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Of mice and men model george essay
How Was Loneliness Portrayed In Mice And Men
How Was Loneliness Portrayed In Mice And Men
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The theme of loneliness, in “Of Mice and Men”, is an important factor in the the development of the plot and many of the characters. Loneliness relates to the characters’ past and future dreams. For example,three characters whose dreams lead to their loneliness are Crooks, Curley's wife, and Candy. They all have dreams that can not be fulfilled based on the amount of loneliness that builds up and prevents them from achieving their dreams. Crooks is the only African American character who lives alone, isolated from others on the ranch. He is isolated because of the racial discrimination towards him. An example of racial discrimination towards Crooks would be, “ They play cards in there but I cant …show more content…
play because i'm black. They say I stink” (Steinbeck 68) This isolation causes him to often push many away because he was used to loneliness. For example, when Lennie barges into his home, Crooks asks for Lennie to leave because he isn’t allowed to be in the bunkhouse. “ I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain't wanted in my room” (Steinbeck 68) This shows that Crooks keeps to himself and does not desire company. However, Crooks’ dream was to be accepted for being different and to be treated as a human being. Once Lennie and George sleep at his house for one night, this pleases Crooks and they begin to start a friendship. His dreams are affected by loneliness because of his current and past experiences, that make him have a negative view on those around him. Curley's wife is the only woman living on the ranch, who is isolated not only due to her husband's orders on not speaking to other men, but due to the lack of affection she receives from Curley and, the other men living on the ranch.“ I get lonely. You can talk to people,but I Can't talk to nobody but curley. Else he get mad.” (Steinbeck 87) curley's wife explains, during a conversation with Lennie. The affection she craves from others, often causes her to excessively be flirtatious with anyone willing to communicate with her.
Those who associated with her, viewed her, and spoke of her in an awful manner. An example of this would be “Well, I think Curley's married … a tart.” (Steinbeck 28) candy claims in a conversation with george. This describes how Curley's wife presented herself, being the only women on the ranch. Curley's wife was a very unhappy women who chose not express her feelings, to anyone besides Lennie throughout the novella. despite the fact that Lennie is mentally challenged and will not understand, nor listen to a word she says, she speaks to him anyways. An example of Curley's wife expressing her feelings to lennie is “I never get to talk to anybody. I get awful lonely.” (Steinbeck 85) she also tells lennie about her marriage, and how she feels about her husband Curley. An example of this is when she says “I don't like Curley. He ain't a nice fella.” (Steinbeck 87) This shows that curley and his wife do not share a good relationship with one another. Lastly Curley's wife says “I coulda made somethin’ of myself.” (Steinbeck 87) referring to her dream to become an actress in hollywood. Her dream was affected by loneliness because of the
little attention she received Curley's wife decides to confess to Lennie which in result leads to her death. Candy is an old handicapped man who lost one of his hands in a ranch accident. Due to him losing his hand he cannot work, causing him to be isolated from the other men living and working on the ranch. An example of this isolation is when Candy says,"A guy on a ranch don't never listen nor he don't ask no questions." (Steinbeck find page #) meaning that he often keeps to himself. The only thing that regularly keeps him company is his dog, who like candy is old and needs protection. Candy has no family besides his dog. An example of this is “I ain't got no relatives nor nothing.” (Steinbeck find page#) Candy is unable to continue on with this companionship when carlson, and the other men in the bunkhouse insist on killing his dog.”God almighty, that dog stinks. Get him outa here, Candy! I don't know nothing that stinks as bad as an old dog. You gotta get him out." (Steinbeck 21) Candy is incapable of persuading carlson into not going through with killing his dog . This proves that the men on the ranch do not care to spare Candy's dog for the sake of his feelings. Candy's dream was to own farm land with George and Lennie. This dream excited candy because he knew he would no longer feel lonely . his dreams are affected by loneliness because he relied on the dreams of others to become his own.
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.
In the novel, Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck used George and Lennie's relationship and the theme of hope to point out the loneliness in the novel. The novel starts off and is set in Soledad which means lonely. At the beginning they get a job working on a farm together. Lennie is a little retarded and has great physical strength that isn't too controllable. As they work from ranch to ranch, Lennie relies on George for guidance and help. Rather than wasting their earnings, they try to save it in the hope of buying a place of their own. While working at one ranch they meet a worker named Candy who tries to help them financially. Before their dream can be fulfilled, Lennie kills the wife of the boss's son. As the novel concludes George must kill Lennie for his own benefit. Later Lennie goes into town and abandons his dream by spending his money.
Curley?s wife spent her whole life trying to grab attention. She was always labeled and ignored by everyone on the ranch, an example of this is when George tells Lennie that she was troubled and to stay away from her. Curley?s wife was ignored and used from early on, when she was given false intentions on being a movie star.
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.
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.
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.
Loneliness is the central theme in the novel Of Mice and Men. Many of the characters show signs of being lonely, some more than others. Loneliness haunts Crooks deep inside. Crooks accepts things the way they are though. Crooks does not talk to the other men and they do not talk to him. This causes the greatest amount of loneliness in Crooks out of all the characters. Rejection can cause most people to become crazy, as it
Curley’s wife, is the only one in the story that is given no actual name, she is just known as “Curley’s wife.” She is the only female on the ranch. The book speaks of how she is fare and beautiful, but is a bit of a tease. Throughout the whole novel she is always looking for Curley, all the men on the ranch view her as Curley’s property. Candy describes her to George and Lennie as a tart (Miller).This term “a tart” is just a way of saying that she is unfaithful to her marriage, and has a sexual way about her. She is always seeking for attention from all the other men. Towards the end of the story she sees Lennie in the barn sitting on the ground leaning over what was his puppy, so she goes in and sits next to him; she leans over and begins telling him about how her life would have been if she wasn’t on the ranch. She spoke highly of herself, telling how she would have been in movies and wore nice clothes (Steinbeck 89). Lennie had been mesmerized by her from the start; she began teasing him by describing how soft her hair was, only because she knew that he loved soft things, she takes Lennie’s hand and says “Here, feel right here.”(Steinbeck 90) At this point Lennie got carried away and wouldn’t let go of her hair, she began to scream telling him to let go. Lennie panics, He tries to tell her not to scream but all she does is gets louder; he had no clue what to do at this point, he ends up holding her down and killing her by snapping her neck. George told Lennie at the very beginning of the story that if anything happens and he gets in trouble to go and hide near the bushes at the pond until he arrives. Lennie in fear runs away from the scene to that exact
People do not talk to her because she is a woman, she is avoided because of her gender, but they do not even think about how lonely that makes her. When the others tell her to go away because they do not want trouble, she says, “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody” (Steinbeck 77). She is avoided and rejected, and that would make anyone lonely. Curley’s Wife is also lonely because of her unhappy marriage with Curley. Curley is not a kind man, and she may be married to him, but she does not love him. Curley does not let her talk to others, and when she can only talk to Curley, she feels alone. When Lennie does not want to talk to her because he does not want to angry Curley, she says, “I can’t talk to nobody but Curley” (Steinbeck 87). She feels trapped by her terrible marriage. Curley’s Wife feels hopeless because of her marriage, and Candy is hopeless as
In order to live a happy, fulfilled life, the characters in Of Mice and Men must overcome their problem of being lonely. the characters Candy, Curley's wife, and Crooks show many examples of loneliness. Over the chapters these characters make many decisions by themselves. They never have anyone to talk to about their rough patches in their life. they must all overcome obstacles, some harder than others. some choices they make will change their lives
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck looks at the theme of loneliness as it affects many characters on the ranch. Crooks, Curley's wife, and Candy are the most excluded characters on the ranch, because they all have dreams that they will not be able to live out and they all are at loss when it came to companionship. Crooks is lonely because he is the only black man on the ranch. Since this book is set during the Depression, Jim Crow laws are still in effect, whites and blacks had separate facilities for socializing and living. Crooks comments that he can't live in the bunkhouse, and cant even play cards in there.
Curley and his wife are constantly looking for each other, and problems arise because of her existence. The following quote is presented by Slim towards Curley. “Well, you been askin’ me too often. I’m gettin’ God damn sick of it. If you can’t look after your own God damn wife, what do you expect me to do about it? You lay offa me” (Steinbeck 60-61). This quote foreshadows that Curley will start one of his fits. Steinbeck is showing an example of misogyny; Curley’s wife’s existence is ultimately the reason why Curley mauled Lennie. Candy explains how Curley’s wife potentially ruins George and Lennie’s dream: “‘You God damn tramp,’ he said viciously. ‘You done it, di’n’t you? I s’pose you’re glad. Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good. You ain’t no good now, you lousy tart.’ He sniveled, and his voice shook. ‘I could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them guys’” (Steinbeck 95). Candy and the other men on the ranch know that Curley’s wife is a threat, and her death means even more trouble. Candy complains that he could have helped George and Lennie accomplish their dream, but now, it is nearly impossible. He previously cautions George and Lennie that they could lose their jobs because of her. However, Lennie is one of the “weak” characters that Curley’s wife plans to manipulate, and so he soon gives into her persuasion. This
Due to the fact that she’s involved in a loveless marriage, she questions, “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely” (86), while attempting to talk to Lennie, when he then obliviously rejects her without his intention. Throughout the novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck generally depicts Curley’s wife as a troublemaker who brings ruin on the men and drives them mad. Curley’s wife, who walks the ranch as a temptress, seems to be a prime example of this destructive tendency. An attractive woman whom Candy says "has the eye" and George calls "jail-bait," Curley's wife is seductive, cruel, and intimidating. George expresses his assessment of her and tells Lennie, "I seen 'em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be,” (30). Although her purpose is rather simple in the book’s opening pages—she is the “tramp,” “tart,” and “bitch” that threatens to destroy male happiness—her appearances later in the novel when she confronts Lennie, Candy, and Crooks in the stable, she admits to feeling a kind of shameless dissatisfaction with her life. Her vulnerability when she admits to Lennie her dream of becoming an actress makes her utterly human and much more interesting than the stereotypical dumbfounded brat. Curley’s wife was portrayed as someone who is no good and just seemed
Steinbeck portrays her as being misunderstood because she wants someone to talk but Curley won’t let her talk to any of the other men on the ranch and George won’t let Lennie talk to her. This is evident when she says “ “I get lonely,” she said. “You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad…””( Steinbeck 87). She then goes on to ask Lennie how he would feel if he couldn’t talk to anyone but Lennie refuses to talk to her because he doesn’t want to get into trouble and jeopardize his chance at tending to the rabbits on the farm. Even though Lennie refused to talk to her, he eventually succumbs to her as she begins to tell her life story. Lennie was one of the only characters who understood Curley’s wife because he was someone who didn’t know how to react to someone like Curley’s wife and he was also the most innocent and child-like characters in the novel. Steinbeck also portrays Curley’s wife as being a predator to other men because she never loved Curley and Curley never appreciated her. This is evident throughout the novel because she was always talking to other men who were not her husband. The most notable of these experiences was the first time she met George and Lennie. Steinbeck describes Curley’s wife
Curley's Wife is the only women on the farm and due to that Curly makes her stay in a house all day. So she has no one to talk too but when she tries to talk to other people on the farm, many of them try to avoid her because Curly. Which makes her very lonely and starts to say mean or disrespectful things. Also after everybody but Lennie, Crooks, and Candy left Curly's Wife find them and said "what am I doin'? Standin' here talkin' to a bunch of bindle stiffs—a nigger an' a dum-dum and a lousy ol' sheep—an' likin' it because they ain't nobody else" (Steinbeck 103). This just further proves John Steinbeck’s concept because do to her being lonely she says such vulgar things to these men. As shown since she is the only girl on the farm drives her to be mean and