Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

In my opinion Steinbeck drew the subject matter from his own experience of working on ranches, he was interested in special kinds of relationships among men working on

Setting: The story begins in Connecticut but is focused in Salinas Valley, CA. The story spans a good half century, from the Civil War era to World War I.

“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world” (Steinbeck 13). This is said by George Milton in the novella Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men takes place in California during the Great Depression. Loneliness reoccurs several times because people do not stay at a work place long enough to make friends and usually travel alone. Loneliness is the main theme of Of Mice and Men because many characters deal with being lonely in different ways. It affects people who are looked down on because of their gender, race, and ability.

Being burdened by close friends or family can be especially bothersome or problematic, as there is a need to constantly attend to them. The responsibility of satisfying each other’s needs before one’s own or repairing their mistakes is often shared between both parties, as well as the negative consequences that may follow. At times, it may even seem simpler to just abandon hope and desert them; however, the fear of loneliness generally prevents this from occurring. John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men consists of a diverse group of people living and working on a ranch. Although they come from many walks of life, they all share one similar trait. Many of the characters’

To begin, the novella Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck talks about job opportunities.

The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck takes place on a ranch a few miles outside of Soledad, in a valley called Salinas during the Great Depression in California. The novel is about two itinerant ranch hands, George and Lennie, who stick together and dream of one day owning their own farm. Unfortunately, this dream, along with Lennie, dies when George makes the difficult decision of killing his friend Lennie after he accidentally snaps a woman’s neck towards the end of the novel. George’s action of killing Lennie at the end of the novel was incorrect.

In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck addresses the theme of loneliness and isolation. The novel tells the story of two migrant workers, George and Lennie, who while traveling together chase the American Dream. This becomes difficult because society misunderstands Lennie’s thought process. This gets him into trouble that George has to get him out of. This connection George and Lennie shared was rare for workers during this era. Migrant workers never stayed in one location for too long. They also traveled by their lonesome. Not only this, but many people were also social outcasts and shunned by society. Steinbeck establishes the theme of loneliness and isolation, a very common problem throughout the Great Depression, by telling of those that are alone and others actions towards them.

Through his characters, John Steinbeck, author of Of Mice and Men, illustrates the way people endure isolation, and the despondency that is found in those lacking a purpose which was commonplace during the Great Depression. One such character is Crooks, who is different from the other ranch hands because he is an African American, and as such, he is forced to live alone. He has a crooked, misshapen spine, which makes him even further of an outcast. He is lonely, and he has shielded himself from the other farmhands in an armor of pessimism and abjection, when in all actuality, he wants to talk to the other workers rather than reading books alone in his room. He feels that “A guy needs somebody to be near him. . . A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody” (72). In this way, Crooks is insinuating his own need for company, and when Lennie and Candy show up in his room, “It was difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger” (75).

In the novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck displays characters who each express their individual sense of loneliness. In particular, Crooks, the stable buck, exhibits a specific kind of solitude which stems from his background, discrimination towards him, and his isolation. As a child, Crooks grew up with two brothers that were “always near [him], always there” (73). He mentions remembering “[his] old man’s chicken ranch” (73) where he could live freely, spend time with his family, and play with his friends. Now, he has lost everything - his brothers, his family’s ranch, and the company that he had through his family and friends - thus igniting his loneliness.

Since the beginning of time, the dual nature of humanity has comprised of two mindsets that lie on opposite ends of the human spectrum - rationality and sentiment. Long before the era of advanced technology, humans have consistently been put to the test against the elements, and every time a new challenge befell them, humans merely conquered and adapted to their new challenge due to their survival instinct to be at the top. The very nature of humans to dominate others drives their everyday actions to strive for success. However, the predacious nature of humans is also a dangerous force to society as manifested through John Steinbeck’s classic novella, Of Mice and Men. This story revolves around George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced

John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men is set in Salinas Valley, California in the late 1930s, on a ranch “a few miles south of Soledad.” In Spanish, Soledad, the town’s name, means solitude, “implying both a physical isolation and a psychological loneliness” (Zeitler). There is a strong presence of loneliness throughout the novel, and all the characters, not just George and Lennie, fight against their isolation however they can. George and Lennie are part of the agricultural working class of California during the Great Depression; they are wandering laborers, looking for any temporary job and an occasional wage. According to literary critic Kevin Attell, “as George suggests, the hardships of that life have primarily to do with solitude and

Everyone needs companionship to truly prosper in life and be cheerful. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck this claim appears many times through characters who struggle with feeling fulfilled due to the lack of companionship. The characters are jealous of the relationship George and Lennie have because of their solitude. This envy is proven multiple times within the book with Crooks, Candy, and even Slim, showing that it is human nature to crave attention because of the fear of being alone.

John Steinbeck did see what was going on and he wanted to have the readers of his book see it, too. George and Lennie are put in this book to show that loneliness is also a factor. One good way that Steinbeck presents this is the explanation that George tells Lennie about the guys like them. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on to some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to (Steinbeck 13).” Steinbeck is correct with his point that they are all alone.

In the novel Of Mice and Men, Arthur John Steinbeck successfully creates a timeless literary novel. The novella was first published in 1937 and transcends time with compelling characters and a unique plot, readers easily become invested in the book. Steinbeck takes you on an emotional roller coaster throughout the story with characters that earn the reader 's sympathy from the start of the novella. Students usually read Of Mice and Men their freshman year of high school. Some people believe that students should not read Of Mice and Men because of its strong language and mature themes. There are multiple reasons students should read Of Mice and Men. The literary novella introduces students to new literary devices and does not take away from

Steinbeck introduces Lennie by physical description and it gives us an idea of how powerful he is compared to George. “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders” (Steinbeck, Pg. 2) In this quote, the author is trying to make the reader