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.
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.
Lennie was very isolated also from the ranch workers because he wasn't normal and acted very childish, this mustn't of been nice for Lennie and that is how the ranch is unpleasent for him. Carlson made Candy's life on the ranch very hard because he depised Candy's smelly old dog, in the book Carlson kills the dog because it was old and it stank but he never cared about how Candy felt about the dog he just cared about himself. Carlson killed the dog eventhough he knew how much Candy loved it, when Carlson suggested killing the dog “Candy looked for help from face to face” but nobody helped him. The reason why Candy couldn't stop Carlson from killing his dog was because he was a very brittle old man and was mainly over powered by people stronger than him. This event was very unpleasent for Candy.
I do not like it, but I kind of understand it. Roger dropping a boulder on Piggy is not a surprising thing for this cruel boy to do, so I understand it even while I hate it. And when Jack orders his tribe to kill Ralph, I know Jack simply wants to eliminate any impediment to his absolute authority. What I find most appalling and terrifying is how quickly these proper boys who know how to follow rules were transformed into murdering savages. Piggy asks “What are we?
In comparison, Slim was more thoughtful and wanted the dog dead for its own good because of its poor health: “He ain't no good to you, Candy. An' he ain't no good to himself. Why'n't you shoot him, Candy?” At the end of the novel when Lennie must die, similarly, Carlson is only interested in killing the weak (Lennie), so he says, “I’ll get my luger” not thinking about anyone else. The scene that includes the killing of the old dog foreshadows the death of Lennie too; one clue is that the dog is shot in the back of the head completely unaware and with no pain with the luger. Towards the end of the novel, Lennie is also secretly shot in the same place with the same weapon by George out of mercy so his friend doesn’t experience a cruel painful death.
Every man in A Gathering Of Old Men seemed weak and wanted to run away when they heard about the killing of Beau. Mat had said "seventy one and a half. I ain't got to much strength to go crawling under that bed like Fue said" (Gaines, 30) This shows that Mat always ran away from everything. Along with Mat saying this, Chimley said it to. when the men thought it was Mathu that killd Beau they knew they had to go.
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.
The workers are also wounded continuously and the town’s people have come to fear the sound of the horn as it means that their loved ones could be dead or gravely injured. The fate of coal miners is sealed to a condemned life because they either die while on the job or they eventually die because of the physical conditions of the pit. The scene that demonstrates the latter is at the end of the film when Margaret’s grandfather is having trouble breathing but the horn sounds and
Not properly making use of the meat meant that the moose had been murdered. Sacrificed, for no greater cause than to sit there and rot, infested with maggots. This put the death of the moose into perspective for him. He not only suffered the loss of the meat, but had momentarily shared in the self-indulgent mentality of the same society he fought so hard against. It forced him to come to terms with the fact, that his kill was no longer a victory, but a waste.