Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Theme of loneliness in mice and men
Analysis on the movie of mice and men
Symbolism of mice and men
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Theme of loneliness in mice and men
Three Lonely Outcasts
In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck almost all of the characters are ranch hands and they are solitary wanderers. They live very lonely, solitary lives, drifting from one ranch to another. They don?t make many friends and they don?t make much money. There are three characters on the ranch who are the lonliest of the lonely because they are also outcasts or misfits who don?t fit in with what is considered ?normal? by the other ranch hands. Lennie is an outcast because he is retarded, Crooks is an outcast because he is black, and Curley?s wife is an outcast because she is a woman. These three outcasts look for companionship throughout the novel.
First, Lennie is a lonely outcast because he is retarded. One of the reasons he doesn?t fit in with the other ranch hands is because he doesn?t always understand what people are talking about. He doesn?t even always understand George. Lennie admits this when Crooks says to him, ?Sometimes he talks and and you don?t know what the hell he?s talkin? about.? (Steinbeck,77). But Lennie always needs companionship. He is never alone, even if he has a dead mouse or a puppy with him. George would sometimes punish Lenny by not letting him tend to the rabbits on the ranch. And Lennie?s biggest fear is of being abandoned by George:
??He won?t do it,? Lennie cried. ?George wouldn?t do nothing like that. I been with George a long time. He?ll come back tonight?? But the doubt was too much for him.? (Steinbeck,78).
The second lonely outcast is Curley?s wife. The other ranch hands stay away from her because she is a woman and because she is the wife of the boss? son. Also, even though her husband is very jealous, she is so lonely that she tries to get attention from the ranch hands, which makes Curley even angrier and more jealous. She is like the outcast of the outcasts. One night, when everyone else is away from the ranch, Lennie and Candy are in Crooks? room. Even though it is just the three ?. . . weak ones here? (Steinbeck,84), when Curley?s wife is lonely and wants to join them, they won?t let her: ?Maybe you better go along to your own house now.
Lennie is broken and incomplete in many ways. He has a mental disability which differentiates him from the others. He depends on George for everything and cannot do things on his own even though he is a grown man.
Because of Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Lennie’s differences from most people on the ranch; these people are considered to be the main outcasts on the ranch in California. As the novel shows, an outcast can be any person who stands out from the crowd. Although everyone is somewhat an outcast; because they are all different from each other, these three characters in the story are
In today's society, group or even a family anyone who believe they do not belong can feel “lonely.” Loneliness can be one of the most depressing feelings experienced. Of Mice and Men takes place on a ranch in California during the early 1930s. There many negative viewpoints about certain sexes and races had not yet been resolved. Women and African Americans were perceived as lesser individuals when compared to any white male American, despite the fact that the country was on the turn of the century and thereby beginning to accept all people as equals. Another group of people that did not get much respect and was treated poorly was the mentally challenged. Not until the 1930s was anyone who was mentally retarded and considered crazy, treated respectfully as individuals. Even though it was tough for all Americans during this period of time their American Dream like anybody else was difficult.
The resemblance between Rainsford and General Zaroff are far more significant than the distinctions between them, in the most dangerous game story. In the beginning of the story, Rainsford is on the yacht conversing with Whitney, he questions Whitney and mentions, “[w]ho cares how a jaguar feels?” (Connell 199). Also in the story, General Zaroff doesn’t show sympathy for the animals he hunts because, when he got bored of hunting animals, he began to hunt humans. This proves how, both Rainsford and the general are alike, in that they do not have sympathy for the animals they hunt. Additionally, General Zaroff and Rainsford are more alike because they both are high ranked hunters. Towards the middle of the story, when Rainsford introduces himself,
First of all, when it comes to hunting abilities I simply believe that general Zaroff does it better than Rainsford. Just because Rainsford won the dangerous game that doesn't make him nonetheless the better hunter. Zaroff is very stealthily in his mouvements and as well has the capacity and the patience to acquire of extremely accurate marksmanship and intent. He is also very well disciplined in the sport, and has done it his whole life, therefore he has a lot of experiences in it. He had the capability and the wisdom to held a gun at the age of only five and killed a bear at the age of ten. He acknowledged that in the story and said « When I was only five years old he gave me a little gun » and that « I killed my first bear in the Caucasus
The General has quickly found Rainsford but he lets him escape because he wants a challenge. After, Rainsford ran to another part of the jungle and made a booby-trap called a “Malayan mancatcher" to kill Zaroff. The trap only wounds Zaroff, who returns to the chateau and promises to kill Rainsford the following night.Then Rainsford ran for hours until he accidentally steps into quicksand, once he was able to get out, he digs a pit, lines the bottom of the pit with sharp wooden stakes, covers it with foliage, and then hides in the brush nearby. Sadly one of Zaroff’s hunting hounds activated the trap and plunges to his death, forcing Zaroff to return to the chateau
Throughout the novel, Lennie's actions tend to be the cause of many events including his own downfall. This is shown in George's conversation with Slim when George says, "Well the girl rabbits an' tells the law she been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie" (Steinbeck 42). This quote shows how Lennie's action to grab a girl's dress results the guys in Weed chasing him and George out. This is significant because through this one action, Lennie ends up working at the ranch setting himself up for his eventual death. Unlike George who is
George and Lennie were never lonely. “Guys like us...are the loneliest guys in the world...With us it ain’t like that.”(Steinbeck 13-14) George and Lennie are always together. George stays with Lennie, even through the hardest times. Being a farmhand was a very solitary job. It was impossible to maintain relationships, but George and Lennie never leave each other's side. They were true friends to be able to travel together. Their love and friendship kept them together, even in circumstances where that was a rare occurrence. Lennie needed George, and in a way, George needed Lennie. Neither could live the same life without the other. Lennie always gave George trouble, but he stayed. “You do bad things...You keep me in hot water all the time,”(Steinbeck 11). George knew he could have left at any time, but he loved Lennie, so he stayed. Lennie did things that got him in trouble, and George felt he needed to protect Lennie, so he risked life and limb to keep Lennie safe. George was always watching out for things Lennie might do wrong, and always trying to teach him what he should and shouldn’t do. Lennie didn’t understand, so George was always in a dangerous situation as long as he was around Lennie. But he always stuck by him, up until the gruesome end. George could have lived a normal life without Lennie. “...if I was alone I could live so easy,”(Steinbeck 11). George lived a very different life to anything he could
John Steinbeck is known to have composed many masterpieces in his vigorous career that often deal with one of the most basic and frightful human nature, loneliness. In his intricate work, Of Mice and Men, he tells a brilliantly spun tale of a group of people, whose hopes and dreams of belonging are shattered by their powerlessness. While each distinct character from this aforementioned group suffer on slightly different levels, the central core of their misery remains the same; a need for companionship. Among these lonesome individuals, Steinbeck develops Curley’s wife to symbolize the most extreme form of loneliness by framing her character as a misunderstood woman in the 1930’s, who is married to a truculent, inordinately prohibitive husband,
There are many examples of Rainsford and Zaroff conflicting throughout the story. Zaroff's boredom with hunting led to a game in which he challenges Rainsford. Zaroff thinks that animals are to easy to hunt because he has been hunting them his whole life. Hunting people, on the other hand, is much more thrilling. Instinct plays a big part in this game. The narrator shows this with Rainsford, “Rainsford’s impulse was to hurl himself down like a panther, but he saw that the general’s right hand held something metallic--a small automatic pistol”(11). Zaroff has played this game many times before, but playing against Rainsford makes it much harder for him because of Rainsford’s hunting skills. If Rainsford hurled himself down like a panther, he would get killed because Zaroff has a pistol in his hand. Man vs man plays a big part in this
In his novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck narrates the story of two travelers, Lennie and George, who find work on a ranch in California. The two meet several characters on the ranch, including Candy, an old and crippled man; Curley’s wife, the only woman on the ranch; and Crooks, a crippled African American worker on the ranch. In chapter four of Steinbeck’s novel, Lennie, Candy, and Curley’s wife gather in Crooks's room to seek companionship, referring to each other through insults and treating each other through intimidation. They do this due to their personal insecurities and desires to belittle others to feel better about themselves.
Lennie was not very smart and couldn't do much by himself. He had to be told what to do or he wouldn't do anything at all. He fits all the profiles for a retarded person. He doesn't have any self-control. When he starts to panic he gets out of control and even kills Curly's wife because she starts to scream. Lennie loves animals and can't stop talking about them. He always says that when they get their own place that he wants lots of rabbits, his favorite animal. To him George is like his father figure, since Lennie never really had any parents. He is easily amused and panics quickly.
Loneliness is the sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned. John Steinbeck brought up the theme of loneliness in many characters in Of Mice and Men. Crooks, Curley?s wife, and Candy expressed the theme of loneliness in many different forms throughout the story. Early in the novella George said, life working as ranch hands is on the loneliness lives to live, for these people finding friendship seems to be impossible.
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.
Despite the frustration that Lennie causes, without him George would probably be a lot like the other men on the ranch; simply roaming the country-side of California looking for work, and although he often prides himself on being different, he sometimes complains, usually after Lennie has caused trouble, and wishes that he could be like a normal guy and not have to live with Lennie’s hindrance. An example of this is seen when George responds sharply to Lennie's constant request for ketchup. "If I was alone I could live so easy…no trouble…no mess at all.