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Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

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Loneliness plays a large role in developing themes and characters throughout the novel Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is a story about the lives of most American workers during the Great Depression. The story follows two friends, George and Lennie, as they try to get enough money to buy their own piece of land in Salinas, California, which seems like an impossible dream. Along the way, George and Lennie meet many other workers struggling with a common problem, loneliness. Throughout the story, it is made clear that everyone is lonely and is longing for companionship, even though no one can truly find friendship in the harsh world they live in. Three of the loneliest characters in the novel are Candy, Curley’s Wife, and Crooks. One of the loneliest characters in Of Mice and Men is Candy. Candy is a tall old man who works on the farm as a swamper because he lost his hand in an accident. Like most characters in the book, Candy is lonely for multiple reasons. Proof of this is when in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, when Candy says,”I’d make a will an’ leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, cause I ain’t got no relatives nor nothing”(59) The quote shows that Candy has no relatives left, probably due to his old age. Candy is also shown to have no friends other than his dog, which was shot in the back of the head by one of the other ranch workers. Candy’s dog was his only companion, other than George and Lennie, who he just met. He was so desperate for friendship that he was willing to give complete strangers all of his money, just to make friends and look forward to a better future. While Candy was very lonely, there were many other characters dealing with loneliness throughout the book. Curley’s Wife was another extremely lonely character in the novel. She is described as a beautiful lady who is often called a “tramp” or a “tart” by the workers on the ranch. Even though she does not tend to show her loneliness, she did confide in Lennie towards the end of the book, expressing how lonely she actually felt. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s Wife states,”I get lonely...You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad”(87) This

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