Of Mice and Men Group

Question:

yusun
yusun
Student
High School - 10th Grade

What are the characteristics of Carlson in "Of Mice and Men"?

I can see that he is sensitive of the smell but what else can I find?

And how can I study literature more effectively and efficiently?

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Posted by yusun on Saturday October 18, 2008 at 8:05 AM and tagged with candy, candys dog, carlson, characteristics, of mice and men, study.

Answers:


  1. dymatsuoka

    eNotes Editor

    Carlson is the most arrogant of the men, and the least sensitive to the feelings of others.  Though he argues that it would be more humane to put Candy's old dog down, stressing that "he's all stiff with rheumatism...he ain't no good to you, Candy, an' he ain't no good to himself...why'n't' you shoot him...if you was to take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head...right there, why he'd never know what hit him", Carlson's motives are actually selfish.  Candy wants the dog gone because its smell offends him; he has no sense of how Candy loves the dog, and how difficult it is to think of putting him down (Chapter 3).

    Carlson's lack of sensitivity for the feelings of others are further emphasized at the end of the story, after George, knowing that Lennie is doomed, kills him to spare him from suffering he will never understand.  George is understandably distraught after shooting his friend, and Slim empathetically is commiserating with him.  Carlson, however, watches the two, and callously wonders, "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?" (Chapter 6).

    One way you might study characterization more efficiently is to color-code when you annotate the text.  If you highlight the names of each of the main characters with a different color when they appear in scenes as you read, you can later go back and refer to them individually, review their actions, and develop a clearer picture of what they are like.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/ofmice/
    http://www.enotes.com/ofmice/characters

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    Posted by dymatsuoka on Saturday October 18, 2008 at 11:03 AM


  2. ms-mcgregor Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Carlson is typical of ranch hands who see animals more as property than pets. Carlson thinks Candy's dog smells but he also thinks the dog is useless and needs to be "put out of his misery". He doesn't truly understand that the dog is all Candy has left. Carlson still has his health and doesn't seem to have a close friend. However, even Slim seems to agree that it's time for the dog to go. After all, when Slim's dog had too many puppies to care for, Slim had no qualms about drowning some of them. Carlson thinks he is being compassionate when he offers to shoot the dog himself. However, after the dog is dead, Candy says he should have "done the job" himself. This foreshadows the ending of the novel when George must decide what to do about Lennie.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/ofmice

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    Posted by ms-mcgregor on Saturday October 18, 2008 at 11:05 AM