Loneliness is a shadowy figure that brings down whoever it attacks. In John Steinbeck’s historical fiction novella, Of Mice and Men, loneliness is a central theme that is scattered across through several characters. Many characters distinctly show loneliness brought on by the living conditions and the prejudice of the Depression Era. This loneliness leads to the shattering of dreams, isolation and a cruel nature in human beings. Due to loneliness and the living conditions of the Depression Era, Candy’s dreams are dashed. Curley’s wife is found dead after Lennie accidentally kills her. George and Candy come across the body and as George goes off, so he isn’t also blamed for the murder, Candy begins to rant about how Curley’s wife’s death had ruined his dreams to own a piece of land with George and Lennie, “‘Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good. . .He sniveled and his voice shook. ‘I could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them guys’. . .His eyes blinded with tears. . . .”(95-96). This supports that loneliness has brought on Candy’s broken dreams and isolation because in the text he is broke hearted over the fact that he can no longer have the dream of being on the farm with George and Lennie and to an even greater extent, he is saddened by the fact that he is alone again. Candy wants to have friends, Candy wants to have some type of work to do, but can’t due to both his age and the fact that his hand is gone. The fear of having to go through
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is book of many themes; one that is very prominent is loneliness. Loneliness is common in many people's lives and that is also true for the lives of the characters of the book. Almost all characters in the book are lonely in one way or the other.
Everyone becomes lonely due to hard conditions. Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, illustrates the feeling of loneliness on a ranch in the early 1930’s. This book shows how people are driven to try and find friendships in order to escape from loneliness. Steinbeck creates an isolated and blue atmosphere at many times in the book. He uses place names to give the setting a sense of desolation right from the start, and reinforces it with the characters readers meet throughout the book. Curley’s wife and Crooks are clear examples of what loneliness can drive people to do. Steinbeck’s book shows the importance of friendships in overcoming loneliness.
Loneliness is a basic part of human life. In his novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates the loneliness of California ranch life in the early 1930’s and shows how people are driven to find friendship.
During the Great Depression many people are driven to find friendship in order to escape the loneliness, although a lot of them failed but some of them did success at finding friend(s). Candy was an old ranch worker who was disabled due to an accident in the past. He is now an old swamper, whom only friend was his dog but then after Carlson shot the dog for him, Candy has ever been lonelier. But when he overheard Lennie talked about the dream, the dream where he might have a chance to escape his loneliness in order to find his peace and have two companions for the rest of his life along with George and Lennie. His life had
The relevance of ‘Of Mice and Men’ being set in the town of Soledad comes from the parallels drawn between the meaning of the name ‘Soledad’ and the deeper sense of loneliness expressed through the characters of the novella. The symbolism of the loneliness that is associated with the town of Soledad establishes an underlying sense of loneliness in all characters. The author uses a variety of techniques to develop this underlying loneliness in each of the individual character’s lives. Such individual characterisation building on the loneliness established in the connotations of Soledad is evident in Curley’s wife, Crooks, George and Lennie,
Loneliness is a wicked disease. It can cause someone to turn cold towards the world or lash out in unexpected ways. Although this may be true for the most part, loneliness also has a way of causing someone to become numb to it and hide it away. John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, is set in a time where many people were stuck in an endless cycle of being lonely. This heart wrenching novel has a major theme of loneliness that sadly shines through in many of the characters.
Loneliness “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty” (Mother Teresa). In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, many of the characters fight with loneliness. George, Crooks, and Curley's wife deal with loneliness throughout the novel. All they want is to feel wanted, accepted, and to know someone actually cares about them. John Steinbeck uses loneliness as one of his strongest themes in his novel, written during the Great Depression to emphasize the American society.
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
“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is a novel that illustrates the theme of loneliness through out its’ story. The central relationship between George and Lennie is a bond based on preventing the loneliness of a farmhands life. The minor characters such as Crooks and Candy, reveal their loneliness in the story as well. Finally, the main plot twist of the story, the death of Curley’s wife, was a result of a situation caused by loneliness.
Candy desires a place to dwell and to be comfortable at the coming end of his lifetime; he is enthusiastic about George and Lennie’s dream, a dream which progressively becomes his own. As the dream unravels following the death of Curley’s wife, he still clings to hope as he asks with great fear “You an’ me can get that little place, can’t we, George?” (Steinbeck 94). Candy being the insecure lonely old man, still holds on to the hope that maybe George and him can still live on the idea of their dream without Lennie because it is the only thing that gives him a peaceful thought during his isolated life. With the deaths of Curley’s wife and Lennie his dream shatters.
Loneliness is a feeling, not physical nor visible but it's toll is immense… Curley’s wife, Candy, and Crook all suffer from Loneliness in the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Curley’s wife is burdened by being avoided, Crook is racially slurred and also avoided, and Candy has no family or friends too be there for him.
In John Stienbeck's novel of Mice and Men, he tells a tragic story of a dream gone horrible wrong. The story focuses on the friendship of two men George Milton and Lennie Small. Lennie is a mentally handicapped man whom George takes care of. They travel from farm to farm, working to make money to buy a place of their own and there last faithful stop they meet a variety of interesting yet lonely characters. Steinbeck includes several different themes throughout his novel, however loneliness, is the most prevalent theme and is portrayed through the characters.
In the book Of Mice and Men the author Stienbeck captures life,segregation,friendships and rivalries all wrapped in one. For instance when Curley’s wife says “Listen nigger” she said “you know what I can do if you open your trap?” (80). That portion of the scene reveals just a slight representation of what life as a black man in the 1930’s was like on the farm. Candy, Curley’s wife and Crooks are three very different people who live on a farm with other workers and acquaintances, yet somehow experience the same isolated loneliness due specifically to dehumanizing segregation upon certain people on the farm. Sexism,ageism and racism are the three most noticeable segregation acts causing them to feel isolated throughout the book. The theme
Loneliness is a part of life that no one can escape. Whether it’s physical or emotional loneliness, everyone has felt it. The feeling of emptiness and isolation is very common and inevitable. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck presents the theme of loneliness in a very prominent way throughout the entire book.
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is considered one of his best and finest novels of all times. The novel is about two ranch workers, Lennie Small and George Milton, who travel around searching for jobs during the 1930’s. Our main characters go through major conflicts, especially Lennie, who apparently suffers from some kind of mental illness, and at the same time, George gets dragged down because of the problems Lennie causes along the way. Many of Steinbeck’s novels dealt with social issues, especially Of Mice and Men, which dealt with racism, isolation, poverty and loneliness. Loneliness has been developed throughout the entire novel, and the way the author displayed this social issues is through characterization techniques. To show us that we, as humans, fear loneliness in order to survive, or in order to feel “alive”.