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.
After the conversation about Candy’s dog. Carlson wouldn’t let it go. He even said, “Tell you what, I’ll shoot him for you.” (page 45) Carlson is so set on getting rid of Candy’s dog, he won’t let it go. He can even see the impact it is having on candy, yet, he still presses. So the intolerance we have talked about so far has been more specific about actual people.
In the bunkhouse, there was also Carlson, which throughout the whole novel showed his lack of emotions and his coldness towards others, which is another characteristic some ranchman have – coldness towards others. When he spoke about Candy’s dog, he didn’t care about Candy or his feelings. He only saw in him “old and useless dog”. He doesn’t understand why Candy is so attached to him and why he is so upset when his dog died. When Carlson came back, after he shoot Candy’s dog, he “said
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.
In his first eight years of employment, Montag even joined in the firemen's bestial sport of letting small animals loose and betting on which ones the Mechanical Hound would annihilate first. In the last two years, however, a growing discontent has grown in Montag, a "fireman turned sour" who cannot yet name the cause of his emptiness and disaffection. He characterizes his restless mind as "full of bits and pieces," and he requires sedatives to sleep. His hands, more attuned to his inner workings than his conscious mind, seem to take charge of his behavior. Daily, he returns to a loveless, meaningless marriage symbolized by his cold bedroom furnished with twin beds.
Crooks is being derogated even before being introduced into the novella. His personality is deemed as useless and therefore he is labeled as “the nigger”. Everybody else on the ranch is treated equally and called by their actual names, but the workers do not accept Crooks into their community, making him an outcast. After Curley’s wife leaves and everybody settles down into their bunk house, Lennie goes to the barnhouse in order to look and pet the puppies that Slim breeds. He eventually finds Crooks’ room and enters, to talk with Crooks.
Was this some cruel joke his mind was playing on him? Was he in a coma in Soledad? Whatever it was, George didn't care. Candy prepared a good meal. They had smoked salmon, and milk.
But when he shoots his best friends, he also kills his future dream and furthermore his idea of an idyllic brotherly world. When all the men are into town, the outcasts of the ranch meet in Crooks’s room. Crooks, who is black, Lennie, who is a bit retarded, Candy, who is old and finally Curley’s Wife, who is a woman. The characters that gather in this scene are all different from the other people on the farm; however, it is in four different ways. In this scene it becomes clear, that it is human to demolish the ones who are weaker than oneself in order to feel more powerful.
At the start it says “Crooks sat on his bunk. His shirt was out of his jeans in the back. In one hand he held a bottle of liniment, and with the other he rubbed his spine”. The chapter also ends by him putting liniment on his back. This shows that he is trapped by his physical disability and will never recover.
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.