Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck pairs the themes of loneliness and friendship, portraying friendship as a way of escaping the life that many characters live. George and Lennie illustrate this as neither of the pair encounter that much loneliness in the novella. Furthermore they “look after each other” as George states in the novelette. However, in Of Mice and Men, no one is really alone because all the characters work and live close together yet they experience several accounts of loneliness. Loneliness is clearly pointed out in the novel as a main theme, and one that is accounted by most people in the novel, because George states that ranch workers “are the loneliest guys in the world.” Loneliness is emphasized throughout the book, most characters

One way is through setting. The ranch George and Lennie go to at the start of the novella is “a few miles south of Soledad”; Sole means alone so the fact that the ranch is near Soledad signifies that it is a lonely place. Further, Steinbeck metaphorically shows how lonely the place is throughout the opening chapter through small events. The ideal opening scene, a vibrant warm green landscape, has no human life additionally implying loneliness, also foreshadowing how loneliness comes into place as a main theme in Of Mice and

Steinbeck illustrates Curley’s wife as something that Candy is jealous of in a way like she has everything whereas he has nothing. He wants a family and a position of authority like Curley’s wife and this creates conflict because Candy feels as though Curley’s wife is young and good-looking. Candy is unsympathetic towards her when she searches for Curley, secretly feeling that she has nothing to be searching for and that she has everything she could possibly want already. This conflict between the pair is further deepened because of her death, his retirement plan and dream cannot become a reality as planned. He also thinks that she is ‘a tart’ which is the main cultural view of women who look at another