Jacinta Legorreta
February 21, 2013
English 2A
Candy is an old man who has dedicated all of his life to ranch work, and the thing he most desires is freedom. Candy longs for the day when he doesn’t need to work as hard, under the poor conditions he has worked all those years, and live a peaceful life. Candy’s age put together with the fact that he is missing an arm are not beneficial things when working on a ranch. There is a constant fear in Candy’s mind of getting expelled from the ranch and it makes the thought of being free someday, a dominating one. Feelings of being lonesome are commonly portrayed through Candy, another reason for the dream that Candy shares with George and Lennie. This dream often distracts him from his harsh reality. Even though the men in the ranch can leave whenever they wish, the feeling of being locked into their lives is still present.
The desolate and tiring life that most men live in the ranch is a factor that contributes to the wish of freedom. The dream that George and Lennie have is the same than that of Candy. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place.” (Steinbeck pg. 13) George and Lennie are constantly speaking of how they have themselves to take care of each other. This brotherhood is something that Candy, a forlorn character, doesn’t have. Feelings of loneliness and being lonesome are factors that cause Candy to dream of obtaining freedom. The work done by the workers is hard and difficult to do if you are old and handicapped.
As he grows older, he also grows more incompetent to the work demanded at the ranch. "They says he wasn't no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody'd shoot me. I won't have no place to go, an' I can't get no more jobs." (Pg. 60 Steinback) Candy is accepting the fact that he is getting old and tired. George and Lennie’s dream of freedom becomes more attractive to him once he realizes that, like his dog, his life on that ranch is coming to an end. The dream of living on a farm gives his life purpose and makes him keep on working even though his life is becoming more unbearable each day. The eagerness expressed by Candy when he finds out about an opportunity of gaining freedom shows the desperation in him.
As Candy thinks about George and Lennie’s plan of living on a farm, he becomes seduced by the thought and is willing to give up his life savings to accomplish this serene lifestyle. "And they give me two hundred and fifty dollars 'cause I lost my hand. An' I got fifty more saved up right in the bank right now. That's three hundred..." (Steinbeck 59) The money that Candy is willing to contribute to the plan of buying a farm is a lot and shows how much Candy desires this life. This dream is consistent along almost all the novel.
The event of Lennie killing Curley’s wife serves as an awakening from this dream to reality in George’s case. This doesn’t happen for Candy. “You an’ me can there an’ live nice, can’t we George? Can’t we?” (Steinbeck 94) After Lennie kills Curley’s wife, the first thing that Candy thinks is: What is going to happen with the plan of living in the little farm? This event is a hint that tells us that the dream is never going to be achieved, and the thought of this devastates Candy. The thing that kept him motivated in life was the possibility of gaining freedom; a feeling he would not feel anytime.
Harsh life in the ranch, loneliness, and growing old and useless, are all factors that cause men like Candy want to give up everything to gain freedom. The result of many years of hard work has gained him a small amount of money, all of which he is eager to spend to buy a farmhouse and not have to work for anyone but himself there. A life of freedom is a dream fantasized by many and accomplished by little; blinding people from reality and giving men like Candy a purpose in life. The fact that this life is never going to happen is a thought present deep inside most characters’ mind, but it is devastating and difficult to accept to oneself. 