Loneliness can be a terrible feeling sometimes. At one point or another most people have experienced loneliness in their lives. In the novella written by John Steinbeck “Of Mice and Men,” loneliness is a major part of the story. There are many times in this story where the the author hints at loneliness. Even their location hints at loneliness, “A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green.”(1). Soledad is a spanish word for “solitude” which can be defined as the state or situation of being alone. There are also several characters in this story that show signs of loneliness. In this essay, three different characters from the book that expresses signs of loneliness will be introduced. …show more content…
Candy is the oldest person working on the ranch who mostly kept to himself. He had an old dog that had no teeth and smelled really bad, but Candy was really close to the because he had it since it was just a puppy. Since the dog was basically useless and smelled bad the other ranch hands finally convinced him to let them put his dog down. Once the dog was put down Candy was left with no one and becomes lonely. Once he hears about George and Lennie’s dream he offers all of his life's saving to be part of it. The reason he is so willing to do anything to be part of this dream is so that he doesn’t have to be alone anymore and he could actually be part of something. In conclusion, Steinbeck’s novella “Of Mice and Men,” portrays several examples of what the lonely ranch life of the 1930’s was like. He also has several characters in this story that are driven to try to find friendship to cure their loneliness. In the end, Crooks says he feels sick because of how lonely he is. Curley’s wife dies because she has no one to talk to and ends up getting killed by Lennie, who was the only one willing to talk to her. In addition to all of that, Candy’s shared dream with Lennie and George is now over, meaning that he will probably end up dying as a lonely old
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a novel about loneliness and the American Dream. This book takes place during the Great Depression. It was very difficult for people to survive during this time period. A lot of people hardly survived let alone had the necessities they needed to keep relationships healthy. Of Mice of Men has a common theme of disappointment. All the characters struggle with their unaccomplished dreams. The migrant workers, stable buck, swamper, and the other men on the ranch had an unsettled disappointment of where they were at in their lives. George and Lennie, two newcomers to the ranch, aren’t like the other guys. They have each other and they are the not loneliest people in the world. Lennie has a dream though he wants to own a farm with plenty of crops and animals one day. The only problem is his blind curiosity of people and things around him. George wasn’t justified for killing Lennie because Lennie was innocent and never got the chance to find out what he did wrong.
Of Mice and Men is novel that was written by John Steinbeck that describes the journey of George, and his mentally disabled friend, Lennie, as they travel and work together on a ranch in California. The story of Of Mice and Men accounts for the experience of George and Lennie as they encounter different people on the ranch who live in solitude, such as Crooks the negro stable buck, and the wife of the boss’s son, Curley. Crooks the stable buck is always alone because he is black, and during the time period of which the novel takes place, people with colored skin were discriminated and excluded from white social activities. Curley’s wife is alone most of the time because most of the men on ranch stay away
Imagine being discriminated against because of your ethnicity; or being the only woman on a ranch, stuck in a loveless marriage, when all you really want is someone to talk to. What about having to kill that friend, and bury all chances of breaking free from the life of the average migrant worker? How would you feel? These scenarios in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men illustrate the need and desire for companionship in life. There's Crooks, the negro stable buck; Curley's wife, whose marriage to Curley hasn't exactly been lively; and George and Lennie, whose friendship is strong enough to get them to a better life and out of the negetive cycle that the average migrant worker became trapped in during the Great Depression.
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.
Can loneliness ever bring death into people’s lives? The answer to that question is yes, it can and it does. Infact, loneliness is what often causes people to commit suicide. In the book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, many characters are often lonely. But that loneliness is caused by something, something that is common to everyone in their lifetime, maybe even you! According to me, the definition of loneliness is a feeling that naturally occurs when there is no communication between you and someone else, or if you do not like to talk to anyone. This sometimes causes people to create rage (mentally, and physically). This can also sometimes cause death, of yourself or someone else. So in this book, what John Steinbeck is trying to say about loneliness is that, the people are lonely because of their physical features and this involves Candy, Curley’s Wife and Crooks. They all are lonely in their own ways, but have the same problem.
One main theme in Of Mice And Men is loneliness. George and Lennie have have just sat down to eat their dinner, when Lennie asks George to talk about their life in the future. George complies, and also describes their current situation. Steinbeck writes, “ Guys like us, that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They don't got no family. They don't belong no place.” (Steinbeck 13). George is speaking of the life of people in the 1930’s. Loneliness is a common trait amongst people, especially migrant workers. They have no family to travel with, and no friends. The only true friends George and Lennie have are each other. Crooks is another
Throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men (by John Steinbeck), loneliness is the major underlying theme of the novel. You could almost say that the book has hormonal' up's and down's. Most of the characters are very lonely because they have no family. However, George and Lennie are the contradiction to this. George and Lennie's bond towards each other are so- strong that you can almost see it as you are reading the book. Candy the old crippled man wants to be part of George and Lennie's dream to own a farm and "live off the fatta the land". Curley and his dog are like the metaphor in the book for George and Lennie. Candy has to take care of his dog and George of Lennie. The other two characters in the novel that are apart of the overall theme of loneliness are crooks the crippled stable buck and Curley's wife the flirtatious city girl. Crook's fits in to the loneliness theme because he is black. During this time in history, there was very little racial empathy. So being black means that he is isolated from everyone else at the ranch. Speaking of isolation, curley's wife feels very isolated because her husband, Curley, doesn't trust her at all, however, because Curley is so strict and concerned about her flirting with other guys it almost fuels her desire to cause trouble.
Candy has no friends or family, and he is afraid that he will lose his job because he only has one arm. Candy tells George, “I won’t have no place to go” (Steinbeck 60). Candy is scared because no one would hire him because of his arm, and he has no one to help him. He is all alone in the hard world of the Great Depression. He is alone, and also hopeless. Candy once hoped that he could live on a farm with George and Lennie. He hoped to be a part of their family, but that dream died with Lennie. When he sees that Lennie killed Curley’s Wife, he asks George about their farm, “’Then—it’s all off?’” (Steinbeck 95). His new found hope is crushed and he is forever alone again. Candy’s future is not bright, and he will be facing it alone.
Born 1902 in California, John Steinbeck grew up in a hard time for America. The Great Depression hit in 1929, leaving thousands of American people jobless, homeless, and poor. Along with this, the Dust Bowl occurred in 1931, which also killed and starved thousands. During this time period, many people did not have a home, and moved from farm to farm in order to feed themselves. John Steinbeck was one of the hundreds of thousands of migrant farm workers during this time. All of Steinbeck’s books are based off of American history, and migrant farm workers in the eyes of the people. In his novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses the characters Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife to contribute to the overall theme of loneliness.
Well known author Gretchen Rubin once said, “Keep in mind that to avoid loneliness, many people need both a social circle and an intimate attachment. Having just one of two may still leave you feeling lonely.” In the novel Of Mice And Men written during the Great Depression by author John Steinbeck loneliness is one of the main themes throughout the story. In this essay I will be writing about how loneliness affects three of the characters, George, Crooks, and Curley's unnamed wife.
...et across to us. This novel emphasizes how perilously people long for a companion. John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, states the true meaning of friendship, the reality of the American Dream seen in the vision of the characters, and the awfulness of human nature. There are many differences between Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife, however all of these characters are linked together by their lust for a better life; a life where they can fulfill their dreams. These characters' hardship comes from the amount of hatred they have for solitude and idealized friendships. It's their hatred of loneliness that pushes them to confess their problems to other people about their difficulties. Even though Crooks, Candy, and Curley's wife may not find pure satisfaction, those occasions of finally conversing about their feelings, comfort their misery and give them a feeling of unity.
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
Steinbeck expresses the theme of loneliness in the character of Candy. Candy is lonely because his is missing half an arm. Candy?s disability separates him from society, an example of Curley being set aside is when everybody else goes to town he is left in the barn with Crooks, Lennie, and Curley?s wife. Candy?s only friendship was with his old, smelly dog. Candy?s dog was a symbol of himself (old, and useless). When Carlson kills Candy?s dog he kills Candy on the inside as well.
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.
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.