The Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

“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.

Loneliness is a revolving topic throughout the book. Many characters are impacted by it and this changes the outcome of the book. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, he develops the concept of loneliness through Candy's disability, Crooks unable to fit in, and Curley's wife in order to demonstrate that loneliness impacts people by causing anger and depression.

as a ranch worker to describe how the working men at the ranch felt in

First, Steinbeck makes Lennie’s mentality not as well as others. Lennie acts like a toddler throughout the story. He constantly forgets important information, looks out to George for help, and whines about certain situations. For example, when George learns that Lennie finds the dead mouse again, even after George throws it away, George hears “Lennie’s whimpering cry” (Steinbeck 10) when he throws it away for the second time. George sees “Lennie’s lip [quiver] and tears [start] in his eyes” (10) just because a dead mouse gets taken away from him. Lennie resembles a child in this scenario because of his sad emotions he expresses over an object that has little value to him. Lennie can also be compared to a kid when he wants to leave

If you have read the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, then you may think that the character Lennie Smalls portrays a violent and twisted human being. However upon further analysis one could conclude that Lennie is confused and reacts differently to situations than normal people do. After being chased off the ranch for groaping a woman’s skirt, George Milton and Lennie Smalls travel by bus to a new ranch for their next job assignment. Upon arrival they are greeted by their new co-workers most of which are kind, but a small man named Curley decides to pick a fight with Lennie because of his large size. George tries his best to keep his friend out of trouble but in the end he can’t save Lennie from the inevitable. Lennie, not a violent

The story “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, focuses on two very interesting characters; George Milton and Lennie Smalls. George and Lennie are two migrant farm workers looking for more work after an accident involving Lennie in Weed. After working at the ranch for a bit, Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s Wife. In the end, Lennie’s own friend George has to take his life to save him from the torture of the others. In the story, there are several characters. One character that stood out among the rest was Lennie Small. Although Lennie is quite a flat character, it is his personality that makes him so different from the other characters. Lennie is a very loveable character because of his very innocent and childlike behavior, his loyalty to George, and because of his loving nature.

In the novella Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck often employs animal imagery to dehumanize Lennie, in order to allow the reader to justify George putting him down at the end of the novel. As Steinbeck’s use of animal imagery progresses throughout the novel, the reader begins to less associate Lennie as a human and more compare him to an animal that only hinders George’s pursuit of happiness. Starting with Lennie’s introduction, Steinbeck influences how the reader perceives Lennie. During the reader's first encounter with Lennie, he is described as walking “heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws," (Steinbeck 2). Steinbeck’s diction invokes animal imagery by comparing Lennie’s movements to that of a bear,

Lennie is described with animal-like qualities many times throughout, Of Mice and Men. The first three times are found in the first chapter. At the time we first meet Lennie, he is being compared to a bear, "...and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws." I feel that this imagery is very important for the reader to see and be able to understand that Lennie, on his own is like an animal not truly knowing right from wrong, very simple and having a one track mind. In doing so, Mr. Steinbeck is controlling how we as the reader see and respond to Lennie and how much if any we will hold him accountable for his action.

During the height of the American economic collapse many people became depressed during this era which is bound to loneliness. In John Steinbeck’s “of Mice and Men”, two men, George and Lennie are faced with the challenge of finding a job during the Great Depression. George has to look after Lennie due to Lennie’s mental disabilities. Lennie ends up creating many problems throughout the story in which George has to get out of himself. In the novel we run into three immensely different characters plagued by loneliness because of discrimination.

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.

“Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it’s not because they enjoy solitude. It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.” This quote, written by Jodi Picoult, explains the true meaning of how people can become lonely. Sometimes people’s differences can cause others to push them away. In the fictional novella, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, he displays this notion through the diversity of his characters.

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.

In the novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck summarizes the essential loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930s and the injustice that was made. He illustrates how people are driven to find companionship. Absence of character names is one way we see this in the book. The Boss is Curley’s father and nobody ever calls him by his name. “O.K. Now when we go in to see the boss, what you gonna do?”(Steinbeck, p. 4) Instead of seeing Curley’s wife as an individual they see her almost as an object that belongs to Curley.

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

In the novella Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, the relationship between Lennie Small and George Milton is complex. Lennie and George are two companions who look for work and brave the hardships of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression together. Although Lennie and George are both grown men, their relationship resembles more of a child and a single parent, or a boy and his dog. Lennie is portrayed as animalistic and childish through his behavior and Steinbeck’s comparisons. This reveals the crucial power dynamic in George and Lennie’s relationship.