The Theme of Loneliness in the Novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The Theme of Loneliness in the Novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Loneliness is a basic part of human life. Loneliness is an inevitable

fact of life that not even the strongest can avoid. Every one becomes

lonely once in a while but in Steinbeck's novella "Of Mice and Men",

he illustrates the loneliness of ranch life in the early 1930's and

shows how people are driven to try and find friendship in order to

escape from loneliness.

The theme of loneliness is a dominant theme in john Steinbeck's "Of

Mice and Men”. Steinbeck displays the theme of loneliness and what

people are willing to do to avoid it in a variety of ways.

One of the most important things in life that is really needed is a

friend. Without friends, people would suffer from loneliness and

solitude. The characters in this novel are intrigued and envious of

the special friendship shared by George and Lennie because they do not

have that in their life.

The setting of the novel is destined for loneliness. Soledad is short

for the town's full name, 'Nuestra Senora de Soledad' which means 'Our

Lady of Loneliness'. This is the town that is closest to the ranch, a

place that is already full of lonely, solitary people.

"Guys like us, that live on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the

world." George means that if not for each other, then he and Lennie

would be all alone, with no friends, like all the men like them,

working from ranch to ranch without making any friends, and living a

lonely life. Clinging to each other in their loneliness and

alienation, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie dream, of a

place to call their own.

George and Lennie are very different, physically as well as mentally,

even though they talk to each other, we can sense that they are both

on a different level. George is a smart, quick-witted man, who seems

to need mental stimulation from a companion, which he cannot have in

his relationship with Lennie.