Loneliness in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men (by John Steinbeck), loneliness is the major underlying theme of the novel. You could almost say that the book has hormonal' up's and down's. Most of the characters are very lonely because they have no family. However, George and Lennie are the contradiction to this. George and Lennie's bond towards each other are so- strong that you can almost see it as you are reading the book. Candy the old crippled man wants to be part of George and Lennie's dream to own a farm and "live off the fatta the land". Curley and his dog are like the metaphor in the book for George and Lennie. Candy has to take care of his dog and George of Lennie. The other two characters in the novel that are apart of the overall theme of loneliness are crooks the crippled stable buck and Curley's wife the flirtatious city girl. Crook's fits in to the loneliness theme because he is black. During this time in history, there was very little racial empathy. So being black means that he is isolated from everyone else at the ranch. Speaking of isolation, curley's wife feels very isolated because her husband, Curley, doesn't trust her at all, however, because Curley is so strict and concerned about her flirting with other guys it almost fuels her desire to cause trouble. The dream of owning a farm and "living off the fatta the land" originally started as a story just to keep Lennie quiet but because of Lennie constantly asking George to tell him the story kept the dream alive. One time in the bunkhouse, George was re -telling this story when candy overheard it. Candy fears that because he is getting old and has one crippled hand that any day soon he is going to be asked to leave... ... middle of paper ... ...od to himself. During this scene, you get to really see how their friendship, the bravery and courage of George and the shear companionship that they had drove George to do what he did. If George did not do, what he did then Curley would have shot him like how Carlson killed Candy's dog. If George let Curley kill Lennie, he would have the same regret as Candy had for not shooting his dog himself. When Lennie killed Curley's wife, he had not only wrecked his life but the person he cared most for, George. Not to forget Curley's wife and Candy. Curley's wife lost her life and Candy lost the dream as well as George. So you see how important Lennie was in the sense of keeping the dream of owing a farm and "living of the fatta the land" alive. So although George may not have seen it at the time, but Lennie was as much of the key to the dream as he was the destruction of it.
The main cause of George and Lennie's lonesomeness and that of all the people at the ranch was a lack of a home. The only thing that kept the two men going was their friendship with each other and the hope to soon get a place of their own. In the novel George and Lennie mention what their dream place is going to be like: "Someday we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house, and a couple of acres and a cow and some pigs and ---" (Steinbeck 16). Throughout the book the reference to having a place of their own is stressed. It is a deeper dream for Lennie than George because he is always asking to talk about it. It is here where the friendship between both men is starting to develop as they share the same basic dream.
Candy and George have just found Curley’s wife's body. Candy asks George if their farm dream can still happen, but George says that the dream was going to fail anyways. Steinbeck writes, “I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much, I got to thinking maybe we would” (Steinbeck 94). The farm dream means quite a bit to everyone considering it means security from the harsh world they live in. for Crooks it means respect and equality, for Candy it means security for his age, and for George and Lennie it means security from Lennie getting in trouble, and financial stability. Even though all these people are rooting for this dream, it still ends up failing. Curley’s wife is also an example of dreams failing. She could have been in the movies, but sadly her overbearing mother forces her to stay home. She then makes her situation worse by marrying Curley. Even though she works for that dream, it still fails. The reasoning behind both of these dreams failing is completely due to circumstance, which makes it even more tragic. None of the characters can stop the dreams from falling, which means it's more likely that other dreams in the future can end the same way. Every dream that a main character has in “Of Mice And Men” ends up failing, making “dreams often fail” a major
Mother Theresa once said, "Loneliness is a man's worst poverty." Without friends and companions, people begin to suffer from loneliness and solitude (Dusenbury 38). Loneliness is an inevitable fact of life and cannot be avoided, as shown prevalent through each of the characters in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Each and every character in this novel exhibits loneliness. Lennie was isolated for being mentally handicapped, Candy was isolated for being old and disabled, Crooks was for being black, Curley's wife for being a woman, and George for having to care for Lennie and being unable to socialize with others because of Lennie's consistency of getting into trouble from town to town.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, candy is a character that represents the theme of loneliness. The theme of loneliness is represented throughout the book through many characters. But Candy is important because he gives Steinbeck an opportunity to discuss social discrimination based on age and handicaps.
Loneliness in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck This book is set in a deserted, lonely country. The individuals in the stories are isolated by particular features such as age, gender, disability. and race to the end. They appear to relate to each other, however, each is.
talkin' to a bunch of bindle stiffs -- a nigger an' a dum-dum and a
Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men Conveys loneliness throughout the story by the events like loss of hope, loved ones, and past events. This reason is explained by the lives of these three characters, Lennie, by him being alone in the barn, Curley’s dislike for him, and him killing Curley’s wife. Candy, by his dead dog, insertion of George and Lennie’s dream and the death of Curley’s wife, and Curley’s wife by messing with the men, unable to be an actress, and her own death.
The great and famous author john Steinbeck once said, “All great and precious things are lonely.” In the Steinbeck book Of Mice and Men, many of the characters show their loneliness in many different ways. Candy, Curley's wife, and Crooks all show perfect examples of how they are lonely. The characters in of mice and men show that loneliness is a problem that must be overcome in order to live a happy, fulfilled life.. all three of these characters know what is feels like to be lonely.
Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is a book that can be analyzed and broken down into a vast majority of themes. One of the predominant themes found in this book is loneliness. Many characters in this book are affected by loneliness and they all demonstrate it in one way or another throughout the book. Examples of these characters are Curley’s Wife, Crooks, and Candy.
In his novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck depicts the essential loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930s. He illustrates how people are driven to find companionship. There were so many moments of loneliness and sadness throughout the novel, including many deaths. Following the deaths, they were very unexpected making the novel more intense and latch onto it more.
“ I get lonely,” she said. “ You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody”(Steinbeck Pg 89)? Curley’s wife becomes lonely because she is not allowed to talk to anyone but, Curley doesn’t have much time for her. Loneliness is the quality of being unfrequented and remote; isolation. Various characters in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men are lonely due to discrimination, powerlessness, and weakness.
The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a realistic fiction that tells the story of two men, Lennie and George, as they work on a ranch during the Great Depression. One of the fundamental themes of the book is how even if you’re surrounded by people you can still feel alone. Steinbeck shows this in his writing in noticeable and not so noticeable ways. One of the unnoticeable ways that Steinbeck shows loneliness is in the name of the town that the ranch is in, the ranch is in a town named Soledad. Soledad is the Spanish word for loneliness. This and multiple other examples continue to show the topic of loneliness.
In the touching and gripping tale of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, he explains many themes throughout the books. One of the major themes is loneliness, which is shown throughout many different characters, for example, Curley’s wife, the stable buck (Crooks), and Lennie.
After George kills Lennie, he doesn’t want to continue the ranch aspirations. Candy is devastated and disappointed with George because the dream is lost. Candy asked George if they would still continue the dream with just them and “before George answered, Candy dropped his head and looked down at the hay. He knew” (Steinbeck 94). In that moment, Candy’s hopes of owning a ranch and sharing it with his friends are shattered.
Candy dealt with his loneliness by being friendly with George and Lennie and becoming a partner in obtaining the small ranch that was George and Lennie’s dream. Candy kind of an outcast because of his age difference from other ranch hands. “I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some”(Candy 319). Candy attempts to be useful in someone else life. He heard that George and Lennie have this dream to “live off the fat of the land” as soon as they get enough money. Candy wanted to join, he offered as much as he can. He wanted to join the dream but not only did he want to join, he wanted to join the friendship of George and Lennie. “Maybe I can give you guys money”(Candy 325). Candy offered his money that he gets from the government for his disability. An exchange for money Candy gets a friendship out of it. So he is paying George and Lennie to be friends with him really. I think money will never buy a real friendship. Not only was Candy lonely and miserable trying to deal with loneliness, but so was Crooks...