Of Mice and Men
Prompt #17 · Of Mice and Men
Prompt Type: Character Arc
Analyze how Steinbeck develops Candy's character from his introduction with his old dog through his investment in the dream farm. How does his arc parallel broader themes about aging, usefulness, and dignity in a harsh economic system? Explain how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Quote 1
“You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn't no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody'd shoot me.”
Chapter 3
Argument
Early in Candy's arc, this quote establishes his baseline fear of obsolescence through the explicit parallel between himself and his dog, using parallelism to equate loss of usefulness with loss of dignity and the right to live—foreshadowing his desperate need for an alternative.
Quote 2
“S'pose I went in with you guys. Tha's three hunderd an' fifty bucks I'd put in. I ain't much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some.”
Chapter 3
Argument
At the turning point of Candy's arc, this quote demonstrates his transformation from passive victim to active agent as he offers his life savings to join the dream farm, attempting to purchase both usefulness ('cook and tend the chickens') and dignity despite acknowledging 'I ain't much good.'
Quote 3
“You an’ me can get that little place, can’t we, George? You an’ me can go there an’ live nice, can’t we, George? Can’t we?”
Chapter 5
Argument
In the final stage of Candy's arc after the dream's collapse, the desperate repetition and pleading questions reveal his regression to powerlessness, as he clings to an impossible fantasy because the alternative—returning to his status as disposable labor—means accepting the fate of his dog.
Quote 4
Chapter 3
Argument
This quote deepens Candy's early-arc despair by revealing his recognition that he failed to preserve his own dignity—he allowed a stranger to execute his dog rather than taking responsibility himself, a regret that directly motivates his later desperate investment in the dream farm as a way to reclaim agency before others 'can' him too.
Quote 5
“I seen hunderds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads. Hunderds of them. They come, an’ they quit an’ go on; an’ every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ’em ever gets it.”
Chapter 4
Argument
Crooks's cynical observation about 'hunderds of men' who never achieve their dream of land provides crucial thematic context for Candy's arc, positioning his investment in the farm not as unique hope but as participation in a systemic pattern of exploitation where aging workers cling to impossible dreams because the economic system offers no dignified alternative to obsolescence.