Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, he illustrates the journey George and Lennie have throughout a significant part of their lifetime. Throughout the novel, many characters, including George and Lennie, are facing lonesome and they struggle to deal with it the right way. Most of the men are all alone because they have no family left or they isolate themselves from their peers. Loneliness touches each character at some point in the novel and it really emphasizes the impact it can have on an individual. Steinbeck uses the characters Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy to develop the theme that containing loneliness will make someone’s desperation deepen.

The way she acts during the play shows that she is lonely. In the play she is always looking for some companionship "[She] is just looking for somebody to talk to. Don't your never just want to talk to somebody?" (p. 8) Sometimes she sneaks over to the bunkhouse under the premise of looking for somebody "I'm looking for Curley" (p. 8) The rest of the men on the ranch see Curley's Wife as a tart or slut who is constantly looking for a man "she got the eye" (p. 7), "Seems like she can't keep away from guys." (p.13). The men on the ranch are afraid of her because she is married to the son of the Boss. They figure that if they were to do anything to her that she would somehow get them fired "Get going. We don't want no trouble" (p. 15). Near the end of the play as she prepares to run away it is apparent that she is lonely and only sought a companion on the farm. She does not love Curley "I don't like Curley. He ain't a nice fella. I might a stayed…but least night [Curley] and [The Boss] both lit into me." (p. 20), and prepares to run away to go to Hollywood. Before she dies, she and Lennie become friends. She has shared some of her innermost and secret ambitions with him which signifies that she likes him, trusts him, and thinks that she can confide in him. Curley's wife is an example of isolation and intolerance of women during the 1930's and is

She strikes up conversation with Lennie who is wary of her because of George warning him of her and when he tells her such, “Her face grew angry. “Wha’s the matter with me?” she cried. “Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways? You’re a nice guy. I don’t know why I can’t talk to you. I ain’t doin’ no harm to you.” ” (87-88). Curley’s wife does not have any other women on the farm to keep her company and the men disregard her because of her marriage to the boss’ son, Curly. Her married status means trouble to the men and that is the reason many stay away from her. Furthermore, the significance of the fact that she does not have her own name proves that she is just someone’s possession and not worthy of anyone’s time. This keeps Curly’s wife isolated in every way possible for she has nobody who will give her the time of the

Society isolates individuals from others because they fear the reactions they will evoke from others. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck displays isolation through Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife. Candy is isolated because of his disability and his and the death of his dog. Crook is isolated mainly due to his race. Curley’s wife suffers from solitude because she is the only women. The pervasive emotion experienced by all of the characters in Of Mice and Men is loneliness. The loneliness is also, though, profoundly existential and symbolic. The men do not want to be isolated and they do not want to be left behind by society.

The motif loneliness is explored throughout John Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men, not only with the main characters, but the secondary characters as well. Crooks, the stable hand, is a colored, which makes all the others on the ranch want to have nothing to do with him. Similarly, Candy is outed since he is an old cripple. Curley’s wife is given similar treatment since, she is a women. Of Mice and Men has many examples of discrimination.

Crook represented loneliness throughout the book when he had his own room in the barn; the only black worker on the ranch; and then got made fun of by the workers on the ranch.“Well, I got a right to have a light. You go on get outta my room. I ain't wanted in the bunk house, and you ain't wanted in my room... Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me.” Page 68. Crook could not sleep in the bunkhouse because he was black and different from everyone else. He was not treated the same because he wants black. He had his small room in the barn where all of the farm animals were. Everyone on the ranch is white and Crook was black so they treated him very disrespectfully. Crook stated on page 70, “There ain’t a

In the story, Curley’s wife is very lonely. She is the only woman on the ranch; She has no one to converse with. At one point, she is talking to Lennie. “I get lonely,” she said. “You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley.” “How’d you like not to talk to anybody?” (87). She has nobody other than Curley and when he is mad , he doesn’t talk to

“The biggest disease known to mankind is loneliness.” This quote is saying that everybody has known the feeling of loneliness at some point in their life, just like the characters in the book Of Mice and Men. The characters in Of Mice and Men show that loneliness is a problem that must be overcome in order to live a happy, fulfilled life.

Loneliness is a lot more deadly than people think. Unlike the lyrics to Williams’ song, it can literally kill you. In the book Mice of Men (written by John Steinbeck) each character is dealing with their own type of isolation. Isolation is not only problem in the the book, but a problem in the real world seen with older people, and people that live alone. It can cause obesity, suicide, early death, and a ton of other mental and physical defects.

The second time this character appears, Lennie becomes afraid of her and tells her “George says I ain’t to have nothing to do with you, talk to you or nothing. ”(p.86) Lennie is a character that is described as that suffers from memory loss,however, he does not forget the Curley’s wife is someone that he needs to be close to. As their conversation go on, readers realize that the only person Curley’s wife can really talk to is someone that won’t care much about what she is saying. Curley’s wife isolation and want of attention brought her tragic end “for Lennie had broken her neck.

Steinbeck reveals that the attitude towards old/disabled people on the farm is one of uselessness. Once someone or something is no longer physically useful it should be gone or killed. In this case, in the book Of Mice and Men, Candy, the swamper, has an old dog who he has had for all the pups life. Other than Candy’s love for the dog, there is no reason for the dog to be on the ranch due to its old age and other disabilities. In addition, the dog is smelly and his scent hangs around in the bunkhouse even after he has left the room. So, Carlson, one of the men working on the ranch, offers to kill Candy’s dog for him. Carlson said to Candy that the dog “aint no good to you...An’ he aint no good to himself” (Steinbeck 49). Carlson used those

The story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck takes place in the 1930s during the great depression in South of Soledad, California. When two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Small are on the look for work in a ranch. Lennie is mentally handicap and wherever he and George go, Lennie always gets them in trouble. At the end of the novel, Lennie kills someone and George has no other choice than to shoot Lennie and free him from living a bad life.

Loneliness is portrayed as many things including having no friends or being alone. It plays a significant role in john Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and affects the characters drastically. Steinbeck shows how loneliness affects the people of the story in many of ways; one example is how Curley's wife was treated in the novel. Curley's wife was one of the figures of loneliness that Steinbeck showed.

In Steinbecks's novel "Of Mice and Men" there are many different themes that are portrayed throughout book. One was loneliness. The way Steinbeck has portrayed loneliness is unique because each character in the book had their own degree of loneliness and how it's different for each character. Two characters who's loneliness I found unique where Candy and Curley's wife. Loneliness is something that everyone has experienced and it can have a major effect on people and how they act, which occurs in the book.

In the novel Of Mice and Men Isolation plays a key role in the actions of the characters. Many characters act strangely as a result of their loneliness. Specific characters that act out of place in the novel are Crooks, the African American farmhand, Curley’s wife, and George. The book demonstrates that isolated characters lose motivation in their lives which results in making unhealthy and even more isolating decisions, further deteriorating their situation.