Symbolism Of The Dog In Of Mice And Men

Written in 1937, John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men reflects how society treats the lonely. Of Mice and Men tells a story about two best friends who go through struggles the of the real world together. Steinbeck illuminates the theme of love, and provides a look at how a strong amount of love toward another requires cruelty in good relationships. Specific elements of this theme include Candy and his dog, and the George and Lennie.

In this story, Candy has a dog that is very old, partially blind, and smells terrible, and Carlson shoots it. Candy’s dog symbolizes himself in some ways, because the both of them are crippled, old, and incapable of a lot. Their ages and abilities cause the level of respect toward them to be very low. The dog didn't help with anything, it had no impact on anything, and did not really do much at all. Candy had to make the decision to have Carlson shoot his dog that had been with him since he was a pup. He finally decided to have him shot him, but then regretted his decision. “I oughtta of shot that dog …show more content…
George believes that the mouse is gross, filthy, and very unhygienic. To get the mouse from Lennie's pocket George had to yell. He said “Give it here!” a few times just to get the mouse from Lennie (5-6). Lennie doesn't want to give up the mouse because he likes petting soft things. Having the mouse in hand keeps Lennie comfortable and gives him something to do while they walk. When George throws the mouse, he runs back to find it and gets very angry with George for taking away his only source of happiness he had at the moment. George was harsh with Lennie to get the mouse away from him, and had to yell just to make him give it up. George doesn’t mean to scare Lennie or hurt his feelings. George really does love Lennie and wants the best for him. This is an example of strong love toward another causing