After that Lennie is killed, shattering all hopes and dreams George had, as well as ending a long term relationship. ‘why’n’t you shoot him, Candy?’, during the 1930’s America was going through ‘The Great Depression’ everything that people lived on were hopes and dreams because people had nothing else to keep them going but the determination to fulfill the American dream ; power, fame and fortune. The murder of the one dog created a domino effect which shattered dreams, took away lives and ended relationships. The death of the puppy could foreshadow the ending of Curley’s wife, ‘a little dead puppy that lay in front of him’, the puppy was small helpless and delicate as was she. Both could not manage the power of Lennie and both ended up on the hay dead and alone ‘Curley’s wife lay with a half covering of yellow hay.
The dogs are strays so they don’t have an owner to take care of them. They are physically uncomfortable. “Beneath my brother and my’s room we hear them coughing and growling, scratching their ratted backs against the boards beneath our beds” (281). The dogs’ fur is matted and infested with fleas and other insects (286). They are also looking for water and possibly a place to take refuge because they return every night.
Of mice and men Compare the episodes in which candy dog and Lennie are killed. The reader responds to each death with empathy and compassion. I believe this is the way Steinbeck would have wanted us to respond. the way the chapters are worded ,you can understand both the characters and their lives. We know that Candy and his dog grew up and worked together herding sheep, we also know they’re both older and can’t work as well as they used.
Esch comments that Skeetah never named the puppy, so he tells her to give it a name. She chooses Nella. Manny says that they should kill the puppy now to save it from suffering. Skeetah grabs the puppy’s head and twists, swiftly breaking its neck the way his mother used to kill chickens. Afterward, Skeetah takes off his clothes and gets into the water of the Pit to wash the contamination off him.
He thinks that Candy’s dog should be shot because it is old and smelly, he persistently argues to shoot the dog, an example is when he says “Well, I can’t stand him in here” and “and he stinks to bear hell. Tell you what. I’ll shoot him for you. Then it won’t be you that does it.” He suggests that Candy could have one of Slim’s puppies instead, but he does not recognise that Candy has an emotional attachment to his dog. After he shoots the dog, he does not apologise to Candy and he even cleans his gun in full view of everyone, this shows that he is an insensitive character.
His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely." He shares a dream with George to own a piece of land. Lennie's special job would be to tend the rabbits. He likes to pet soft things, like puppies and dead mice. We know this got him into trouble in Weed when he tried to feel a girl's soft red dress: she thought he was going to attack her.
CANDY (OLD AND INFIRM) “lousy ol’ sheep” …Carlson’s attitude towards his dog (A70,P48): ‘I don’t know nothing that stinks as bad as an old dog. You gotta get himout…he ain’t no good to himself. Why’n’t you shoot him, Candy?’ …Candy’s words about his future (A88, P66): ‘You seen what they done to my dog tonight?…When they can me here…I won’t have no place to go, an’ I can’t get no more jobs.’ He believes he will share the same fate as his dog eventually, because he is old he is seen as 2useless2. In the novel old age is associated with lack of ability, even in modern times, we still believe old people to lack vital capabilities. However, there are some old people who are still fit and capable of working.
These characters are all discriminated against because of their disadvantage. Eg: Candy is discriminated because of his disability and also his age, as he said himself, ‘I ain’t much good with on’y one hand’ (p59) and he knows that the boss will fire him ‘as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunkhouses’ (p60). Ex: Candy is disabled; he lost his hand so he works as a swamper, and as he gets old, he becomes less and less productive, and eventually gets fired. This is foreshadowed by the death of his dog, his companion, being killed by Carlson because he is old and useless. This fear of being lonely after being fired ultimately leads him to join George and Lennie’s dream of owning a piece of land.
Steinbeck uses Candy to show the theme of loneliness. He initially becomes lonely once his dog is shot and killed. The dog was his closest companion. Candy told George, "You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn't no good to himself nor nobody else.
Candy represents what happens to everyone who gets old in American society: They are let go, canned, and thrown out of their jobs were they expected to look after themselves. Candy shows this by presenting his greatest fear as that once he is no longer able to help with the cleaning he will be ‘disposed of.’ Just like his old dog, he has lived beyond his usefulness. Carson makes clear when he insists that Candy let him put the dog out of its misery. Candy’s dog serves as a harsh reminder of the fate that awaits anyone who outlives his usefulness. Though the pet was once a great sheepdog, it was put out to pasture once it stopped being productive.