DanielIrwin

3HonorsEnglish
OConnor
10February2015
TheDeathofaSignificantBeing
Itisnearlyimpossibleforsomeonetoliveafulllifetimewithoutlosingexperiencinga
significantlossofsomesort.
Inthetwonovellas
TheRedPony
and
OfMiceandMen,
both
fictionbookswrittenbyJohnSteinbeck,thereisarecurringtheme:themeaningfuldeathofa
lovedonewhichhappenedforthebettermentofeachotherandsociety
.Inthebook
OfMice
andMen
Georgedecidestoendhisbestfriendslifebecauseitwouldbenefitthembothifhe
wasdeadratherthanalive.Inthenovella
TheRedPony
Jody'sfirstpony,Gabilan,mustbe
putdowntoendJody,Jodysfamily,andhisownsuffering.
Tobegin,inthenovelOfMiceandMenCandymustputhisdogdown.However,heis
nottheonetodoso,Carlsondoes.Steinbeckproceedstosay,
Carlsonsaid,ThewayI'dshoot
him,hewouldn'tfeelnothing.I'dputthegunrightthere.Hepointedwithhistoe.Rightbackof
thehead.Hewouldn'tevenquiver.CandylookedforhelpfromfacetofaceCandylayrigidly
onhisbedstaringattheceiling(Steinbeck4548).

Thisclearlyshowsthattherewasnoeasy
wayforhimtogoout,butithadtobedone.Candystruggledtodealwithitsincehelayrigidly
onhisbedstaringattheceiling.Thismusthavebeenverytoughforhimbecauseaman'sbest
friendishisdog,andthereisnobetterwaytodescribetheirrelationshipwitheachother.This
benefittedCandybecausethatdogwasmostlikelyholdinghimbackinhisworksincethedog
neverhelped,justanotherthingtotakecareof.Notonlythat,everyoneontheranchknewthat

thedogstimehadcome,andthatitwasjustamatteroftimeuntilhekickedthebucket.Noone
exactlylikethedogexceptforCandysincethedogsmelledsobadandwasjustintheway.To
conclude,itmayhavebeenhardforCandytoletthepoordogdie,butitendedupbenefitinghim
bylettinghimclearhismindandnothavingtostressaboutkeepinghimalive.
Proceedingforwards,GeorgeofallpeopleendsupkillingLennie,hisbestfriend.
Steinbeckwrites,
Georgebegan.HereachedinhissidepocketandbroughtoutCarlsonsLuger
hesnappedoffthesafety,andthehandandgunlayonthegroundbehindLenniesback.He
lookedatthebackofLennieshead,attheplacewherethespineandskullwerejoinedLennie
giggledwithhappiness.Anliveonthefattathelan.Lenniebegged,Lesdoitnow.Lesget
theplacenow..(Steinbeck105106)
ThisdemonstratesthatGeorgeknewthatLenniewas
goingtodieverysoon,butnotfromanaturalcause.Georgedecidedtoendhislifehimselfsohe
canknowthathimandLenniewouldendtheirrelationshiponagoodnote,andsothatLennie
wouldnotcauseanymoreharmtoanyone.Lennieseemedtobesatisfiedwithhisdeathsincehe
viewedhisdeathasanescapetothefarmthatheneverowned.Also,itwasobviouslytoughfor
Georgetoendhislifebuthemannedupanddiditsincehedidnotwantanyoneelsetobe
injuredbyLennie'srampage.Georgewasabletobenefitfromthissincehenolongerhadtolook
outforLenniealldayeveryday.Although,theranchmayhavelostahardworkingman,theyno
longerhadtoworryaboutLenniedoingsomethingheshouldn'tbe,orhurtingsomeone.
Everyonelearnedavaluablelessonattheranch,evaluatesomeonealittlebitmorebeforegiving
themajobandplacetostaythesamedaytheyapply.
Lastly,inthenovellaTheRedPony,Jodylearnsfromotherswhenhetrustssomeone's
wordabouttheweatherwhichleadstothedeathofhismostprizedpossession,hisponyGabilan.

Steinbecksays,
BillyBuckwasn'twrongaboutmanythings.Hecouldn'tbe.Buthewaswrong
abouttheweatherthatday,foralittleafternoonthecloudspushedoverthehillsandtherain
begantopourdownHegaveitupandtookeasefromBilly'sassurancethatraincouldn'thurta
horseFromthetopoftheridgehecouldseeGabilanstandingmiserablyinthecorralWhen
hehaddriedtheponyaswellashecould,Jodywentuptothehouseandbroughthotwaterdown
tothebarnandsoakedthegraininit.(Steinbeck22)
.Laterafterthisthehorsebecomessickand
thenpassesawayafteralongtimeoflivingill.JodytrustedBillyBuckswordabouttheweather
beingfriendly,andobviouslyhewaswrong
.Sincethebadeventsseemedtosnowballandjust
getworseandworseeveryday,therewasnohopeinthehorsesurviving.ThisledJodytomost
likelybeveryaggravatedtowardshisdecisionintrustingBillysword.Thedeathofthishorse
ledJodytobeindependentbyforcinghimtocontemplatethingsbeforeheallowsthemto
happen.
Allinall,inthethenovellasTheRedPonyandOfMiceandMentherecurring
themeofthelossofalovedonewhichbenefitsoneanotherandsocietyisseenmanytimes
.
Thedeathofasignificantfigurecanbenefitsocietybecauseitallowspeopletomoveonto
greatermoreextravagantthings.TwoexamplesofthishappeninbookofMiceandMen,when
CandysdogdiesandwhenGeorgeshootsLennie.AprimeexamplethattakesplaceinThe
RedPonyiswhenJodysfirstponyGabilanpassesaway.Althoughlosingsomethingsoclose
toourhearthasanimmenseamountofdownsides,therearealwaysbenefitstoitinsome
fashion.
Citations

TheRedPonySteinbeck,John,andWesleyDennis.
TheRedPony
.NewYork:Viking,1945.
Print.

OfMiceandMenSteinbeck,John.
OfMiceandMen
.NewYork:Penguin,1993.Print.