Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

OF MICE AND MEN ESSAY Loneliness is a tough, sad feeling for many people and can definitely have affects on how they act and/or feel. Within Of Mice and Men the constant topic loneliness is talked about. Of Mice and Men is a novel written by John Steinbeck and is a realistic fiction novel that takes place in California during the Dust Bowl Era. Just about every character talks about their loneliness, some more that others. All the characters say at one point that they feel lonely and it affects their acts.

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.

The theme of loneliness is developed in chapter four in Of Mice and Men by explaining the situations that the characters are in with great detail. Unquestionably, loneliness is shown in the chapter when the author shows how Crooks lives his life. When Lennie first enters Crooks’ room, it seems like Crooks doesn’t want Lennie to be there. Crooks says, “You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.” (Steinbeck 68). Crooks snapping back and being all defensive towards Lennie shows how lonely he actually is. Crooks, who is African American, is very separated from the rest of the ranch workers because of his skin color. Because of his skin color, he is alway by himself, which may cause him to be defensive,

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.

Loneliness is a strong word, however it means a lot to be lonely. The definition of lonely or loneliness is sadness because one has no friends or company. In the novel Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck shows that Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s Wife have loneliness because they never have company or friends to talk to. These Character’s show that loneliness is a problem that must be overcome in order to live a happy, fulfilled life.

Dealing With Loneliness If you’re different, best of luck to you. In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, there are many characters who deal with discrimination. Three characters who experience this the most are Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Lennie. Curley’s wife faces discrimination because she is a woman.

In Of Mice and Men, loneliness is a prominent theme that reveals itself in many instances throughout the book. It seems that nearly all the characters possess it in some way, shape, or form, but they do not all show it in the same manner. Being lonely can cause tragedies to occur similar to the death of Curley’s wife, or it can create a cloud over someone, causing his or her ultimate end. A couple of characters that seclusion is very noticeable in are Curley’s wife and Crooks. They go about life being secluded, but they show it in different ways. George and Lennie show loneliness, although it seems they do not since they accompany each other. There are many reasons that people become lonesome, including experiencing a lack of attention, having no one to talk to, or being the only one of their kind. These reasons and the situations of each character can be evaluated to figure out exactly why loneliness is a dominant part of his or her life.

Of Mice and Men was published in 1937 during a time of bi-racism between the caucasians and the african americans, and the apathetic Great Depression, which may have served as inspiration. In the novel two opposites attract, a gargantuan but mentally challenged man by the name of Lennie, and a small, nimble, and intelligent man named George. Suffering from a mental illness Lennie gets into trouble when he 's alone, but George always saves him, George knows Lennie doesn 't do anything, “out of meanness” as he says. Undoubtedly the reader assimilates that Lennie kills a young lady, said to have done so accidentally. Furthermore without any control George was forced to kill Lennie. However he first tells Lennie about their dream, about tending rabbits, living off the land from the crops, and shoots him. Friendship and Loneliness is shown here where George is Lennie’s best friend, and everyone else stays away leaving Lennie alone. Other times in the novel the reader witnesses many other characters face this same factor of isolation. Some examples are,

The loneliest person in the story Of Mice and Men by John Stienbeck is Crooks. Since crooks was black all the ranch workers would stay away from him. The men on the ranch were very racist. They don't let him sleep in the bunkhouse or play chards with them because he's a "nigger". Crooks has no friends or family o he reads because he can't really socialize with anyone Crooks suffered because he wasn't allowed to defend himself.

As German theologian once said, “We are all so much together but we are all dying of loneliness.” This is quite apparent for multiple characters in the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. George and Lennie are two men that travel around together in efforts of finding work during the Great Depression, which they must do often due to Lennie’s mental illness that causes him to do “bad” things and ruin things for them on multiple jobs. However, they find work as ranch hands south of Soledad, which causes them and multiple other characters, such as the stable buck Crooks, to come face to face with their constant loneliness. Soledad, which ironically translates to loneliness, is relevant to the novel. Crooks, Lennie, and George are some of many of the characters who experience this negative feeling.

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. Steinbeck displays through the dialogue and characterizations that these characters experience isolation because of both social barriers and personal choice.

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.

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.

Crooks is very lonely and solitude for being alone every day. As a result, he wants to have friends who he can communicate with. No one has come into his room except for Slim and the boss, so when Lennie and Candy come, it is difficult for Crooks to “conceal his pleasure with anger” (75). Although he wants to express anger about people coming into his room, inside he is happy about it and enjoys it. This instability and loneliness that he has leads him to say how he could work for George, Lennie, and Candy on their farm.

Do you ever feel lonely? Well if you do then you can relate to many characters in the novella “”Of Mice And Men”.” In the novella many characters are extremely lonely. Three examples of this loneliness are the people Crooks, Curley 's wife and George. This can be proven by their actions and what they said throughout the novella.