Tuesday, June 3, 2008

of mice and men

Of Mice and Men: Symbols

When most people think of an old friend, they think of great memories, shared times, and aging pastures. Who would have ever thought that such a wonderful friend would be seen as some type of dragging agony of suffrage? In the book entitled “Of Mice and Men”, Candy’s old dog symbolized crushed dreams. This symbolism was carried throughout the book until the dog was murdered. When the dog died so did Candy’s aspiration, energy, and hopes of succeeding in life. There was someone that surprisingly lived the same life Candy did in the struggle.
As vividly as I can remember, the sound of the urging bullet tearing through the dog’s head, not only ripped though one’s skull. It also sounded off emotions and signaled fear that Candy was now in this war called life, alone. In desperate measures, Candy turned to his only other option, himself. In a dark corner, he did the only thing that seemed as if could numb his body and hoping to heal his wombs. After thinking of the fatal womb repeatedly, Candy seemed to be the blame because he wasn’t the one to cast his dreams away, somehow to seemingly and infinitively put them to rest.
While reading the book, you could almost see the smile on Lenny’s face as he elaborated on “eating off the fat of the land”, coincidently, Candy wasn’t the only one brewing up unsettled dreams. Somehow it seemed that both George and Candy’s windmills were blowing in the same direction. Seemingly cooperating, Lenny agreed that he would tend the rabbits. In this fantasy world that they hoped to someday be reality, they set aside the drama and the “negative attention” and promised that they would make a family with life. They agreed with a very famous slogan without ever mentioning it, “if you cant beat it then join it, life being their only competition.
With a decrepit hand, bent back, and aging body, it was quite obvious that Candy could not do too much of anything on his own. In this condition, he came to the conclusion that his dog was the only one that felt his pain, breathed his air, the one that was on his side, the one that had to fight the same battle everyday. Not only the fight of life but also the fight with integrity, discipline and his demeanor. Curly was the heir of the throne and these battles were with one of his own, the master. This dream that Candy hoped to grasp, would settle all of these differences that the dog had already tragically lost too.
Like may teams, members lost, no the dog will no longer guard the great house with the white picket fence that once only existed in a dream. Lenny lost the fight to life, dreams were crushed, no, the rabbits will no longer be tamed, nor the chickens be rounded by him. Both Candy and George struggled to get where they felt they belonged in life, where they left there best friends off in the ongoing chapters of aspiration, energy and hopes of struggling in life. If you’re interested in success beyond the struggle and are wondering when will the storm end, it won’t. It would be wrong to convince you otherwise that would be wrong but if you need encouragement to never set aside your dream this is the book for you.

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