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Candy's Dog In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

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“I ain’t much good with on’y one hand.”(59), says Candy the swamper from the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Candy is a disabled farmworker who can’t work on anything but cleaning, and so is not included in many of the other farmworkers’ activities. Candy’s situation proves that disabled people are treated poorly and unfairly because of the belief that they contribute less to society. Candy’s dog is old and cannot herd sheep anymore, and Candy is missing his hand, so he cannot work well either. When the workers return from the fields, Carlson says “He ain’t no good to you...Why’n’t you shoot him, Candy?”(44). Carlson and the other workers want to shoot Candy’s dog because it smells horrible and is too old to herd sheep. Because Candy’s dog is so old, it cannot eat on its own and is dependent on others to survive, and this causes the workers to treat it unfairly. Furthermore, when Candy and Lennie explain to Crooks about their dream, he responds by saying “You’ll be a swamper here till they take you out in a box.”(75). Crooks is saying that because Candy is old and crippled, he will not be able to make his dream come true. …show more content…

Therefore, when George speaks to Slim about how he and Lennie travel together, he says that he “Used to play jokes on ‘im ‘cause he was too dumb even to take care of ‘imself .”(40). George saw that Lennie could not defend himself and so took advantage of his disability. Because Lennie could not live like anybody else, and could not contribute to society as well as others, he was made fun of and treated poorly. Additionally, after Crooks tells Lennie the troubles of being African-American, Lennie shows that he isn’t paying attention, prompting Crooks to say “ ‘Jus talks, an’ you don’t understand nothing.”(71). Crooks is teasing Lennie about his mental disability. Crooks is proving to Lennie that he cannot work and live on his own and usually needs somebody to assist

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Body Paragraph 2 Subsequently, people turn to cruelty in order to fulfill their esteem needs. When George and the rest of the guys are out in town to have a drink, Lennie sees Crooks light open and decides to go inside of his room. “Well I got a right to have a light . You gone on and get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room”(68).

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Slim told the story George had told him about this one time when George told Lennie to jump in a river. As soon as Lennie jumped in George instantly regretted telling Lennie to do so, as he quickly found out Lennie did not know how to swim. Slim claimed, “George was unaware that Lennie could not swim.” Before this he just thought Lennie was dumb. This was about the time Lennie decided to take Lennie under his wing.

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When you kill someone that has no control over themselves and depended on you for everything, that is considered murder. This is talking about George killing Lennie even though he has no clue what he is doing. In the book of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck this is exactly what happens.

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From the day that Lennie’s Aunt Clara died and from the day George took Lennie in as a friend George was always there for him. If Lennie did not have George, Lennie would have no one to protect him and save him from all of the bad things that he has done. Despite all of the dangers and problems Lennie got George and himself into, George benefited and also learned from Lennie’s mistakes. George needs his ignorant sidekick as much as Lennie needs George.

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Loyalty is a character trait that is highly valued in a true friendship. In Of Mice and Men Lennie Small and George Milton show loyalty by traveling together in the Great Depression when this was a time period when people would often travel alone. Jobs were hard to come by during the Great Depression, and harder for people with disabilities. As a person with a disability, it is necessary for Lennie to follow George’s guidance throughout the story in order to be successful and fit into society. He needs George’s help with everything he does and will believe anything George tells him.

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In the Novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, a variety of relationships, as well as the characters in them, meet a grizzly end. This is apparent in the deaths of both Lennie and Curley’s wife. Lennie’s dependency on Gerogoe led to him not being able to function and make rational decisions on his own. While Curley’s wife had no support from her husband and gave none in return leading to a lonely and loveless marriage, causing her to seek companionship wherever she could find it. Their unhealthy relationships led to their demise due to the lack of support they were receiving from their partners emotionally.

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Crooks, Candy and Lennie draw sympathy from the reader for their disabilities/disadvantages. Having disabilities/disadvantages on a plantation in the late 1930’s was a big deal. Working on a plantation was one of the only few places men could go to work. Having these disabilities/disadvantages can make it extremely hard for you to work and make the money you needed so badly. Here are a few of the disabled/disadvantaged men in the book.

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Lennie is oppressed for having a mental disability. Many people take advantage of him for his lack of intelligence, including George. When George explains to Slim how he knows Lennie, he mentions how he used to play jokes on Lennie for being so slow. He says, “‘Used to play jokes on ‘im ‘cause he was too dumb to take care of ‘imself. But he was too dumb to even know he had a joke played on him.

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Crooks is the opposite of Lennie and Goerge Because, unlike them, he has no friends on the ranch and must be alone. Crooks, throughout the novel, has proven that he wants to end his loneliness, but due to the discrimination he faces as a black man during the great depression, everyone is ill-tempered towards him; he likes to stay in his own space. Due to the way Crooks has been treated throughout his life; he becomes bitter and resentful. Crooks speaking to Lennie relieved him from his loneliness, although Crooks did not want to show it. In contrast to Crooks, Candy had a companion on the ranch, but that companion was not a human; it was a dog.

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He is an elderly man who used to be a handyman and is now only left with one hand due to an accident he had. He worries often that the boss of the ranch will see Candy as useless and kick him off. Candy also owns a dog that he has had since the dog was a puppy. As the dog was growing up it became a great sheepdog, but now that the dog is older it is seen as a “drag-footed sheepdog, with pale, blind eyes and a grizzled, moth-eaten coat” (pg. 24).

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Of Mice and Men is a great representation of it’s era because it demonstrates the depression and alienation felt during this time. One way it shows the depression of this time, was through the hard working environments and the emotions that came with working there. A prime example of this is when George says “ Guys like us, that work on the ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong in no place.

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"You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn 't no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody 'd shoot me..." - ( Steinbeck, 60. ) Candy, and his dog.

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They were seen as useless and as extra mouths to feed. Candy faces the endless fear that the boss will fire him once he loses his worth on the farm. Candy’s fears are portrayed when Carlson shoots his old dog because the dog is too old to be of use. He tells Lennie

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Scott Hamilton once stated, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” Disability is only an obstacle in a person's life, but it does not set the identity of that person. John Steinbeck's novel shows how disabled people are treated differently by writing about their heartbreak and sorrow. Many individuals with disabilities feel that a disability is a wall blocking them from achieving their goals. In our society, people are told what to be and what to do with their disability, but one should have the choice to carve their pathway to success.

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Crooks is very lonely and solitude for being alone every day. As a result, he wants to have friends who he can communicate with. No one has come into his room except for Slim and the boss, so when Lennie and Candy come, it is difficult for Crooks to “conceal his pleasure with anger” (75). Although he wants to express anger about people coming into his room, inside he is happy about it and enjoys it. This instability and loneliness that he has leads him to say how he could work for George, Lennie, and Candy on their farm.

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