Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

702 Words2 Pages

During the Great Depression, many migrant workers were not able to form friendships and relationships in their unstable work. This is shown clearly in the book of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. The book is about two men that travel together and face many conflicts. Many of the people they meet believe George is taking advantage of Lennie as it was unusual for two people to travel together. Through characterization of Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife, Steinbeck portrays how loneliness negatively impacts humans. Loneliness impacts Candy after all the guys gang up on him to kill his old dog and longtime friend, severing the bond between man and beast. Candy formed a special bond with his dog that the other guys do not understand; they do not have anyone that is loyal to them that follows them anywhere willingly. Candy ends up having another guy shoot his dog since he would not be able to pull the trigger. Later, Candy says “You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me. But they won’t do nothing like that” …show more content…

Curley’s wife is the only women on a farm full of men and none of them will talk to her. One day she finds Lennie in the barn and goes to talk to him then again George told Lennie not to talk to her. So Lennie tries tells her he is not allowed to talk to her and she says ““I get lonely,”… “You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody? (Steinbeck 84). Lennie ends up talking to her and they start talking about their love of soft thing and things go downhill from there. She did not know the extent of Lennie’s love for soft things leading to her downfall. She lets Lennie pet her hair then he messes it up and she yells and Lennie tries to get her to be quiet, snapping her neck in the

Loneliness in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
2203 Words | 5 Pages
Mother Theresa once said, "Loneliness is a man's worst poverty." Without friends and companions, people begin to suffer from loneliness and solitude (Dusenbury 38). Loneliness is an inevitable fact of life and cannot be avoided, as shown prevalent through each of the characters in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Each and every character in this novel exhibits loneliness. Lennie was isolated for being mentally handicapped, Candy was isolated for being old and disabled, Crooks was for being black, Curley's wife for being a woman, and George for having to care for Lennie and being unable to socialize with others because of Lennie's consistency of getting into trouble from town to town.
Read More
Loneliness in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
999 Words | 2 Pages
Loneliness in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck This book is set in a deserted, lonely country. The individuals in the stories are isolated by particular features such as age, gender, disability. and race to the end. They appear to relate to each other, however, each is.
Read More
The Theme of Loneliness in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
1777 Words | 4 Pages
alone just to try make some money. This was a very bad period in the
Read More
Truths Exposed in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
1052 Words | 3 Pages
John Steinbeck's timeless novel Of Mice and Men is a somewhat controversial story of the hardships of life. To illustrate these hardships, Steinbeck takes the reader back to an era of bankruptcies, migrant workers, and drifters. Today, this time, the 1930's, is branded the Great Depression. The quest of George and Lennie, two migrant workers, is an example of the dilemma of thousands of homeless and unemployed men in America during the Great Depression era (Ito 39). The harsh circumstances presented by the Great Depression reveal a darker side of human nature. In order to survive, a man's priority had to be himself. Through his characters, Steinbeck exposes truths about people and life in general.
Read More
Of Mice and Men
992 Words | 2 Pages
Candy, the ranch handyman, lost his hand in an accident and worries about his future on the ranch. He fears that his age is making him useless and unwanted. Candy's age and handicap also contribute to his loneliness. Many of the men reject Candy because of these things and he fears that he will eventually come to the same end as his old dog. Candy is crushed by Lennie and George's dream to get their own piece of land and "live off the fatta the lan'". This dream lifted Candy's spirit and only set him up for a bigger disappointment. This made Candy not only a victim of loneliness, but also of disillusionment. He also feels the burden of loneliness and shows it by his relationship with his sheep dog. The dog, being described as “ancient”, “stinky”, and “half-blind”, had been in Candy’s life and his companion for a very long time and Candy had grown attached to it. He said he, "had him since he was a pup" and he used to "herd sheep with him." Once the other farmhands had finally gotten fed up with it and stated that the dog needed to be put out of its misery Candy was extremely reluctant to turn it over and let him go. After hearing the shot ring outside, all Candy could do was turn his face towards a wall and not look around. Certainly Candy found this dog to be a loyal companion of his and he had developed a strong relationship with it over the years, which helped him cope with his loneliness on the ranch. Whenever one is taking a deeper look at Of Mice and Men one will probably get a sense of how depressing the ranch really is. These are just a few examples of how different characters dealt with their loneliness.
Read More
Loneliness in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
1177 Words | 3 Pages
Explore the implications of loneliness in John Steinbeck’s novel Of. Mice and Men. In the light of the American economic collapse, there was a significant number of itinerant workers, who lived in a nomadic lifestyle, migrating in search of jobs. This continuous migration deter them from building substantial relationships. Due to the lack of companionship and depression of the era, it appears that the characters are bound to loneliness. Most of the characters in John Steinbeck’s novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ is caught in the trap of.
Read More
of mice and men...theme of lonliness in the book
558 Words | 2 Pages
Candy also feels the burden of loneliness and shows it by his relationship with his sheep dog. The dog, being described as “ancient”, “stinky”, and “half-blind”, had been in Candy’s life for a very long time and Candy had grown attached to it.
Read More
Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
1071 Words | 3 Pages
The Great Depression was a time of solitude, isolation, and loneliness. In accordance, 1930s society impacted all of the characters introduced in Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men. The novella was set in Soledad, a town named as a result of its location near Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (the Mission of Our Lady of Solitude). The town’s reference to solitude was portrayed by Steinbeck to present the discrimination of the time period. A few individuals who were effected as a result of discrimination were Candy, Crooks, Lennie, George, and Curley’s wife. Consequently, loneliness was a major outcome of discrimination.
Read More
How Does Steinbeck Present Loneliness In Of Mice And Men
702 Words | 2 Pages
The book “Of Mice and Men” is a novella written by John Steinbeck. It was set during The Great Depression in the 1930s. The two main characters are George and Lennie. They both travel together and have their dream of owning their own Ranch. Out of the many themes in the book, Steinbeck portrays Loneliness greatly throughout the novella. Some of the characters who feel isolated are George, one of the protagonists, Crooks, a black worker on the ranch, and Curley’s wife. Loneliness is the result from lack of companionship and is an emotional response to isolation.
Read More
Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
696 Words | 2 Pages
Have you ever felt lonely inside and you were the only one to know it? Well you’re not the only one. In the book Of Mice and Men, I believe that John Steinbeck is trying to show that everyone has a loneliness inside them that they don’t always show. Some things that might actually make you lonely is losing someone or something you love, kind of like Candy’s situations.
Read More
Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
1117 Words | 3 Pages
In his novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck depicts the essential loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930s. He illustrates how people are driven to find companionship. There were so many moments of loneliness and sadness throughout the novel, including many deaths. Following the deaths, they were very unexpected making the novel more intense and latch onto it more.
Read More
Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
698 Words | 2 Pages
After his hand is lost, he can no longer work with the other men and is demoted to being the swamper. Once his dog is shot, he has nothing else to live for and turns very lonely. “I won’t have no place to go, an’ I can’t get no more jobs.” I’ll have thirty dollars more comin’, time you guys is ready to quit” (57). Candy saying this is important because he is saying how he is lonely and has nowhere to go so he wants to be apart of the dream. He is depressed because of his dog and knows nobody will hire him for a job so he joins George and Lennie’s dream. The reason why candy is affected by loneliness is because his dog was shot and he is
Read More
Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
797 Words | 2 Pages
“Come boy. Come on, boy”, he said gently. And said apologetically to Candy, “he won’t even feel it”. Candy did not move nor answer him(Steinbeck48). Candy’s dog was something that he loved and when the dog died his heart was broken. It was hard for Candy to be himself because before he was happy and when his dog died, he got depressed. When Lennie and George were talking to Candy about Curley’s wife and George want to swing at her then Candy said, “I got hurt four years ago,” he said. “They’ll can me purty soon. Jus’ as soon as I can’t swap out no bunk houses they’ll put me on the country” (Steinbeck 60). Candy has to work like a chicken that’s been running around and since his dog died and its depression since Candy’s dog was his friend. Candy has all these responsibilities that he has and it overwhelmed him and losing some close was hard for
Read More
Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
981 Words | 2 Pages
Even with a whole life time of toil behind him he is lonely with only an old dog as a friend. Candy’s loneliness gets worse when Carlson says to Candy “He stinks to beat hell. Tell you what. I’ll shoot him for you. Then it won’t be you that does it” (Steinbeck 45). Candy lost his best friend that night. It was his ancient dog that he has had since it was a pup. He loved that dog more than anyone on the ranch. He did not make very strong connections with the other men on the ranch because the other workers come and go. Candy also suffers from a physical disability, “He pointed with his right arm, and out of the sleeve came a round stick-like wrist, but no hand” (Steinbeck 18). This quotation shows how Candy is lonely because he is losing his ability to work on the ranch. With only one hand, and his age becoming a factor, he cannot do as much work as the other men. Once he cannot handle the work anymore he will be kicked off the ranch because he will not be needed. He has no family so he won’t be able to go anywhere. Candy is alone. Candy says “You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me.” (Steinbeck 60). Both Candy and Lennie are disabled and this keepsthem separate from the
Read More
The Theme of Lonliness in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
590 Words | 2 Pages
novel because it is in the middle of no-where so that it is hard to
Read More

Open Document

Wait a second!

Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men