Part 3: Of Mice and Men
By: Hanna Wurdack
Part three of OMAM was very interesting. In this section I clearly noticed the dream, Candy's dog, and the fight. In part two I talked about the dog, Candy, foreshadowing and symbolism. I found Candy and his dog very interesting, so I have decided to blog about that again.
On page 40 I observed how George described how he first came to the responsibility of Lennie. "I know his Aunt Clara. She took him when he was a baby and raised him up. When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin'. Got kinda used to each other after a little while," this quote showed how Lennie became George's companion. It seems they had known each other for a long time, and got used to each other's presences. '"God awmighty, that dog stinks. Get him outta here Candy!"' said Carlson. Candy replied,'"I been around him so much I never notice how he stinks."' This is kind of like how George (Candy) has been around Lennie (the dog) so much he doesn't notice his mental in capabilities, he just is used to dealing with them. Then Carlson explains to Candy that the dog is only suffering and that he should shoot him and give him peace. Why would Carlson mainly want to kill Candy's dog just because it smelled. Was it symbolic for the power totem pole, to just get rid of one more thing that wasn't important towards progress? Maybe it was because the dog didn't do anything except create problems? "No, I couldn't do that. I had 'im too long," replies Candy. George has known Lennie long also. Lennie and George are best friends and companions together, just like the dog and Candy. Even though the dog would be better of not alive, because he's so old and hurt, Candy still cannot bear to have him gone. After a lot of pressure from all the men telling him to just have Carlson shoot the dog, Candy finally gives in. I honestly have no idea why he agreed. The dog was his friend and they depended on one another. Even though he was old and better off dead, how could he let Carlson shoot his dog? After reading this section I connected George and Lennie to these two characters. Will George have to decide to have someone shoot Lennie because he'd be better off dead, just because he can't control his actions and is mentally disabled? This foreshadowing and symbolism had already become too intense, and then I got to the bottom of page 61. "I ought to have shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to have let no stranger shoot my dog," this made me think very hard. Will George eventually have to shoot Lennie?
I agree because we all know that this author, John Steinbeck likes to foreshadow. I connected Candy and the old dog as to George and Lennie. Later, Candy said, “I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.” This affected me by making me think, Candy knew he should have killed his dog, maybe George will be the one who has to kill Lennie. Just like Lennie, the dog came with pros and cons. George las lived with Lennie for a long time, like the dog with Candy. The dog was smelly and Lennie was disabled. George and Candy were close with Lennie and the dog, but their cons might just overpower the pros, and that may have caused Candy to have Carlson shoot his dog. At that time, the disabled people were discriminated, so would that alone cause George to kill Lennie? Candy decided that the dog needed to be killed because Slim had the authority and he decided the dog should be killed. Maybe someone important impels George to kill Lennie. The dog was crippled and it would be a better idea to have him killed instantly rather than to suffer and then die. Maybe Lennie was like that, too. Maybe he was better off dead because it would be hard for George to watch him be discriminated and suffer. Do you think the killing of the dog was justified?
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