Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck in the period of the raging Great Depression, revolves around loneliness and the failure of the American dream. Based in the Salinas River Valley in California; two migrant workers struggle to keep a job for more than a month and hustle to make their dream a reality. George Milton; a short, smart and bossy man, and his partner Lennie Small, a tall, mighty force that is cognitively impaired and is attracted to any soft animal or article of clothing, are the main characters of the tale. These two may seem like an unusual pair but are a storm to be reckoned with and in these selfish times it is unlikely for men of the kind to be friends. Within these difficult trials and the every-man-for-himself persona that is taken up by every personality; their relationship is seen as odd. Accompanying the characters, Candy; a useless one handed janitor, Crooks; an exiled and beaten black farmhand, and Curley’s Wife; a desperate lonely housewife, are all used to express the theme. In his novella, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses Candy, Crooks and Curley’s Wife to prove that people will go to extreme measures to escape loneliness.
First off, Steinbeck uses Candy to prove that people will go to extreme measures to escape loneliness. In the following scenes of the story, Candy’s ancient dog had just been shot by Carlson; one of the working men on the ranch. Candy; being the mostly useless janitor who had his hand accidently cut off is agreeing to join
Loneliness is one of the primary themes in Of Mice and Men. Throughout the novel, John Steinbeck shows the enormous effect that loneliness has on the characters. Steinbeck most clearly illustrates this theme through Crooks, Candy, and Curley 's wife. Ranch hands are ideal types of people to portray as being lonely, because their constant travel leaves them without someone to talk to or share things with. Steinbeck also shows how important it is for every human being to have a companion. Companionship is necessary in order for someone to live an enjoyable life. Although loneliness affects each one of the characters in Of Mice and Men differently, they all experience negative feelings from their lack of
Friends are needed in a person’s life for emotional stability whom without would lead to a life of loneliness and solitude. In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the characters Crooks, Candy and Curly’s wife exhibit a form of loneliness. They are driven to George and Lennie’s friendship because they lack support and that emotional stability in their own lives."A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't matter no difference who the guy is, longs he with you. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an he gets sick" (Steinbeck, 13). Throughout his novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows that victims of isolation crave to fulfill a companionship to fill in that void of loneliness.
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.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is book of many themes; one that is very prominent is loneliness. Loneliness is common in many people's lives and that is also true for the lives of the characters of the book. Almost all characters in the book are lonely in one way or the other.
People are considered to be social beings, yet, again and again, they seek to falsify the claims of civility, and show themselves as the detached individuals they tend to be. In his novella, “Of Mice and Men,” John Steinbeck designed several faulty pairings that display the true disparity and detachment that are proven to be a part of every relationship in the story. Through the associations of the main characters, Lennie and George, along with several other characters within the narrative, Steinbeck exposes the root of 1930’s relationships in promises, loneliness, and a basic need for companionship, rather than any true fondness- a junction that can easily be nullified.
Curly and his wife act out often and are constantly wanting attention. This can be seen on page 86. "I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely." Curley's wife also shows us in the book her loneliness and cries for attention. Another example, She says, “I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” Her marriage with Curley did not make her happy, but it made her feel terrible and unworthy. She has wanted to become a movie star her whole life, but never got the chance. She is also getting avoided by fellow ranch workers because she always causes trouble and brings
In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck utilizes loneliness as an overarching theme, there is however one character that is noticeably longer than the others in Steinbeck's novella. This character is Crooks, a bitter and aloof man, he used to have a family with brothers and a 10 acre chicken ranch. Now he lives the life of a stable buck isolated by his race (he is the only African American on the ranch) among other things (Steinbeck,2002). This loneliness truly characterises him and causes no end to his bitterness. John Steinbeck Portrays Crooks as the loneliest character because, he is isolated by race, disability, location and a lack of companionship.
“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.
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
Candy is the last main example of the characterisation of loneliness. Being old and disabled, Candy is not much use around the ranch anymore, and has been confined to cleaning, which, just like crooks, withholds him from connecting with the other, younger men and thus separating him. Candy’s dog was his only companion, keeping him from being lonely, which was why Candy put off killing it, even though it was the best thing to do. Candy dreaded being a lonely man and is aware that he will soon become useless, so when his dog is shot he invests his hopes in George and Lennies dream, to distract
Steinbeck talks about how Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Candy are outcasts on the ranch and because of this they are very lonely and often seek attention of others. Crooks is discriminated against because of his race and he reads books to try to mollify his loneliness. Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch and all the men avoid her because of her misjudged behavior, so she is very lonely. Candy is very old so he is excluded from everyone else. His only friend was his dog but it eventually got killed. All of these characters live hopeless lives because they are lonely. Steinbeck’s message to us is that people need companionship and friendship in order for their lives to be joyful and
Throughout the novella, Steinbeck displays the ‘American Dream’ through most of the characters. In the dialogue George describes his and Lennie’s dream of owning their own property, with rabbits and, “…living off the fat of the land.” This living off the fat of the land is what George and Lennie imagine s their ‘American Dream’. This gives them a sense of hope and purpose, but most of all it helps them to cope. Companionship, another way that helped migrant workers to cope, through the horse shoe game that they all played together, then the description between Candy and his dog mirrors the relationship between George and Lennie.
"Of Mice and Men" essay on Loneliness is a basic part of human life. Every one becomes lonely once in a while but in Steinbeck's novella "Of Mice and Men", he illustrates the loneliness of ranch life in the early 1930's and shows how people are driven to try and find friendship in order to escape from loneliness. Steinbeck creates a lonely and blue atmosphere at many times in the book. He uses names and words such as the town near the ranch called "Soledad", which means loneliness and the card game "Solitaire" Which means by ones self. He makes it clear that all the men on the ranch are lonely, with particular people lonelier than others. In the opening chapter, Steinbeck introduces the idea of loneliness and men who work on ranches living
The film’s gorgeous visual presentation allows it to communicate the theme of loneliness in a superior fashion. Throughout the film, many fantastic uses of imagery deeply emphasizes the lonesomeness of the story. A great example of this is shown during the scene where Candy mourns his dead dog. Here, the entire shot of the farmland is tinted gray, with the sky being cloudy, and the trees and grass fields appearing dull. Candy is seen to be standing alone on the empty field while the other ranch hands left for work. He solemnly takes off his hat in respect for his old friend’s passing, and turns to face away from the audience (Sinise). The imagery presented in this scene greatly articulates the deep emotional desolation Candy is experiencing,
‘Of mice and men’ is a tale of loneliness and hardship felt by the people living in America during the 1930 's. Written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937, it tells the heartbreaking story of two ranch workers during the depression; George Milton and Lennie Small. At the time America was very poor, with a shortage of jobs so people had to travel in search of new jobs. As many people were constantly moving, lasting friendships or relationships were hard to come across. People became scared to have friendships, scared of each other making them lonely and isolated. Most of the characters lived by ‘every man for himself’; only having to care for themselves, not having to worry about others and therefore