Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, published in 1937, describes a world where the American Dream is simple, yet hard to achieve. The story took place during the Great Depression, in California, with two main characters George and Lennie. Trying to make money to live off the phat of the land. But there is one main theme in the novella that stands out, loneliest, but it will be hard to determine which character is the loneliest, because quite frequently every character is lonely. Crooks a colored man living in a time of racistism, and on a farm with a lot of white colored men and woman, with a few willing to talk to to him. Crooks is the loneliest character in the novella because he is decremented, crippled, and alone.
Crooks is alone.
It can be argued that Crooks is the loneliest character in the novel. This is because he is segregated due to his race. He is the only black person on the ranch so has absolutely no one to talk to. The other characters think of him as being dirty and inferior to white people and Crooks himself has become so used to
Crooks is the loneliest guy on the ranch. He is the only colored man on the ranch and is always called the nigger or the busted back nigger. Being the only colored person on the ranch there is a lot of discrimination and prejudiceness. What also makes him the loneliest person is that he got kicked in the back by a horse so he is hunched over and can barely walk so he can’t do much with the other ranch hands. He is a permanent ranch hand like candy because he can’t travel from his back being crooked. His room is a shack by the barn and it’s full of tools like a shed. From the discrimination he isn’t allowed to stay in the bunkhouse with the other guy’s and isn’t allowed to have a light in his room.
John Steinbeck, an American novelist, is well-known for his familiar themes of depression and loneliness. He uses these themes throughout a majority of his novels. These themes come from his childhood and growing up during the stock market crash. A reader can see his depiction of his childhood era. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the prominent themes of loneliness, the need for relationships, and the loss of dreams in the 1930s through the novels’ character.
The novella “Of Mice and Men” written by John Steinbeck in 1937 is a novel that juxtaposes hope and dreams against hardships and perseverance. Readers are positioned to accept the unattainability of the American dream during the great depression. The statement “...every damn one of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head. And never a God damn one of ‘em ever gets it” (Pg.73) is plausible to a great extent, exemplified through the failure of several characters hoping in achieving their own dreams. This is mainly emphasised with George and Lennie’s goal to own land, Crookes dream of racial equality and Curley’s wife’s wish of being noticed in society.
Through Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck illustrates Disappointment and loneliness through characters. Of Mice and Men is set in the great depression where it was hard for every American. For example Curley’s wife, Crooks, and George all express their disappointment and struggles through the story. Between the three characters, Steinbeck presents the “American Dream” as something all the characters want but will never receive.
The novella, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, takes place during the Great Depression; George and Lennie work on a ranch, hoping they can get enough money to buy their own land. George doesn’t want to wander all over; he dreams of is owning his own plot and working it with Lennie. Although in the end his struggles overcome him and he fails to fulfill his wishes, his dream drives him forward. Even though, it’s hard for one to follow their dreams and society won't always support people who dream, it’s still important to try and pursue them. There are many factors that make it very difficult for George to pursue his dream.
Around the time of Great Depression people chased the American Dream in an attempt to escape from their reality. In the book of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck introduces a story of two men struggling to achieve their dream of owning land. The book touches lots of issues that existed around the time it was written. The story has many that characters faced prejudices such as being colored, mentally ill, old or a woman. In the story there are characters with broken dreams due to their position in society such as Curley’s wife who couldn't be a star or Candy who was unable to live with George and Lennie because Lennie screwed up due to his tendency to”..pet nice things.” George and Lennie struggle to buy an acre of land by salvaging enough
Crooks, another ranch hand, is one of these characters. Crooks is an African American ranch hand with a deformed back. Though many argue that he is better off than all the other ranch hands throughout the novel because he has a more stable job and has his own place to stay. He feels lonely because no one wants to really be around him because of the fact that he is African American. Crooks is not the only one who deals with loneliness; Curley’s Wife is a character that deals with loneliness.
The novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ written by Steinbeck was set in America in the 1930s, when the Great Depression was happening, as a result of the Wall Street Crash in 1929. Many people were affected by this catastrophe, especially farmers who lost their jobs and were forced to leave their homes and travel to other areas with more money, such as ‘Golden California’ to find work on ranches because of economic depression, poverty and social inequalities. Steinbeck based his novella on the American dream because he knew that during that era,
Of Mice and Men by Jacob Pedler John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, is set in the 1930s during the Great Depression which explores the sufferings that were confronted by migrant workers through the themes of loneliness and isolation. The text takes us through a journey with two migrant workers named George and Lennie that live their lives moving from ranch to ranch chasing their ‘American Dream’. Steinbeck uses various literary techniques to explore the themes of loneliness. Steinbeck uses the novella to take us in to detail about the cause and coping mechanisms involved with loneliness through a range of examples and quotes through the text.
Another lonely character is Crooks, the African- American stable hand who works on the ranch. Sadly, Crooks is the only black man on the ranch, so he is cast aside for his skin color. One day, Lennie goes into Crook’s little shack, and Crooks gets angry. He knows that he is not welcome in the bunkhouse so he doesn't know why Lennie is aloud in his room. In the end, he is happy for the company, as the none of the other ranch hands talk to him. Knowing Lennie will not pick up on anything he says, Crooks rambles about his plight. Having nobody like you or that you can identify with is extremely isolating and annoying, especially during the Great Depression when black people are not thought of positively. Crooks even admits. Although in vain,
For example, they would have not been given basic rights such as the will of free speech or having authority over the white. Even women were considered to be higher in rank than the black. This prejudice had gone to such lengths, even the word ‘nigger’ was considered to be a common noun; this implies how vast racism was. Unfortunately for Crooks, he is the only coloured man on the ranch which means that he has been marginalized and sealed from the outside world. The fact that Crooks has been marginalized this portrays how incomplete he is for example having lack of interaction with others, no friendships and in his unused time he resides in his room alone. This reflects on him not having companionship, instead he consumes it with work, collecting items such as shoes and reading books repeatedly. The emotion loneliness is a key theme throughout the text; this resembles the character of
Crooks is the stable buck at the farm but is discriminated against because he is black. He sits lonely in his room in the farm, away from the bunkhouse where the other men live. Crooks shows how lack of friends creates loneliness because everyone needs a friend with whom to talk about life and the American Dream depends upon the time and place in which one lives. Crooks keeps to himself spending most of his spare time reading books in his room and he rarely talks to others. Lennie is
‘Of mice and men’ is a tale of loneliness and hardship felt by the people living in America during the 1930 's. Written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937, it tells the heartbreaking story of two ranch workers during the depression; George Milton and Lennie Small. At the time America was very poor, with a shortage of jobs so people had to travel in search of new jobs. As many people were constantly moving, lasting friendships or relationships were hard to come across. People became scared to have friendships, scared of each other making them lonely and isolated. Most of the characters lived by ‘every man for himself’; only having to care for themselves, not having to worry about others and therefore
Freedom and contentment are constantly endeavored by American citizens. The truth about America in the 1930s can be found through the rigorous representation by John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men details the realities of struggling Americans during the Great Depression, as their ambitions for their aspirations are deprived. This piece of literature presents two main characters, George and Lennie, having a dream but never obtaining it. The American Dream is established multiple times within Steinbeck’s novella. George and Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife strive to reach their American Dream under difficult circumstances.