Of Mice and Men Symbols Essay

In the book of "Of Mice and Men" there are a lot of symbols to look at, the one that I found the most interesting, was Candy's dog. Candy's dog represented the end of dreams, grieving, and new beginnings. Candy loved his dog a lot, and their relationship was truly a mans best friend sort of thing, and when that dog died, a part of Candy went with him.


First off, the dreams that ended and died when the dog died. Although in the story they never really mentioned any dreams that Candy may have had before the dog died, you just knew that he had them. Candy and his dog have been together ever since Candy's dog was a pup. They were together and there for each other no matter what, and I know that sounds odd to have a dog be there for a human, but that is exactly what it was. Candy's dog was his true campion, so any dreams that he had when the dog was younger and when he was younger is now definitely dead and gone with the dog.


Along with the dreams that ended and died, was also the grieving period of the death of his dog. From the moment that they took the dog outside to be killed, Candy started to grieve for his life and the life that he used to have with the dog. He knew that all of that was gone, and he felt like he would never have another chance to be happy ever again. Candy just couldn't come to terms with the fact that something that was so precious to him was about to be gone within one blow to the head. it was a sad time for him and he had to grieve and just try to hope that one day he would have more dreams to maybe look forward to and achieve.


This brings me to my final point, which is the hopes of a new beginning. Candy was given a new little puppy that he could raise, and this to me symbolized the new dreams and beginnings that he could maybe have. The dog to me said that you can be anything that you want to be and I am your ticket to all of those new hopes and dreams. This to me also gave him the will back to want to live and be a new and better Candy, and even though this new dog wouldn't replace his old dog, it still gave him the strength to keep moving on.



So in the end both of Candy's dogs represented, grieving, the end of dreams, and in the end new beginnings. This just symbolizes that when something bad happens, no matter how horrible, there will be some kind of way that you can lift yourself back up. Although it may not seem like it at that very bad moment, it will eventually happen, and all you have to do is just wait.