Violence In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about George and Lennie working at a ranch near Soledad, California during the Great Depression. The two characters are the complete opposites of each other, but they created a bond or love between each other. While George is a slim and smart guy, Lennie is a mentally ill person who has the mind of a 5 year old, but is physically strong. Another loving character in the novel is Candy. He is an old person who lost his right hand in a ranch accident. His old dog is a metaphor for Lennie. Steinbeck uses the acts of violence that George, Lennie, and Candy make to suggest that humans will commit violent acts that are either unintentional, accidental, or merciful just for the greater good of or to

Carlson started to suggest that Candy’s dog is just suffering and waiting to die. He also said that the dog is no good to himself and to Candy, so why don’t Candy just shoot it. “He ain’t no good to you, Candy. An’ he ain;t no good to himself. Why’n’t you shoot him, Candy?” (Steinbeck 44) In reality, Carlson didn’t really care about the dog or Candy, he just wanted to kill it for fun or because it stinks up the whole bunkhouse. This also proves the idea that nothing part of nature that is a living thing survives in the bunkhouse. At first, no one complained about the dog except for Carlson. Candy refused but then considered what Carlson said because Slim agreed with Carlson. Everyone thinks that Slim is the judge and whatever he says is the right thing to do. Candy then commits to the cause for his dog’s greater good. Candy didn’t want to kill the dog himself and lets Carlson to do it. When the dog was killed, Candy regrets on not killing his dog himself because he didn’t want someone who didn’t care for the dog to kill it. He wanted to show the dog that it was the best for him and it was for his mercy. Steinbeck is trying to convey the readers that true love can lead to merciful violent acts including