Of Mice and Men GCSE Candy Essay Question - PLEASE MARK/GRADE

How important is Candy to the novel,with reference to social and historical background of "of mice and men" [20 marks]

Steinbeck uses Candy to represent his ideas of fear and loneliness, which were common feelings due to the amount of discrimination in society at the time.

He is introduced to us to as a kind man, who is enthusiastic to show Lennie and 'George around the ranch. He is also keen on filling them in on all the gossip and trivial drama that occurs. His opinion on Curley and his wife are more or less negative " Curley's married a tart" suggesting they're not friends. which is perfectly representative of the lack of friendships that men in the 1930s had. this was because men moved around a lot to find work during the depression, which meant none of them were especially close .

In part three we see an extension of candy kindness when he offers to pitch in his savings, in order to be included in George and Lennie's dream. His willingness to do so shows his instant determination to latch onto the first opportunity to leave the ranch and fulfil his typical american dream.The quote "they'll can me purty soon" shows that candy is aware of and accepts his connotations of being worthless. He gains these connotation because of the ageism that was ever so common in the 1930's. Steinbeck includes this idea to show the position of old people at the time, and there position in society.Therefore we see candy representing ideas of desperation to feel worth and fear of what is yet to come.

Candy's major downfall of emotions occurs in part three, as Carlson begins to question the importance of his "old" "smelly" dog. Candy remains calm but is ultimately defensive of his dog saying he's "had him since a pup".This quote shows the companionship between candy and the dog ,there is a possibility that the isolation he receives from the other men on the ranch, because of his old age, could be bearable as he still has his dog.this links back to the idea that none of the men have real bonds because they are constantly moving around looking for work during th depression.

Candy has a Major role within the story and has been put there for a very good reason. Candy's relationship with his dog is also very important being as it is very similar to George’s and Lennie’s. especially when you compare the quotes "well hell i had him so long" (Candy) and "Had him so long" (George), The two quotes are inexplicably similar. this leads to Steinbecks foreshadowing of what happens to the dog. which makes it very easy for us as readers to predict the ending of the book which Steinbeck has done very creatively.

Candy dog is very important when analysing candy character.‘That dog ain’t no good to himself I wisht somebody’d shoot me if I got an’ a cripple’ When Carlson said this he wasn’t actually talking about Candy he was talking about his dog. although we as the reader can tell he is referring to candy . This supports the idea that the members of the ranch don’t care about him and basically states there is no point in him being alive. They use the dog to express their feelings towards Candy.

at the end of the novel we see the ultimate deterioration of candy's hope and outlook on his future. After Lennie is killed Candy is distraught about the dream being obliterated along with his hope. Whereas the other men all mourn the death of Lennie. this could suggest that candy saw Lennie's death as inevitable, and therefore it didn't phase him. On the other hand this could be Steinbeck trying to contrast candy against all the other men by presenting their differences, and confirming all the previous ideas of Candy being an outcast because of his age.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

EllieVickers45

It's pretty good, maybe some more quotes to back up your points. Also not all the characters mourned Lennie, only Slim and George 'you hadda George'. The lack of remorse of the other men is shown by when Curley says 'I'll shoot that son-of-a-bitch myself' and Carlson says at the end of the novel, something like 'what eating them two guys': they don't understand personal attachment as they are lonely ranch men who 'don't give a damn' about each other.

Also, Candy tries to keep the dream alive even after it is doomed . 'Now Candy spoke his greatest fear. 'You an me can get that little place can't we?': shows how he knows the dream is dead because of the fate of Lennie but he tries to persuade himself there is hope.

Hope this helps :smile:

Of Mice and Men GCSE Candy Essay Question - PLEASE MARK/GRADE

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