Candy essays

Candy because of his age and disability is an outcast on this ranch we see this when he does not go into town with the rest of the ranchworkers which highlights how excluded Candy is. The exclusion of Candy is another indication of the inequalities in American society in that it was very ageist and discriminative.

Even though people during the depression tended not to trust each other, Candy is open about his thoughts and feelings. Candy is openly criticising Curley and his wife who could easily make him lose his job. His sexist opinion of Curley's wife highlights the views of women in 1930's America.

Candy was thought to be low down in society because he's old and unfit to do hard work due to his accident with his hand. Steinbeck constantly reminds the reader of his weakness. 'The old man squirmed uncomfortably.' The word 'old' highlights Candy's weakness, and his lack of power is emphasised by 'squirmed'.

Candy is an old, disabled, isolated, unhappy, lonely, insecure, swamper. Candy's loneliness is greatly attributed to the loss of his hand and his age. He believes he is a worthless old man who, like his old dog, is just wasting away. Candy also offers much symbolism and parallelism to a few characters in the novel.