Loneliness Taking its Toll
“A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long 's he’s with ya… a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (Steinbeck 72-73). During the Great Depression, it wasn’t uncommon to endure this type of loneliness. Candy, one of Steinbeck 's characters, is a migrant worker who was badly injured on a ranch and has been there ever since. Another character from Steinbeck’s novella is Lennie, Lennie is mentally slow and as a migrant worker in the 1930’s, he is isolated and discriminated against because no one understands his mental state. Curley’s wife, one of Steinbeck’s more outgoing characters, was also misunderstood by the men on the ranch. Married off to Curley, she was not
…show more content…
In fact, after overhearing the plans of George and Lennie’s dream farm, Candy confides in George that he “... ain’t much good with on’y one hand” (59) and “he won’t have no place to go..”(61). Pleading to be included in their dream, Candy continued his attempts to convince George: “I’d make a will an’ leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, ‘cause I ain’t got no relatives nor nothing” (59). Understanding just how important security is to his own future, Candy hopes he can tempt George with his life’s savings and seal the deal when he mentions he has no living relatives to either help him or benefit from his death. Scared and embarrassed, Candy never comes straight out and admits how ageism has affected him, but he does express his feelings of fear and his desire to feel like he belongs when he comments to George, “They’ll can me purty soon. Just as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunkhouse…” (60). Without any family or friends, without a job or any money, Candy latches on to the idea of owning land together: “An’ it’d be our own, an’ nobody could can us” (58). Unfortunately, since Candy is much older than the other ranch workers, he often feels left out and lonely amongst the a group of young, healthy men. Despite his insecurities, Candy still wants to contribute something to society to help provide him with a sense of purpose and to help make him feel like someone still needs him.
In chapter one, Lennie and George, two migrant workers who travel together
An additional character who portrays loneliness throughout the book is Curley 's Wife. She feels lonely and isolated because nobody wants to be around her in fear of Curley seeing them with her, so she thinks that she has no one to talk to; this leads to a deep, fathomless feeling of loneliness. When she finally does find someone she can talk to, she mainly talks about how she hates the ranch because nobody ever talks to her. Another favorite topic of hers is to talk about how lonely she is all of the time. “—Sat 'day night. Ever 'body out doin ' som 'pin. Ever 'body! An ' what am I doin '? Standin ' here talkin ' to a bunch of bindle stiffs—a nigger an ' a dum-dum and a lousy ol ' sheep—an ' likin ' it because they ain 't nobody else” (Steinbeck 78). This is the part of the novella when the reader stops thinking of Curley 's Wife as a “tart” (Steinbeck 28) who “gives the eye” (Steinbeck 28) to every man she sees; rather,
Imagine if you had almost no money, only had 1 true friend, and one goal that you will do anything to achieve. That's the life of George and Lennie, two farm hands who are about to start working on a ranch in Salinas, California. It seemed like everything was going well for the two of them, or at least they thought it was. Steinbeck argues, throughout Of Mice and Men, that we as humans need to be able to comprehend the fact that the American dream is impossible, so when we fail at that, we won't fall as hard as we might if we had full faith in it, and he develops this stance using diction choices, imagery, and characterization.
“Well, you keep your place then, n*****. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” (Steinbeck 81). In the novella, Of Mice and Men, the readers are following the life of Lennie and George, who are migrant workers during the Great Depression. Migrant workers, unlike Lennie and George, primarily travel alone, and they go from job to job. George and Lennie have been together since they were younger, as Lennie would come along with George while he worked, so they had become inseparable. Lennie got them kicked out of many jobs, but they landed a spot as a ranch hand bucking barley. Once they became acquainted with the farm, Lennie and George become friends with a man named Crooks, but before that, they are introduced to the ranch by Candy. As the story progresses, a theme of isolation, discrimination, and loneliness on Candy, Lennie, and Crooks is revealed.
Have you ever dreamed of becoming someone important or doing something exciting and memorable? Would you give up or refuse to let go of your dream until you achieve it? Has that obsessive under-minded your success? Many people have dreams that they want to accomplish, but there are obstacles individuals have to cross over in order to achieve their goals, such as facing reality. In the book of Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, the story is a tale of two drifters working from farm to farm, trying to make a living, and save some money to have their own place someday, which is their dream during the Great Depression. The characters face the hardships
“A guy needs somebody- to be near him...A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you”(Steinbeck 72). The Great Depression, which occurred in the 1930s, was rough on migrant workers, young and old, women, and black people alike. Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks undergo loneliness and discrimination during the Great Depression. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men characters Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks, like so many people during the 1930s, experience harrowing times of being isolated from everybody else during those times. The things they face are being separated in a different room, being shunned by men who think they are above them, and people thinking that they are too old and useless. The theme of loneliness is expressed and felt in the novella Of Mice and Men through the isolation and discrimination of Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks.
Understanding just how important security is to his own future, Candy hopes he can tempt George with his life’s savings and seal the deal when he mentions he had no living relatives to either help him or benefit from his death. Scared and embarrassed, Candy never comes straight out and admits how ageism has affected him, but he does express his feelings of fear and his desire to feel like he belongs when he comments to George, “They’ll can me purty soon. Just as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunkhouses…” (60). Without any family or friends, without a job or any money, Candy latches on to the idea of owning land together: “An’ it’d be our own, an’ nobody could can us” (58). Unfortunately, since Candy is much older than the other ranch workers, he often feels left out and lonely amongst a group of young, healthy men. Despite his insecurities, Candy still wants to contribute something to society to help provide him with a sense of purpose and to help make him feel like someone still needs him.
The hot summer day in South Carolina made Lennie wake up, sweating through the cover sheets protecting his bed. Aunt Clara made Lennie bathe, who reeked of sweat and read the old dusty bible that she had lying around. As Lennie kept reading, he found a quote that read “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34), but Lennie could not solve its meaning. After several hours passed by, Lennie could not take the loud, playful noise from outside and looked desperately out the window, where all the kids were hanging around. The hot air of South Carolina made his body feel like a teapot on the stove. Lennie could not take it anymore and finally cracked open the window,
Biases and inequality towards women have been a problem in society since men foolishly decided to give women the stereotype of being housewives and only good for breeding children. Those who refuse to follow the stereotype are considered promiscuous, or unfaithful towards their significant other. This stereotype was highly expected of women during the early twentieth century, and was also exhibited in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men towards Curley’s wife. Of Mice and Men took place in the 1930s, and the plot follows two best friends trying to achieve their dreams, which lands them in a ranch that will do them nothing but harm. In this ranch, only the strongest may survive, and those who do not follow the usual stereotype were considered weak, and will most likely die. Steinbeck’s theme of death is always feared, but to some it is a way to leave the misery that is the world reveals the social injustices in society causes gender discrimination towards Curley’s wife. The hostility and bitterness towards Curley’s wife did not just lead to her death, but also saved her from the loneliness and isolation she had to go through on the ranch.
Candy, and old swamper who first situates George and Lennie on the ranch, lacks acquaintances and offers to do anything to minimize his time in seclusion. Candy’s first act of desperation occurs one night in the bunkhouse as he rests with his old, blind dog. Carlson, an insensitive and bitter rancher, insists on killing the dog and ending its misery, but Candy claims that he is too close to part with it. Candy also adds, “’ I don’t mind takin’ care of him’” (45). He not only rejects Carlson’s reasonable proposal to kill the dog, but also vainly
n the novel, Of Mice and Men, the author John Steinbeck explores many themes. After Lennie and George are chased out of Weed, California they travel to Soledad, California where they try to find a job. Lennie causes the two of them trouble on many occasions because Lennie is developmentally delayed and says the wrong thing at the wrong time. At last, the two get a job on a ranch where they will buck barley. Of Mice and Men explores the effects of systemic oppression on women, African Americans, and people with disabilities.
How can we justify and condemn George’s actions at the end of the story. In the story of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, one of the main characters George had both condemned and understandable actions at the end of the story. I think George had a hard time shooting Lennie, but at the same time he had a semi-reasonable reason to shoot him. It was hard for him to shoot Lennie because the two of them had traveled everywhere together ever since they were young.
It was eerily quiet within the vicinity of the building. The creaking of the wooden floorboards beneath Lennie’s feet, the rustle of leaves on the opposite side of the wall, and the constant beeping of the home monitoring system was disturbingly loud as he made his way towards the kitchen. The bright neon lights that was placed directly outside his window, proclaiming the words, 'Truth is Knowledge is Power' which was the governments logo projected an array of colours across his kitchen which only resulted in his vision being further eluded. He switched the lights on within his house, blinding himself in the process and stumbled across to the fridge. His stomach growled and his headache sharped piercingly between his ears. He couldn’t wait
Steinbeck talks about how Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Candy are outcasts on the ranch and because of this they are very lonely and often seek attention of others. Crooks is discriminated against because of his race and he reads books to try to mollify his loneliness. Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch and all the men avoid her because of her misjudged behavior, so she is very lonely. Candy is very old so he is excluded from everyone else. His only friend was his dog but it eventually got killed. All of these characters live hopeless lives because they are lonely. Steinbeck’s message to us is that people need companionship and friendship in order for their lives to be joyful and
Another way, Steinbeck shows How Gorge is a true friend to lennie is through how reliable he is to Lennie. An example of this is Lennie was left alone with Curley's wife in the barn and accidently killed her, by him doing this it made all the workers want to kill him. But instead of them killing Lennie George went off and “pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again, Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand and lay without Quivering,” (106) This quote shows how Gorge is a true reliable friend because A true friend will do whatever they think is good for you. Just like how George went off and killed lennie, so that way he didn’t have to go through even more hell. This shows readers that
Lennie paced around the room, pounding his fists on any wall he could find. With a sour face, he checked every nook and cranny between the page and the text for something taking on the form of a door. A way to escape.