‘Now what the hell ya suppose is eating' them two guys?'
Steinbeck had once again shown how he is capable of writing. Its little bits like these that we think Steinbeck is not really writing a novel at all, but an ambiguous thriller out to change the world we live in. He once again shows us his views, the views of migrant workers and the views of people generally.
I really enjoy how he makes something out of nothing and this last line shows this. Carlson is portrayed as brushing off Lennie's death as if it is no big deal and this would seem ordinary to some; but I think this statement really reflects the opinions of a lot of people in that time period. To me it says they are not bothered about death and just deal with it when it comes.
This is shown when Candy's dog is about to be shot: the only one who seems to care about the dog is Candy himself. ‘Candy lay rigid on his bed staring at the ceiling'. No one cares about death unless it actually affects them – in this case Candy. It makes me think that death must come so often for these workers that they don't even feel it anymore.
The last line also sums up some of the characteristics of the characters themselves. For instance when Curley first finds Lennie dead with George nearby, he isn't compassionate and asks how George feels (for example). He is only concerned that he didn't get to Lennie first. ‘‘Got him, by God…right in the back of the head', he said softly'. Curley as we know isn't a very nice person, but this sums it up the best. He already treats his wife badly and does in no way care for her. He is just using the excuse that his ‘wife' has been killed to exercise his authority and show everyone how hard he is by killing someone. He is cold Hearted and wishes he'd got to Lennie first.
It also sums up Carlson. Carlson has not had much in the way of speaking in this novel and to see him come out with a statement as forward as this is quite shocking. We only really see what he is like when he shoots Candy's dog. ‘If you want now… I'll put him out of his misery…he's nothing'. This is showing him as quite forceful and completely unfeeling. This final line also confirms the unfeeling part and shows him for whom he really is.
All in all we really see the capabilities of a great author. We see hoe a really flippant comment turns into something that not can see has more than one meaning. Clever and arguably precise, Steinbeck delivers Powerfully.
