Character Analysis Of The Dog In John Steinbeck's Of Mice Of Men

Many people love and care for their dog, but could they let someone else kill their dog?Most people would not be able to handle letting someone take the life of their dog. In the book Of Mice of Men by John Steinbeck a main character has to go through the murder of his beloved dog. His dog is old and smells, but Candy still cared for it. The killing of Candy's dog was symbolic, showed foreshadowing, and was a bit cruel. Candy's dog was a symbol of Candy in the story. Carlson explains the details of the dog saying "That dog of Candy's is so God damn old he can't hardly walk. Stinks like hell too" (36). This shows that the dog is very similar to Candy himself. Candy is old and also can hardly walk. Slowly, Candy is wilting away along with the dog. Carlson continues to complain about the dog

The dog was not given its full opportunity to live out its life. Carlson says "I'll put the old devil out of his misery right now" (47). Carlson thinks of the dog as nothing and does not have anything feelings towards it. He shoots the dog and kills it not allowing it to live out its life. Before Carlson ever shoots the dog he says "He won't even feel it" (48). He doesn't ever stop to think if killing the dog is a good or bad idea. Many people would say that is was a bad idea and that he shouldn't have shot it. It was cruel to not give the dog the chance it deserved, and Carlson should have let the dog finish its life on its own. The killing of Candy's dog was symbolic, showed foreshadowing, and was a bit cruel. The dog symbolized Candy in that they both are old useless to the farm. The death of Candy's dog foreshadows Lennie's death because they both die in the same way. Also, by killing Candy's dog, they never gave it a chance to live its life, making it a bit of a cruel death. Candy loved his dog and it was his best friend. Dogs do not deserve to be killed in cruel ways, but should rather be cared for by their