The Role Of The Dog In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In the novella Of Mice and Men, readers may have been moved by the struggle of a character’s love for another when faced with difficult obstacles. For example, although not ready to, Candy was forced to give up his dog and allow Carlson to shoot and bury him under the pretense that they should put him out of his misery. “For a moment [Candy] continued to stare at the ceiling. Then he rolled slowly over and faced the wall and lay silent,” (Steinbeck 49). Because of Candy’s heartbreak, readers are forced to understand how Candy’s dog was his family. Furthermore, the insensitive and apathetic farm workers symbolized how they believed people on the farm were replaceable. It served as Carlson’s tacit warning to Candy about how because he was both

“‘Go on, George. Ain’t you gonna give me no more hell?’ ‘No,’ said George,” (Steinbeck 104). After George finds Lennie in the brush, he understands there was a bloodthirsty search party looking for Lennie. Instead of running away like they had done in the past, George shoots Lennie instead of allowing him to suffer at the hands of Curley. As Candy wished he had been able to shoot his dog himself, George understood that Lennie would have a much more merciful death at his hands rather than either being killed by Curley in revenge or being put in a jail or asylum, making the reader understand how their own moral dilemmas may place them in a position to have to make an uncomfortable choice. Lastly, although groups of people on the farm cared for each other and wanted to protect each other, ‘love’ is portrayed in another way through the relationship of Curley and Curley’s wife. Before her death, Curley’s wife confides in Lennie, “‘Well I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I oughtn’t to. I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.’” (Steinbeck