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Of Mice And Men And Loneliness

Decent Essays

“Loneliness becomes an acid that eats away at you” (Murakami). In Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, loneliness is a prominent theme. George and Lennie go to work on a ranch in order to reach their American Dream. Along the way they meet many characters, including Curley and his wife, Candy, Crooks, and Slim. All of these characters have been negatively affected by loneliness. In Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy are depicted as lonely and depressed characters who search for someone or something to rid them of their loneliness and make them feel jovial, though they are unsuccessful.
Once George and Lennie get settled in on their new job, they meet the head skinner of the ranch named Slim, although he isn’t particularly lonely, he contributes to the idea of loneliness turning people shallow and mean. After a long day of work out in the fields Slim comments on George travelling with Lennie, emphasizing on how he liked how they had each other to care for. Continuing on with his …show more content…

He hears about George and Lennie’s plans on finding their American Dream and wants to help and go with them. ()he explains “ I ain’t got no relatives or nothing.”(29). He lost his dog after a man named Carlson complains about the old dog, and gets Candy to finally let him go, begrudgingly. Candy has had his dog for many years, he was the only thing to keep Candy content with no family or friends. After losing his dog, he understands that once you get old and crippled like the dog, someone will try to get rid of you. "They'll can me purty soon. Jus' as soon as I can't swamp out no bunkhouses they'll put me on the county.”(29). Losing his job, Candy will have nowhere to go, and he doesn’t want to be alone, so he suggests he help and go live with George and

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