Loneliness Theme in ‘Of Mice and Men’ Essay

Loneliness is the feeling of closing onward Steinbeck accomplishs this theme by portraying effectively through key fictitious characters in Of Mice and Men. By alert in the town of Soledad (Spanish for nakedness), the hearing gets an overwhelming sense of the depressing environment that the migrant workers ar living through by their repetitive life-timestyle and the consequences they face through the enceinte Depression (1930s 1940s) and the Dustbowl. Even through hard work and successfulness the Ameri brush off trance is unattown(prenominal)able. The four loneliest personas in this novel are Curleys wife, Crooks, Candy and George + Lennie. Even though they all want to strive for success, and achieve the American dream the idealistic fantasy of individual freedom, independence and liberty they all chip in to face bareness to get t here.The theme loneliness is most bitter in Crooks character. Crooks was introduced in chapter 4 and the first word used to describe him the negro clearly tells us that he is isolated due to race which leads us to the theme of loneliness, in those days black people were everlastingly separated and discriminated be guinea pig of the segregation law. He is also housed with the animals treating him financial aid he is one of them. This is shown by Steinbecks manner of speaking of setting as Crooks lives in a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn to indicate that he is weak to survive in the world. He also has a mauled copy of the California civil enrol for 1905 which conveys that despite Crooks being motivated and powerful to achieving a prosperous life, his life will never be the same. The past has gone behind him and vigor can protect him from his isolation and loneliness.Although Steinbeck shows that loneliness has do Crooks bitter by putting Candy and Lennie in the same position as he is making Lennie think if s lodge you dont have nobody As well as this, his race makes him more assailable and expo sed to others easily. Spose you didnt have nobody. Spose you couldnt go into the bunk house and play rummy cause you was black. Howd you like that? Spose you had to sit out here an read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but past you got to read books. Books aint no good. A computerized tomography needfully somebody-to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody. Dont make no difference who the guy is, longs hes with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too unaccompanied an he gets downcast. Steinbeck says this to show us that race was the main condition why Crooks was lone(prenominal) and isolated and that he would work for nothing, as long as he could communicate with others.Curleys wife is nongregarious in many ways. She is coquettish with many of the men on the get up because she feels trapped in a world of men and a marriage which lacks love and companionship. She was born lonely and women were conside bolshie as check in 1930s America, w hich is rasping but Steinbeck shows this precise effectively. Curleys wifes appearance may make her as an extremely attractive person, having full rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes and her American dream makes her all the more unsafe to her loneliness. Think I dont like to talk to somebody ever once in a while? Why cant I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely shows us that she would like to talk to someone once in a while and is really lonely in this gap world where there is no one to support her. What makes her more exposed is the constant red imagery used in her appearance which not only represents a desire for romance in her life (which is failed by Curley for her loneliness has made her disappointingly upset) but also a sign of warning and peril in her life.Not only this, but Curleys wife is unsafe because she has no name which in a sense suggests that she has no strong identity on the ranch and is treated as a mixer accessory. So similarly to Croo ks, her loneliness has made her bitter and more manful which is shown towards the end of Chapter four and is now treated as maam by Crooks. Candy is a prime representation of isolation and loneliness. Firstly, it seems his disability has brought him down by the ranchmen because he lose his advanced hand which shows that he isnt working in the ranch. Hes the oldest on the ranch by being a tall, stoop-shouldered old man and having the most suffer on the ranch. Yet it seems that the depression has hit on the shoulders for his look on life has been brought down knowing it seems that age and disability has made him vulnerable against the harsh reality of isolation in 1930s America. Secondly, he lost his only trusted companionship because of old age and decay so now hes really vulnerable and thinks that he is passage to die soon as well because of his old age- You seen what they done to my blackguard tonight?They says he wasnt no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me he re I wisht somebodyd shoot me And they crack me dickens hundred and 50 dollars cause I lost my hand. An I got fifty more saved up right in the bank right now. Thats three hundred He is easily willing to give every penny that he is worth to join in George and Lennies dream and break his intense loneliness in his life and part behind his isolated painful ranch life. Contrasting with all these characters, George + Lennie are a strong companionship coming into the ranch with high expectations. as yet George feels like he has a burden on his shoulders and has to take attending of someone who doesnt have the same mental ability like him. So, for him it feels like a job quite an than a partner or a friend that will give him courage and hope in the future. His dream about his farm is his attempt to breaking the loneliness in his world. Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They dont belong to no place, I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone by these two quotes Steinbeck suggests that the ranch itself is a lonely place and with that the characters are lonely themselves which builds up the isolation.Furthermore Lennies desire to pet soft things comes from his need to feel safe and secure, to reach out something that gives him that feeling of not being alone in the world. For Lennie, the dream of the farm parallels that security. Lennie is not alone, he knows that he has George to take care of him and says that George would never bring home the bacon him no matter what. He is not as lonely as other characters but is still afraid and sacred of this world which he cant cope with. Even though George and Lennie are always together they are still lonely because George is like a care taker and for Lennie, George is like a boss and a person to take orders from rather than a companion.Overall, George + Lennie, Curleys Wife, Crooks and Candy are affected by the harsh reality of loneliness which Steinbeck pr esents emotionally through setting and their own disabilities in 1930s America- whether its racism, sexism or not able to perform practical skills. Even with their American Dream, Steinbeck shows that this only makes them the more vulnerable against the wide world ahead of them within a lonely town known as Soledad. We see this isolation come altogether in Chapter 4 when the ranch hands go into town on Saturday night to ease their loneliness with alcohol and women. Similarly, Lennie and Candy go into Crooks room to mark someone to talk to, and later Curleys wife comes for the same reason Loneliness.