A key aspect of any novel or story is the way the characters interact and feel towards everything. In John Steinbeck’s, “Of Mice and Men”, the characters tend to give off the effect of loneliness and the feeling of isolation throughout the novel. The main characters that give off the effect of loneliness and the feeling of isolation are Curley’s wife, Crooks, and George. They’ve been truly alone, if not in mind then in body. Curley’s wife is lonely and isolated because she doesn’t care for her husband and she knows she could have done better. Everyone wants to avoid her because she’s “trouble”. Everyone avoids her because they’re scared that she’ll make trouble by getting them in trouble with Curley. An example of when she admitted that she doesn’t care for her husband …show more content…
An' that ain't the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out." His voice rose nearly to a shout. "You crazy son-of-a-bitch. You keep me in hot water all the time." He took on the elaborate manner of little girls when they are mimicking one another. "Jus' wanted to feel that girl's dress- jus' wanted to pet it like it was a mouse- Well, how the hell did she know you jus' wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin' for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outa the country. All the time somethin' like that- all the time. I wisht I could put you in a cage with about a million mice an' let you have fun." Another example is when he has this conversation with Slim, "I ain't got no people," George said. "I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin' to fight all the time." "Yeah, they get mean," Slim agreed. "They get so they don't want to talk to nobody." That proves how George is lonely and isolated from people, as well as Curley’s wife and
Time and time again, George reminds Lennie that he could do so much better without having to take care of him consistently. George doesn’t have to take care of Lennie but he chooses to and tries to keep Lennie out of trouble. George says, “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family.
Loneliness In the novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, there are two men George Milton and Lennie Small who share the same dream of owning their own ranch someday. This novel was written during the Great Depression where many people would go out and find work. Represented by the characters George and Lennie the two men show the hardship of finding work. George and Lennie were two lucky men who had the companionship many others did not.
‘I had to. They were drowning you, Pony. They might have killed you. And they had a blade.. they were gonna beat me up..’”
As a result of being the wife of the boss’s son, Curley’s wife has nobody to talk to which leads to her isolation. Due to Lennie’s fascination towards Curley’s wife, George commands, “don’t you even take a look at that bitch. I don’t care what she says and what she does. I see ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her. You leave her be” (32).
Another character that expresses loneliness is Curley's wife. Curley, her husband, forces her to stay inside the house. With Curley making that rule, she gets very lonely and isolated with the world around her. Candy, who is a character that did not express loneliness at the beginning, finally expresses it when Carlson goes out and shoots Candy’s dog. Crooks, who works as a stable buck on the farm, is discriminated because he is African American.
We all may have had the feeling of loneliness and isolation, wanting companionship feeling abandonment. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, there are men living on a ranch having their own reasons for loneliness or being isolated. The three characters Crooks, George, and Lennie crusade dealing with own ways of loneliness and isolation. Crooks has no one that likes him because he’s black, Lennie struggles mentally and George struggles with always having to care for him. They all can’t decide whether it is that they want to be alone or not.
"Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is" (Steinbeck, 40). People often keep companions to escape isolation and loneliness. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck depicts loneliness through almost all of the characters. Steinbeck portrays loneliness and isolation, though many of the characters.
The result of Curley’s wife not having friends she became lonely and depressed.
On the other hand Curley’s wife is always desiring attention due to her isolation: “I get lonely… How’d you like not to talk to anybody”(Steinbeck 87). This is one of the many times Curley’s wife has tried to talk to someone. She has tried to have a conversation with Lennie before but George tells him not to talk to her. Lennie could not resist and talked to her. Her constant desire for attention ultimately leads to her death.
To begin, loneliness is what crushes Curley's wife the most in the book. For example, one way Curley's wife suffers from being lonely is because she isn't allowed to talk to anyone. Curley would be mad at her if she did. So, she stays in the house most of the time alone.
People Affected by Loneliness Loneliness can make anyone affected by it very depressing and sad to see. It is seen in Of Mice and Men in many characters that are prominent in the story. The main ones are Crooks (the black stable hand), Candy (the old worker with his old dog), and Curley’s wife (who is ignored so that they do not get into trouble). Each of these characters have had lasting events that led them here.
Have you ever felt alone- feeling there no one was there for you, even when you were in a room full of people? Well, you are not alone, as one of the essential characters in Of Mice and Men struggles with loneliness everyday while on his journey. After reading Of Mice and Men, I think that John Steinbeck is trying to shine a unique light on loneliness. Loneliness isn't just sitting thinking to yourself, you have no friends- it’s never having anyone to talk to, even when in a crowd. As George travels with Lennie, he is such a parent figure, no adult conversations are possible.
Loneliness and Alienation in “Of Mice and Men” In John Steinbeck’s novel, “Of Mice and Men”, many characters were plagued with loneliness and alienation, and most characters were in need of acceptance. The harsh time period of the Great Depression affected three characters in, “Of Mice and Men” greatly. Three characters that are plagued by loneliness and alienation and are in need of acceptance the most include George Milton; the protagonist of the novel, Crooks; the negro stable buck with a crooked back, and Curley’s wife; a young woman who just wants somebody to talk to. In this essay, you will learn why George, Crooks, and Curley’s wife were the loneliest and why other characters were not plagued with loneliness and alienation as much as these three characters. George Milton is the protagonist of the novel.
Loneliness and isolation is an ongoing theme throughout the novel Of Mice and Men, experienced by several characters to different degrees. Some characters are more isolated and lonely than others, yet every character in the story goes through this theme during one point in the story. There are various reasons why each character is lonely or isolated. In general, all the ranch workers feel some sort of loneliness because they move alone from ranch to ranch and do not have real connections with others, Curley’s wife experiences this theme because she is the only woman on the ranch and nobody wants to interact with her because Curley is very protective and hostile of her. Thirdly, Candy struggles through being lonely and isolated after Carlson shot his dog and because Candy does not work with the others since he is a swamper.
Lonely Characters in Of Mice And Men Imagine a world where people didn’t really care what one said to another, and neither cared enough to ask each other questions. A place where everyone existed in silence, but were together at the same time. As portrayed in the novel, Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, in which Steinbeck’s idea of loneliness is isolation in silences. The author teaches the reader that friendship is mostly about conversation, and magnifies the effects of isolation through the eyes of Crooks, Curley’s wife and Candy.