Of Mice And Men Candy's Dog Analysis

John Steinbeck’s novel carries of lot of symbolism on its pages. It is owing to these symbols the author revealed the characters to the reader. One of the most important symbols of the novel is the symbolism of the Candy’s dog. As Candy’s dog is no longer needed and has given birth to new strong sheepdogs the only possible resolution is to kill the “unnecessary” animal. This killing is hidden behind the motive of not making the dog suffer. Once somebody becomes weak – he is no longer needed. Though Candy loves his dog he does not stop Carlson from killing it. The key of this symbolism is that Candy himself is an “old sheepdog” and Lennie becomes an “old sheepdog” at the end of the novel.