1. As it gets old Candy’s dog, a once great herder and companion, becomes a large nuisance rather than a help around the ranch. This prompts Carlson to urge Candy to put the dog “out of its misery”. This dog is regarded as smelly, toothless, and useless; all reasons Carlson gave candy to persuade the extermination of the creature. Candy’s only reason to keep the old sheep dog alive was that he had raised it since it was a pup. Although I believe this scene alludes to a couple of parts in this story, one that is particularly prevalent is at the end of the book when Lennie is shot by George, just as Candy’s dog was shot by Carlson; quick and painlessly. By connecting Lennie and the dog’s death, you must think about how these characters relate. In a sense both of these characters are being put out of their own misery. Candy’s sheep dog is being put out of his misery for much more obvious reasons; he is smelly, useless, lethargic, and generally unhealthy. But reasoning Lennie’s death is much more abstract. Lennie’s near inhuman strength and size work mostly as a curse to him because of his personality. Lennie just wants to care for and pet animals, but because of his strength he kills them accidentally. This causes Lennie much distress, and despite his desires he never changes throughout the book: he gets in trouble with women, killing one and causing the other to accuse him of rape, even though his intentions are of utmost innocence. By shooting Lennie George is releasing him from his pain of destroying the things he loves. 2. In this novel nearly every character shows discontentment with their current position in life. One character who shows this difference between their reality and their dreams is Curley’s wife. She brings up a couple of times that she could have “went with shows”, claiming multiple men had complimented her on her Hollywood potential. Another character who exhibited a clash between reality and their dreams was Crooks. He dreams of not being discriminated against. Although he is well aware of the prejudice around him, after being convinced by Lennie and Candy that this farm house could be a reality, he can imagine being on the farm with the three other white men despite the discrimination against his race. Candy, a man who probably when young imagined owning his own piece of land, recognises the potential for this dream to come true when introduced the idea by George and Lennie. Although his dream seems near reach when discussed, after Lennie’s death George dismisses the idea. This crash land to reality is sudden and devastating. A man, Candy, who believes he is on the route to termination because of his injury will be left with only a small stake, loneliness, and no job to live the rest of his life. 3. Candy is just a sweet old man, which corresponds with his name quite well. Curly’s hair, being tight and curly, matches very well with his personality. Curly is always uptight and suspicious. His wife walks around the farm and flirts with the other
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Crooks is a black man on the ranch with a crooked back, because of this he is not accepted by many of the ranch workers, and becomes quite a bitter person. When Lennie wants to enter his room he becomes very territorial, but after he realizes Lennie means no wrong he seems to enjoy his company. During the time Lennie is in his room he also show us that he not only has a crooked back but also a crooked personality. Deceivingly, he tries to scare Lennie telling him George isn’t going to come back to the ranch, and his dreams of owning his own land are a joke. Lennie Small is nowhere near small as far as physicality goes, but nearly everything else about him is: ego, brain, etc. This story is chopped full of examples of the strong taking out the weak; Carlson killed Candy’s dog, Lennie kills many mice, a pup, and Curly’s wife. By killing Lennie at the end the author makes the reader think past the physical strength and size Lennie possess and think how he is weaker than those who wanted to kill him. Lennie is mentally disabled and never seems to learn from mistakes he
Crooks is a black man on the ranch with a crooked back, because of this he is not accepted by many of the ranch workers, and becomes quite a bitter person. When Lennie wants to enter his room he becomes very territorial, but after he realizes Lennie means no wrong he seems to enjoy his company. During the time Lennie is in his room he also show us that he not only has a crooked back but also a crooked personality. Deceivingly, he tries to scare Lennie telling him George isn’t going to come back to the ranch, and his dreams of owning his own land are a joke. Lennie Small is nowhere near small as far as physicality goes, but nearly everything else about him is: ego, brain, etc. This story is chopped full of examples of the strong taking out the weak; Carlson killed Candy’s dog, Lennie kills many mice, a pup, and Curly’s wife. By killing Lennie at the end the author makes the reader think past the physical strength and size Lennie possess and think how he is weaker than those who wanted to kill him. Lennie is mentally disabled and never seems to learn from mistakes he