In the novella, everybody suffers from a lack of purpose as an individual as this is seen through nearly all characters. In the beginning of the novella,Candy is seen as the only character who suffers from the attitudes of ageism in society. Being a person of no value due to his lack of physical strength on the ranch as we see his fate foreshadowed through the life of his dog. Like Candy his dog too suffers from ageism and to an extent becomes a burden to the ranch heads with its odour and lack of value as a dog. This zoomeophic imagery reveals the harsh realities of people who lack purpose or have reached their full potential in their life and how very often when animals and people no longer serve their purpose, they are discarded. The killing
