Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men (by John Steinbeck), loneliness is the major underlying theme of the novel. You could almost say that the book has ‘hormonal' up's and down's. Most of the characters are very lonely because they have no family. However, George and Lennie are the contradiction to this. George and Lennie's bond towards each other are so- strong that you can almost see it as you are reading the book. Candy the old crippled man wants to be part of George and Lennie's dream to own a farm and "live off the fatta the land". Curley and his dog are like the metaphor in the book for George and Lennie. Candy has to take care of his dog and George of Lennie. The other two

Candy is the only other character (aside from George and Lennie) who has a companion, his old and weak dog. Carlson, a ranch hand, shoots Candy's feeble dog to put him out of his misery. Following right after the loss of his poor dog, Candy immediately agrees to George and Lennie's plan to settle on a farm of their own and even pitches in three hundred and fifty bucks. He also has the need to be with Lennie more often and share his thoughts. Naturally he looks for a new companion because of the immediate loneliness feeling.

“Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.” Dag Hammarskiold

In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks all suffer from the same fate, loneliness. Candy is lonely since he has nobody, Curley’s wife is ignored, and Crooks is segregated from the rest of the workers. Of Mice and Men’s characters show that loneliness is a problem that must be overcome in order to live a happy, fulfilled life. Candy doesn’t have any family or friends, and who’s only hope was for George and Lennie’s dream. Candy had a long time relationship with his only dog, “Candy looked about unhappily ‘No,’ he said softly ‘No, I couldn’ do that.

Waylon Jennings, a country music star, once said, “This world that I live in is empty and cold, the loneliness cuts me and tortures my soul.” Loneliness is one of major themes in Of Mice and Men which was written during the Great Depression. In the following essay I will be discussing the characters Lennie, George, and Crooks and how loneliness has impacted their lives. Although Lennie seems to very friendly and sociable, he has very lonely moments.

Candy was the first person to find Curley’s wife, dead in the barn. He then went out of the barn and obtains George’s attention then brings him in. As George and Candy

Of Mice And Men is a novel written by John Steinbeck that demonstrates many themesespecially loneliness. It is especially forced since the novel takes place in Soledad, meaningsolitary. The main characters are wandering men looking for temporary employment from farmto farm across the country. There are other people who experience loneliness on the farm whoare not limited to but include Crooks, Candy, and Curley's wife. Crooks is one of the fellow workers on the farm to George and Lennie.

Within the time period of the 1930's, many non-white people kept themselves isolated from others and stayed out of trouble, to avoid the risk of being lynched. Segregation, isolation and racism was a normal lifestyle led by those who were black; one of the characters that portrays this theme in the novel is the character of Crooks.

Most of the characters in the story show that loneliness is a big part in “Of Mice and Men.” There are three main characters that show this trait; Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks.

Companionship is a necessity for those seeking happiness and peace of mind within their lives. Without any faith in others, people will suffer from loneliness and sorrow. This idea is presented in the novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. The text delineates the lives of multiple characters who have experienced pain as a result of their alienation from others. These characters include a black man named Crooks, who is separated from society because of his skin color, Curley’s wife, who is treated with disrespect because of her gender, and George and Lennie, two itinerant farm laborers.

Candy is a old handicapped man with his left hand cut off, he got his left hand cut off in a machine. He can only do simple jobs like wash the dishes and work in the garden, this isolates him from the other workers. Candy’s only friend was a dog and later in the story a character named Carlson shot his dog and this makes him lonelier. After he talked to George and Lennie about the money that he has in the bank George includes him in there dream to own a ranch to themselves but that dream sonly ended when Lennie accidently killed Curley’s

Of Mice and Men is a novel written by John Steinbeck written in the 1930s, during the Great Depression, a time where numerous themes in the novel depict the hopeless lives of itinerant workers and the issues that were occurring. Steinbeck conveys the issues presented in the 1930s through contrasting characters and the settings. The key themes identified are dreams and loneliness. Of Mice and Men explores how the predominance theme of the importance of dreams and loneliness affects each character.

Loneliness is experienced in many ways by a multitude of people at one point or another in their lives. How it effects their personal situation is based upon how harshly this illness plagues them. John Steinbeck pants a vivid portrait of loneliness through the characters of Candy, Curly’s Wife, and Crooks in his novel “Of Mice and Men”. Loneliness can manifest itself both physically and emotionally through living a lifestyle that doesn’t provide the opportunity for a solid relationship to form, creating lonely and alienated characters that migrate their way through life.

Soledad is a place where the play Of Mice and Men mostly takes place. The definition of the term would be, “lonely place” (McMurray). Throughout the play, there are many quiet and abandoned places as well as there are people. Lennie would serve as an example. Lennie prefers someone to be with him so he will never be or feel lonely.

Loneliness Loneliness is one of the biggest themes in John Steinbeck’s novella. All the characters in Of Mice and Men are in some way isolated. Soledad, the town this story takes place in, means ‘solitude’ or ‘alone’ and this wasn't a coincidence on Steinbeck’s part. Despite the need for companionship, the characters set up barriers that maintain loneliness, and they preserve those barriers by being ruthless and hateful towards each other. One factor that would be considered a barrier is gender.