The Great Depression Isolation In Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The people in the Great Depression were losing all of the money that they had

Loneliness is one of many central themes in John Steinbeck’s classic novella, Of Mice and Men. Throughout the story many characters sought after the company and attention of others. Each character has a certain barrier that keeps them isolated from the outside world. Three characters who portray this loneliness throughout the novella are Crooks, Curly’s wife, and Candy. Each having a different wall between them and society.

In a society of people all in the same situations how can someone feel so alone. When lives fall apart and people have nothing to hold on to people need each other most, yet are pushed so far from others. The novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, follows the storyline of two men who are displaced farm workers during the Great Depression; they travel around and stick by each other’s sides no matter the circumstance. After many jobs they end up on a farm,the farm they hope will be their last stop. The time spent on the farm is filled with blooming friendships and careless quarrels, yet with an abundance of characters and entertainment- many people on the farm feel alone and out of place. Characters such as Crooks and Curley’s wife often come to mind when the subject of loneliness is brought up. Throughout the book using characters such as Crooks and Curley's wife, John Steinbeck demonstrates that humans are immensely impacted by separation from society and it will change the way that people will act and show themselves to others.

“Guys like us, that work on ranches are the loneliness guys in the world. They got no family...we got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us” (Steinbeck 14). During the Great Depression, much of society is alienated while survival of the fittest prevails. The power of loneliness affects the individual involved as long as the society it is present in continues to harvest the discriminatory ways. During the 1930’s, the Great Depression was at its peak; The stock markets crashed, and a chain reaction caused the unemployment rates to rise to an all time high. Thus, migrant worker became popular because they were always needed on a farm and it was a way for one to find employment. In of Mice and Men, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife are all victims of the Great Depression. Candy and Crooks work on the farm, while Curley’s wife is the flirtatious nuisance whose dreams were crushed. The pervasive emotion throughout this novella is loneliness. Loneliness is felt by Candy, Crooks, and and Curley’s wife, whether it’s being represented symbolically as the characters are fighting social devastation, learning to make it alone, or through their actions.

“Want me to tell ya what’ll happen? They’ll take ya to the booby hatch. They’ll tie ya up with a collar, like a dog” (Steinbeck 72). Discrimination plays a large role to feeling lonely. In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, characters endure attempts by society to make them “invisible.” These include racism, ageism, sexism, and isolation. More specifically, three of these characters experience loneliness from acts of discrimination. Factors contributing to their loneliness include ageism, disability discrimination, and racism. Each of these characters are migrant workers during the Great Depression who are discriminated against in different ways. Thus, through Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife, Steinbeck reveals the powerful

Women during the Great Depression had a lack that seems different than in our present. The author gave the audience a view of women and representation during his novel Mice and Men. He represented a kind of woman which has a lack of having a relationship with. John Steinbeck offer the chance by allowing the women to give a voice about her unhappiness, loneliness life and her dream that she couldn’t achieve. The American dream was during the great depression. All Americans had a dream and the women was one of them. In that period of time, it seems that the women hadn’t rights to have a friendship with men or compassion from someone. Men kept thinking about her in the wrong way because of the gender, no one in the novel tried to understand

During the Great Depression, it was not uncommon to become morosely secluded while working. Men would go far away from their families in search of any jobs they could get, with only themselves to confide in; colleagues only filling in the void of friends and family partially. Naturally, John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, written during this period, would reflect this fact as a major aspect of the story. Loneliness would become the sinew of Of Mice and Men, manifested in some of the story’s main characters: Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife. These allusions to loneliness are found throughout the book, mimicking the rampant disease of isolation at the time.

Mental Illness, Isolation, and Loneliness. These things connect and are key aspects in John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men. This story takes you through life on a ranch in the 1930s and how separated the people are from the aspect of work, and the social norms. There is Candy, an old man whose age affects his importance in the ranch, Curley's wife, a woman whose social interactions are limited by a man who won't talk to her either, and Crooks, a colored man who is an odd one out from the rest of the workers. This loneliness and isolation directly affect the characters and shows how ranch life and social standards were very unhealthy.

The View of American Society in the Depression Years in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck various characters should relate becauses of their shared loneliness. They can't because of race, gender, and disabilities. candy, curley, and crooks should relate but can't because of these stereotypes. In the book curley's wife,a lonely woman on the ranch crooks, a african american and candy, an old disabled man at one point or another feel lonely and isolated. In this time period there's alot of inequality between people that aren't young white men.

The three men stared at each other and hoped that “this thing they had never believed in was coming true” (60). In John Steinbeck’s book, it was typical for a character to create a dream, but ultimately fail and regret their decisions leading to them not accomplishing that yearning. It was not unusual during the Great Depression for someone to come up with a goal that they believed to be achievable. However, even the best laid out plans were destroyed by the culture that was the Great Depression. Someone whose life was affected by this culture saw their dreams evaporate right before their eyes.

In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the author shows how difficult it is to achieve the American dream by describing the effects of The Great Depression, and relationship struggles between many of the characters . These difficulties relate to the title because the title is an allusion to the poem “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns, which is about struggle. The struggle showed in the poem is a mouse working hard to create a shelter for himself and then it is plowed over by a farmer. The mouse then struggles with grief and pain after the tragic loss of his home. The Great Depression affected the entire United States but mostly the Midwest region.

While working on the ranch, George and Lennie continue to dream about owning their farm as Candy, overhears them planning their dream farm. Candy asks to join them and offers to contribute all of his savings to purchase the land.

Candy joins George and Lennie's dreams of owning a piece of land. Lennie and George discuss their dream. Candy overhears them and wants to join to their dream and offers to help them pay for it,The agree to tell nobody. Candy very old and can't work on the ranch so when he finds chance he has to take it .

Dreams and inspirations is what fuels human beings to persevere through tough times and overcome adversities. In the novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses the setting of the Great Depression to portray that dreams establishes friendships, and hopes, enabling one to go through life with a sense of belonging. During the low economic times of the Great Depression, the majority of the population was forced to endure the harsh lives of migrant workers; an occupation that is near impossible to avoid and escape. George and Lenny are able to withstand being migrant workers by clinging on to their dream to ‘”live off the fatta the lan,'” (Steinbeck, 7). This dream is later shared by a lonely swamper, Candy, who was able to face his dog passing