Theme Of Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

After the loss of Candy’s dog, he becomes lonely but has to find a way to overcome loneliness. John Steinbeck creates Candy to be an old and crippled man. Candy, since he is a older man, might not get as much work. That isn't the only reason. Steinbeck describes Candy with, “a round stick-like wrist, but no hand” (18). At this moment, George and Lennie are meeting and observing Candy for the first time. Throughout the story, the reader does not hear of Candy doing much work on the ranch. He “[shifts] his broom” on the first day but that might be the only deed he does (18). The farm workers stereotype him to be weak because he is old and only has one hand. When we first meet Candy, we learn that Candy has one main friend. That is his

“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.

Candy is the janitor on the farm. His best friend is an old dog he got when he started working on the farm. Steinbeck explains, “A shot sounded in the distance.” (Steinbeck 49). They guys were in the bunk and Carlson- one of the men who works on the farm, offers to shoot the dog to put him out of his misery. When they hear the dog shot Candy is all alone. This was his best friend of all times. Candy explains, “I'd make a will an leave my share to you guys in case…. I ain't got I relatives nor nothing…” (Steinbeck 59). He said this because he was trying to escape loneliness. When his best friend was killed he needed to find a way to escape it do trying to go with George and Lennie to their farm after they raised enough money it would keep them all

The novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck contains an evident theme of loneliness and isolation. Steinbeck uses his characters to invoke this theme throughout the novella. One character that is able to portray this perfectly is Curley's wife. John Steinbeck's main message through the use of the theme of loneliness, is that it's better to isolate oneself from others in order to achieve your goals.

Had since he was a pup. ”(44). The other workers are always out working or in town and he has no one else. A second example on Candy being lonely is that Candy knows that when he gets too old or crippled to work that he won't have anywhere to go so he tells George and Lennie that he has $300 that he will give to them to be in their dream farm. ”S’pose I went in with you guys.

“‘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 the first thing you know they’re poundin their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to’”

Loneliness is sadness because one has no friends or company. In Of Mice and Men there are tons of lonely characters but, the top three loneliest characters are Crooks, Candy, and Curley's wife. The most lonely character is Crooks because he is black and all the ranch workers stay away from him. The second lonesome character in the novel is Candy because he has no family left and he had a dog but then his dog was killed. Finally, the last character is Curley's wife because she is the only girl near the ranch so she has nobody to talk to.

In the novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck discusses the idea of loneliness and how people who work at the ranch have no family and no future in lives. He indicates that all people at the ranch are lonely, but he specifically uses a few characters to highlight their state of being lonely and more miserable than the others. He emphasizes the loneliness of ranch life during the Great Depression, and shows how people are willing to try and find friendship in order to escape from the state of loneliness. Steinbeck uses loneliness as the principal theme and issue among Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks to show their desire in pursuing companionship, attention and success.

In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck it is important to observe the theme loneliness since it relates to the Great Depression in United States at that time. Steinbeck portrays loneliness in the characterisation, specially in Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife, explaining the loneliness of human existence.

Candy had a dog in the beginning of the book, but it was shot because it, too, illustrates that the strong stay and weak go sooner or later. The dog was weak and of no use so Candy sadly agreed to let Carlson (a ranch hand) to shoot his dog. Candy’s dog was the only thing that kept him alive/happy and without it he desperately embedded himself in other people's ideas/action in order to fulfill his desire to be with them or to do something with them. I’ve never lost anyone close to me except like my cat goldfish, whom I was sad and mad for when it died. Candy is old and weak, no one can afford to spend time with or do anything with him because he is of no use. He is always excluded and ruled as not important, like when Carlson (another ranch hand with a gun) and a few others pretty much force Candy to allow them to shoot his dog. Candy’s voice is excluded and they all gang up on him. I've been in situations where even though I knew I was in the right, people were against me because I was younger. I was with my brother but no one would care to listen to my opinions and ideas when creating a game we were going to play. I was very angry and frustrated and it’s very sad to see how Candy is neglected and forced into loneliness. Imagine how you would feel. “Candy looked a long time at Slim to try to find some reversal. And Slim gave him none. At last

In our lifetimes, we all have experienced loneliness. In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, loneliness affects the characters in his story. The story takes place around the 1930 where 2 men ,George and Lennie, try to find work but struggle because of Lennie’s disability. Through the theme of “Individual fear loneliness” there are many branches that can answer the question of how and why they fear loneliness. The three characters that show loneliness in this story are George, Lennie, and Curley's wife.

Candy, especially, is a friendly person. Candy’s dog is undoubtedly important to him, mainly because he has “had him from from a pup” (Steinbeck 45). Candy shows that being happy does not require having many friends or that someone needs to have a human best friend. Joseph Levy talks about how Steinbeck’s novel “uses biological and animal imagery to show a progression toward realizing the uniqueness of our species” (Levy). Every person is unique in their own way, and different people have different best friends, some even have best friends that are different species. The ways people react with different types of animals show how different everyone really

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.

Another character who feels lonely is Candy. Candy has a huge attachment towards his dog since he has had him since he was a

Throughout Of Mice and Men it is clear that everyone is not equal. There is a hierarchical structure that dictates a large proportion of what the men can and can’t do, and this heavily enforces the isolation that many men on the ranch feel. It is clear that many of the men who fall low in the hierarchy are lonely, but some that at first appear to be higher in the hierarchy aren’t enjoying their privileged lives as much as they should. Regardless of what the reader thinks of him, Curley is undeniably heigh up the hierarchy and yet undeniably lonely. Although this does not make him any better of a person or any more deserving of the reader’s pity, it is still acutely clear that he is isolated, and it is partially his own fault.