at the beginning on the novel .He had this dog for a

In chapter 2, George and Lennie arrive at the ranch and they meet Candy, an old and disabled worker. Candy represents the elderly in 1930s America who had very little hope for the future and instead lived in fear, this gives us sympathy for the character Candy. The elderly were often rejected by society and were isolated back in the 1930s. We know he is lonely because his only companion is a dog, and because of the cruelty in 1930s America he is killed. The dog was his lifelong friend and Candy notes that “I’ve had him since he was a pup”.

During the entire novel, Candy’s desperation was shown as Steinbeck’s main example of Loneliness and its impact on humans. Isolated after the loss of his hand, he is unable to work with the other men and reduced to the role of the swamper which causes Candy to feel unimportant and disposable. Candy seems to have spurts of short term depression throughout the novel. For example when candy is forced to put his dog down, “Candy did not answer. The silence fell on the room again. It came out of the night

Throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men (by John Steinbeck), loneliness is the major underlying theme of the novel. You could almost say that the book has ‘hormonal' up's and down's. Most of the characters are very lonely because they have no family. However, George and Lennie are the contradiction to this. George and Lennie's bond towards each other are so- strong that you can almost see it as you are reading the book. Candy the old crippled man wants to be part of George and Lennie's dream to own a farm and "live off the fatta the land". Curley and his dog are like the metaphor in the book for George and Lennie. Candy has to take care of his dog and George of Lennie. The other two

The book Of Mice And Men is set a few miles south of Soledad, which

Steinbeck uses Candy as one character to portray his theme of loneliness by creating a special relationship between him and his dog. Candy’s dog symbolizes many aspects in Candy’s loneliness. The dog symbolizes the disabled quality of Candy as being old and useless with no place to go. The dog is also Candy’s only friend. Candy wistfully explained “ I been around him for so much I never notice how he stinks... I had him for so long had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him.” (Steinbeck 44). Candy and his dog been through many things together and the dog keeps him company. They are close to the point that Candy does not know that it smells. Another thing that Candy’s dog symbolized is hope. When Candy’s dog died, he felt hopeless. He angrily, but calmly said, “ You seen what they did to my

people now complain about his smell and his worthlessness. candy has been trying to keep the dog alive as long as a kid. Carlson believes that did she kill the dog to end his misery. I see candies dog as a foreshadowing of something happening in the future. it seems to be a harsh reminder a fate that awaits anyone who outlived his usefulness. this society today believe that everyone should be able to help construct this community. Steinbeck believed that it was a kind of a utopian area during this time. if you did not do your job, you seem to have been killed. Candy has been really focused on his few years until George and Lennie come in discussing the dreams. Men describe lands that cannot be imaginable by these type of people. the people that have a dream in order to have power. when Lennie kills Curley's wife comma candy was the one who stuck up for George. He believed that George was a friend through thick and thin. now, let's talk about George. George was a very small but very witty man. he was the one who was oversee everything that Lennie did. George was kind of like a babysitter who was trying to find ways it or to contain his power. George was also very social. I

“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty. ”(Mother Teresa) This quote deals with humanity in general because people who have nobody to lean on and nobody who loves them suffer terribly. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, loneliness in a variety of ways and through a variety of characters; the ranch is a major setting where men are thrown together in the 1930’s to earn a living by doing hard labor.

To continue, Steinbeck uses Candy to contribute to the theme of escaping loneliness. Candy is a janitor on the farm that George, Lennie, and the other characters work on. He only has one hand, and is an old man. Candy had a dog that was old like him, they grew old together and kept each other company during their lonely work days. While all of the migrant farm workers go out to cultivate and take care of the land, Candy stays back and cleans up. Since none of the others are around he only had his old dog to keep him company. He is lonely because his dog ends up getting put out of its misery by one of the farm boys, Carleson. “Come on boy. The old dog got slowly and stiffly to his feet and followed the gently pulling leash. … A shot sounded in the distance.” (Steinbeck 47-49). Carleson shot Candy’s dog because he was useless, this shows how Candy was also becoming old and useless like his old and useless dog, which Carleson shot. Now Candy has no one to keep him company during his long, lonely work day. He overhears George and Lennie’s plan to buy a farm, have all of the animals they want, and to live off the land with no one telling them what

All through the novel, Steinbeck emphasizes the effects of loneliness, predominantly through the ranch swamper,Candy, who suffers as a victim of ageism. Candy's emotional attachment to the dog blinds him from realizing the dog's incapability and worthlessness. After Slim agrees to rid the dog of its suffering, Candy understands what Carlson and the guys are trying to say. The author writes,“ I'll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with. Ain't nothing left for him.