Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

The novella, Of Mice and Men takes place in the Salinas River Valley, California during the Great Depression. It was written by John Steinbeck, who grew up near the Salinas River Valley in the 1900s. During the Great Depression, stock markets crashed, and people went poor overnight. Some men would travel from farm to farm just to get enough food to feed themselves. They didn’t have homes, everything they owned could fit in a backpack. In his novella, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife, Crook, and Candy, to contribute to prove the failure of the American Dream.

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.

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.

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.

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

During this time, Lennie and George also experience how cruel the real world can be, and realize that even though they are working for basically scraps, they had to settle because their job options were limited. Soon after, Candy’s wife comes looking for him, and Lennie then comments on her beauty to George. George, knowing that this would not end well, quickly reminded Lennie of his previous run in with women and how they were kicked out of the previous city because of it. (Steinbeck 97). George then asks Slim, another ranch worker, if he could have one of his puppies to comfort Lennie because he is getting somber at how the ranch owners are treating him (Steinbeck 101).

”You never realize how lonely you are until it’s the end of the day and you got a bunch of things to talk about and no one to talk to.” In the book Mice of Men by John Steinbeck he expresses loneliness through many of his characters in his book. Loneliness is a theme that is throughout the story that so many characters had. Their loneliness can let us see that characters in a different light and Steinbeck wants the reader to see. George, Crooks, and Curley’s Wife are characters that have loneliness that festers inside of them in different ways.

What is the significance of loneliness in the novel and how does it affect the characters in John Steinbeck’s novel, of Mice and Men? Loneliness can be used by authors in many ways such as describing isolation to the audience or even in the matter of proving that people do not have an equal chance of achieving something. The significance of loneliness in of Mice and Men is to show that not everyone is not allowed or not given the chance to partake in the promise of the American Dream.

In chapter three, an older migrant worker called Candy explains to George how he lost his hand on the ranch and was compensated with a “swampin” job and 250 dollars. Because of Candy’s older age readers can infer that he has outlived many of his friends and family members, consequently, Candy feels all alone and longs to find a “family” before he dies. Knowing that Candy doesn’t have any remaining family helps the audience understand why he struggled so much with Carlson’s proposal to end his dog’s suffering: “I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup… You wouldn’t think it to look at him now bt he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen” (44). And moments later after Slim supported Carlson’s decision to shoot the pup, Candy added, “Maybe it’d hurt him… I don’t mind takin’ care of him” (45). In this scene, Candy loses his best friend-his only friend- and this tragedy forced him to not only recognize just how much he relied on his dog for companionship, but also just how much his dog kept him going each day. At the same time, Candy is reminded that he’s growing older and now much of a use on the ranch anymore. In fact, after overhearing the plans of George and Lennie’s dream farm, Candy confides in George that he “... ain’t much good with on’y one hand” (59) and “he won’t have no place to go…” (61). Pleading to be included in their dream,

The novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a piece of fiction that takes place during the Great Depression, one of America’s darkest times. The novella is about two characters named George and Lennie who go around from ranch to ranch trying to find a job. Lennie isn’t very bright, and George is the person who takes care of and handles Lennie and all of the problems he causes. The last ranch they worked at is in Weed, but they are chased out of it. They find a job at a new ranch where they discover various different people. During their time at the ranch, they meet all of these different characters, and some of these characters are more different than the others. The characters that have the most significant differences and face discrimination

John Steinbeck sets the scene of his novella, Of Mice and Men, in the Salinas River Valley, a few miles south of Soledad. The time period of the novella is the 1930’s during the Great Depression. The Great Depression began in 1929 after the U.S. had a major financial crisis. People lost all of their money and their homes when the stock market crashed. Many men became migrant farm workers who would travel from farm to farm, working for just enough money for food and a few belongings. John Steinbeck grew up in the Salinas River Valley during the Depression. In his novella, of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses the characters Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks to prove people will do anything to stop being lonely.