Of Mice And Men Symbolism Essay

“Leave me ALONE!” Do we really mean that? There will be a time in your life where you come to the realization there really is know one to talk, laugh, argue, or just spend time with. “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” - Mother Teresa. According to Google Dictionary loneliness is defined as “a sadness because one has no friends or company.” In the novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, it follows a pair of migrant field workers, George Milton and Lennie Smalls, in California as they move South from Weed to work in a ranch in Soledad, which not so coincidently may stand for “solitude” or “alone”. George and Lennie are the best of friends, all though they are opposites. After they find jobs on the ranch,
they encounter many other workers and residents who are in a state of isolation, they all play a major role in the development and destruction of the dreams George and Lennie share as they hope to one day own a ranch.For both the author and the reader, the stylistic element of symbolism and characterization has the greatest influence in the development of the recurring theme that anyone can suffer from loneliness, causing pain to almost anyone.
In order to unfold the theme of anyone being able to suffer from the emotional pain of loneliness Steinbeck’s uses the technique of symbolism to create a symbolic meaning to attribute to the ideas and qualities of a person, place, or object. Although present in all characters to some extent, the message of loneliness is especially present in Candy. Candy is an old ranch worker “swamper”. He has spent the finest years of his life working on someone else’s ranch, only to cause him more harm than good leaving him with little money for himself. Candy’s dog was once a very productive sheepherder, but with old age he lost his usefulness, and has had a so called “target on his back” bringing know help to the ranch. Candy in a way, has a more damaged life than his own dog, he has almost emotionally destroyed himself. This emotional hardship causes him discomfort even when talking about what may have to happen to his
dog: "Well-hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup" (44).This is the same issue that is keeping Candy from making his life better and taking full control of it. He can't stand up for his dog, because he can't stand up for himself and is too side tracked to make sure his life is going on the right path. Up until the death of Candy’s dog, Candy maintained a relationship with his dog that stopped him from being isolated and alone. After the death of his dog, he struggles even more, by sharing on the future plans or “dreams” of George and Lennie: “S’pose I went in with you guys” (59). Candy has no one, all he had was his dog and now that his dog is dead, he is trying to find someone new or somewhere he belongs. Someone to love, or better yet someone to love him. In a way Candy’s dog symbolizes the love and happiness Candy has. When the dog was killed by Carlson there was know happiness left for him. He was alone, isolated, and hurt. Candy’s dog symbolizes how fast you can fall into the pain of being by yourself. One second you're happy and with your best friend, and in the blink of an eye you're forced to make a life altering decision, where your whole life can crumble to pieces. The way that Steinbeck symbolizes the dog, helps support the development of the theme because without the symbolic meaning that Candy’s dog represents all the happiness and love Candy had, the reader would not be able to see how anyone can suffer from loneliness and how quickly your whole life can change.