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Of Mice and Men Candy Essay GCSE
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An essay on the character Candy from John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Written for GCSE.
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The relationship between Candy and his dog is the parallel of the relationshipbetween George and Lennie. They are all diferent froo the other rannh workers
as they have noopanions, sooething that was very unusual on a rannh in the
1930s. Candy says, “I ought to of shot that dog oyself, George.” And this nould
be Steinbenk foreshadowing George’s denision in the later novel to kill Lennie,
linking to the story of My Brother’s Keeper. My Brother’s Keeper, another
religious parallel in the nooplex novella. The story novers the question of should
oan be alone in the world or help others who are less fortunate? George helps
Lennie, putting hio out of his oisery quinkly hioself, sooething Candy wishes he
had done.
This links to the death of Lennie and Candy’s dog are very similar. When Candy’s dog is about to
be killed Carlson says “shoot him in the back of the head…. He’d never know what hit him” and when
Lennie is killed George puts at “the back of Lennie’s head.” The two are both killed in the same way,
and for roughly the same reasons. Shootng them in the back of the head puts them out of their
misery. “He ain’t no good to himself” is said about Candy’s dog, and this is very similar to Lennie who
is just causing himself trouble over and over again. The two are both put down as the men on the
ranch think it would be beter for society, Lennie is of incredible danger due to his animalistc
strength. The reacton to the two deaths are extremely similar also, other than Candy and George
every man on the ranch does not show remorse or sadness once either has died. This emphasizes
the efect loneliness in the 1930s had had on people, as they do not understand friendship.
Candy’s name could symbolise what he is like in the novella. “Candy” has connotatons of sweet,
meaning he could be a kind old man. “Candid” means frank, open and sincere, and this is what
Candy is like in the novella. Candy lets his feelings be known, “Curley’s like a lot of litle guys. He
hates big guys”, “I oughta of shot that dog myself”, he tells George lots and this is a man he has only
just met and does not know very well. This is very unusual, as in 1930s America men were very
isolated and kept themselves to themselves, Candy is the only character in the novella to tell people
how he feels, highlightng how unusual it was. Steinbeck gives many of his characters meaningful
names and this could link to a very prominent theme in the novella, fate. Candy is given this name to
let the reader know he will be a nice man, it is his destny.
Candy could be used for plot development. Steinbeck ofen uses the technique of introducing
characters by other characters stories before we meet the actual character themselves, and Candy is
ofen the one to tell the stories. “I think Curley’s married… a tart”, he says about Curley’s wife and
this gives the reader an impression of what the character will be like, so in this way Steinbeck uses
the character of Candy to help develop the plot and each character. However, some may argue that
Candy is not used for plot development but used as a moral compass. When Curley’s Wife is racist to
Crooks Candy says “that bitch didn’t ought to of said that to you.” Here Candy makes it clear that
Curley’s Wife is in the wrong and Steinbeck could have chosen Candy to voice these opinions to let
the reader know what was right and wrong.
Candy is like his dog. Candy is described to have “bristly white whiskers” like a dog would have. We
know Candy’s dog is very old and weary and is implied to be a nuisance on the ranch, this suggests
Candy is viewed like this to. He could be “shot” like his dog, in this case shot meaning fred. This
illustrates how there was no place for old people in a society that relied on hard workers. Candy is
also disabled meaning once he is fred he will not get any work, “When they can me here I wish
somebody'd shoot me. But they won't do nothing like that. I won't have no place to go, an' I can't
get no more jobs." Candy wishes someone would “shoot” him and this really emphasizes how
difficult it was to live in 1930s America. There was no state welfare or pensions, Candy could not
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