Loneliness turns a person into something that they never wanted to be. We might even settle less than wanting to have someone who will do ourselves good. Even then there are some who will have nobody there. Dreams can either blind us or if not followed, can change us. Fantasy like that gives hope, to make us feel like there might be something in the future. It allows a goal to be reached. Steinbeck wants the reader to consider the theme of loneliness and dreams because of how they affect us in real life, not just for a good story. “A guy needs somebody-to be near him- a guy gets too lonely an he get sick” - Crooks, pg 72-73. Of Mice and Men is set in Soledad California 1930. Everything is different at that time compared to now. That quote …show more content…
You look forward to something when you have a set goal. There are others who are afraid to go for want they want the most, just because there are people who will look down on you. There is always someone who is in our way with our dream. You just need to be strong enough to grab it before it goes away. Lennie and George have a dream that one day they will live on a ranch with their piece own piece of land. Rest of their lives it will be just those two, they don’t need anybody else. “We’ll do her,” he said. “We’ll fix up that little old place an’ we’ll go live there” George pg. 60 George, Lennie and Candy were talking about their future together. Since Candy gets paid more, their dream is starting to look like it can actually happen. Another example of a dream Curley’s Wife. “He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soon’s he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it.” -Curley’s Wife pg. 88. Curley’s Wife dream was to be an actress, she got told by people that she was good, a natural even. Curley’s Wife has such high hopes that all she needed was that letter and she would be set for life. She would get nice clothes, fancy hotel rooms and have her picture taken. Curley’s wife never got that letter she wanted, instead of going to find another opportunity she just gave up and moved on to some guy. Curley’s Wife is now unhappy and picks on the weak like Crooks and Lennie. Crooks is considered less than
Most of the characters in Of Mice and Men have their own version of the “American Dream” and in all their dreams they are happy ,and have finally reached their goal. Before her tragic death at the hands of Lennie ,Curley’s wife tells Lennie she wanted to be in the movies. “Her words tumbled out in a passion of communication...I met one of the actors... he says ‘i could go with that show’… If i’d went i wouldn't be living like this,you bet”(pg 88). Curley’s wife is not satisfied and reminiscences about the dreams of her past, and she wished she had gone to live her life and been an actress instead of marrying Curley and being isolated. She talked passionately about it because she wishes that was her life at the moment.Curley’s wife also could have been in the”pitchers”, “i met a guy… says he was gonna put me in the pitchers. .. He was gonna write me about it.. i never got that letter.. Thought my old lady stole it… I couldn’t make anything of myself.. So i married Curley”(pg88). Curley’s wife's dream was never obtained and there never was hope. The men that promised to make her dreams come true were never
Candy and George have just found Curley’s wife's body. Candy asks George if their farm dream can still happen, but George says that the dream was going to fail anyways. Steinbeck writes, “I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much, I got to thinking maybe we would” (Steinbeck 94). The farm dream means quite a bit to everyone considering it means security from the harsh world they live in. for Crooks it means respect and equality, for Candy it means security for his age, and for George and Lennie it means security from Lennie getting in trouble, and financial stability. Even though all these people are rooting for this dream, it still ends up failing. Curley’s wife is also an example of dreams failing. She could have been in the movies, but sadly her overbearing mother forces her to stay home. She then makes her situation worse by marrying Curley. Even though she works for that dream, it still fails. The reasoning behind both of these dreams failing is completely due to circumstance, which makes it even more tragic. None of the characters can stop the dreams from falling, which means it's more likely that other dreams in the future can end the same way. Every dream that a main character has in “Of Mice And Men” ends up failing, making “dreams often fail” a major
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.
Factors that can fuel loneliness are abundant: depression, trauma, social rejection, loss, low self-esteem, etc. The aspect of human connection and interaction is a psychological requirement for all people, even to those who push others away. These elements of isolation are presented through three methods in a 1938 novel of friendship. John Steinbeck uses indirect characterization, discrimination, and conflict to demonstrate the effects of loneliness and need for companionship in his novel Of Mice and Men.
They ain't got nothing to look ahead to... With us it ain't like that we got a future(Steinbeck 14). This is where the idea of the dream is first introduced and in Steinbeck's own wording of it he seems to suggest that you do need a dream to guide your future or even to have a future in general. Another thing that steinbeck suggest about the future and focus on a dream is that it can power you to take risks that might not have an advantage to you in the end. "If you get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an' hide in the brush" (steinbeck 15). Steinbeck suggest that the dream which compels them to go work on the farm but the farm could have a dangerous effect on what happens to George and Lennie. The dream even seems to compel them when they get on the farm and the ranch
In the whole of the novella, Steinbeck uses a great deal of imagery in his writing, Therefore, helping us to understand the settings of the novel in much more detail. Within the first page of the book, Steinbeck uses a great deal of words and phrases that contribute to the recurring theme of loneliness. The name of the town in which he bases the entire novel is ‘Soledad’ which means ‘Lonely’ In Spanish. This is a key part of the novel, as it means the whole book’s surroundings, (no matter where it is), is based around that one meaning of ‘Loneliness’. Further on, in the first page Steinbeck describes to the reader the surroundings of the town, he uses a range of detailed vocabulary to emphasise the towns’ Isolation and Loneliness.
“‘A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is… I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick,” (Steinbeck 73). In this statement, Crooks, a character in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, divulges what effect loneliness can have on a human being. In the novel, the two main characters escape to a ranch where they must face the conflict that seems to follow them. Set in the 1930s during the Great Depression, Steinbeck brilliantly portrays the loneliness and suspicion that was common during the time. Much like in everyday life, we can see the way in which loneliness drives people to become isolated, crave companionship, and refuse to express emotion.
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.
We all know that every one becomes lonely once in a while. But in Steinbeck's novella "Of Mice and Men” it shows the loneliness of ranch life in the early 1930's. It also shows how people are trying to find friendship with other ranchers in order to escape from loneliness. Imagine if you had nobody to talk to. Loneliness is the basic message here in this story.
In the masterful story Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck there is a looming theme of loneliness. This theme is told to you through the words and actions of the characters in the story . This story is told through two characters Lennie and George. The setting is 1930’s America. The story involves traveling ranch workers that live only for the one purpose to get paid and waste their money on a few drinks and some pleasure. These men are consumed with loneliness. The care for nothing but themselves. They are very unlike George and Lennie who have each other and a dream. Lennie is a big man with the brain of a child. Lennie never meant to hurt anybody but managed to get himself and his only true friend George into trouble. George is a small smart man who has known Lennie all his life and knows to well that Lennie could not survive on his own lets him travel with him as a favor too Lennie’s aunt
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.
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.
In the touching and gripping tale of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, he explains many themes throughout the books. One of the major themes is loneliness, which is shown throughout many different characters, for example, Curley’s wife, the stable buck (Crooks), and Lennie.
"Were born alone we live alone die alone. Only through love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that were not alone” Orson Welles. In this novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck focuses on the loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930’s. One of the most important things in the life is to have a friend, without friends people will suffer from loneliness like in this novel, not everyone in the novel has the same connection and special friendship like George and Lennie’s. Of Mice and Men is the story about lonely men who travel from ranch to ranch not really communicating with other ranch hands. Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife all were lonely and dealt with their loneliness in different ways.
In conclusion, being lonely is something none of the men wants to happen and the men being lonely is symbolic because that shows how the times were during the Great Depression. The men don’t want to be by themselves nor do they want to be left behind by the people. Steinbeck wanted to show how existence was during the time period. Steinbeck showed how people remained affected by the depression and what people had to do to make it through the tough times. He demonstrated how people had to make choices not just for themselves but for the well-being of others. This novel might have been different if it was made from a historical point of view because then it would have more facts about the struggles during the Great Depression. Imagine what would have happened if Steinbeck left Lennie alive in this story or what happened with George after he killed Lennie.