Loneliness in Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck Essay

The book "Of Mice and Men", is an example of friendship and loneliness. The main characters, George and Lennie, are two men that go on an adventure together out looking for new jobs. They have really good friendship on everything they encounter throughout their trip. Loneliness, because the reason why they stick together is because they're lonely. And without each other they don't know what they would do.

Candy was not the first person that we meet in the story that shows their feelings of loneliness. They all did. I saw Candy’s loneliness when we first met him when he walked in on George and Lennie and said “I ain’t interested in nothing you was sayin’. A guy on a ranch don’t ever listen nor don’t ast no questions.” pp. 22-23. The next time I saw Candy’s loneliness was when we saw his old and nasty smelling dog and learned its story. Candy said, “I had ‘im since he was a pup, god he was a good sheepdog when he was younger.” pp.23 The dog was all he had all day since he was a younger man. Candy was a swamper because of his disability. He didn’t hang out with the other men that were on the ranch all day. It was and had always been Candy and

The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a story which follows the lives of two migrant farm workers named George, a small man with well-defined features that can think quickly, and Lennie, a giant man that has some mental handicaps, as they start to work at a new job. The story takes place during the Great Depression where many men roamed the country in search of a place to settle down and make a living. Throughout the story, we meet many new characters who are facing similar struggles. When the two main protagonists arrive at the ranch, they are greeted by Candy, an old "Swamper" trying to make himself useful even with his age working against him. Later they learn of a man named Crooks who lives alone in the barn because of his dark

“No-Look! I was jus’ foolin’, Lennie. ‘Cause I want you to stay with me, trouble with mice is you always kill ‘em.”. In Of Mice and Men, George looks after Lennie because Lennie isn’t able to take care of himself. Lennie is like a large child, he likes soft things and gets scared easily. Many of the of the characters in this book have one thing in common, loneliness. They are all looking for some kind of companion but can’t seem to find it. The theme in this book is that Loneliness can make a person go crazy.

Many individuals like to be alone, but loneliness only serves them well in small doses. Being alone can benefit some to help keep their emotions in check or clear their minds, but too much of it becomes unbearable. Eventually, constant loneliness, resulting from a lack of friendship, will lead to cruelty. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck examines the effects of loneliness through a life without friendship. In the story, George and Lennie travel from town to town as migrant workers, trying to accumulate enough money to buy their own ranch. The personality of Crooks, Curley’s wife, and George and Lennie’s relationship show that a life without friendship leads to loneliness and cruelty.

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.

Almost everyone, in the book Of Mice and Men, was lonely in some type of way. The town Soledad actually means solitude, implying that loneliness was a definite theme in the book (Leaf). For instance Crooks, the black stable hand lives alone. Being the only black person on the ranch, he often keeps his distance from the others (Steinbeck 74). He cannot work with other, because of his crooked back, taking away his opportunity to ever work with the other men (Steinbeck 66). He loved to read and because he was so lonely he liked to clean to occupy his time (Steinbeck 67). He’s not allowed to stay in the bunkhouse because the others do not like to socialize with him. Crooks feel like no one likes him because he is black. He says in the book, “Guys

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.

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted drive one’s mental health insane. Curley’s wife was lonely mentally and emotionally. It was caused by her lack of communication and association with other people. Curley’s wife inappropriate actions with the other characters and her untimely death in the novel are driven by her loneliness.

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.

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.

1. Steinbeck’s life experiences influenced him when writing Of Mice and Men. For instance, Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California, which is about thirty minutes away from where the novel takes place in Soledad, California. The novel took place during the Great Depression being that Steinbeck was in his thirties at the time of the Depression. "I was a bindlestiff myself for quite a spell. I worked in the same country that the story is laid in. The characters are composites to a certain extent. Lennie was a real person. He's in an insane asylum in California right now. I worked alongside him for many weeks. He didn't kill a girl. He killed a ranch foreman. Got sore because the boss had fired his pal and stuck a pitchfork right through his stomach. I hate to tell you how many times. I saw him do it. We couldn't stop him until it was too late,” said John Steinbeck.

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.

If one motif could be chosen to define the plot and symbolism in Of Mice and Men, that motif would be loneliness. In many ways, from the outspoken to the subtle, the acknowledgment of loneliness, only defines the actions of the plethora of characters in the book. Steinbeck introduces a profound human truth: Of Mice and Men teaches a grim lesson on the aspect of human existence. Almost all of the characters admit, that at one time or another, having a defined sense of loneliness and isolation. Each one desires the comfort and protection of a friend, but will settle for a less likely stranger. The characters are then rendered helpless by their isolation, and yet, even at their lowest time of need, they seek to destroy those who are even weaker

22 in every 100,000 people committed suicide during the Great Depression (washingtonblog). Suicide is frequently linked with depression, which is commonly linked with loneliness. Oftentimes, people don't know why others become lonely. Written by John Steinbeck, a chance is given to analyze the causes of loneliness throughout the characters. For the characters in the novel Of Mice and Men, the predominant sources of loneliness are fear and discrimination with consequences such as social deprivation.