Loneliness In The Great Gatsby

The portrayal of loneliness in John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice And Men and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby caused isolation between the characters. Their emotions emerged which led to major catastrophes. “A guy needs somebody to be near him… A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody. Dont make no difference who the guy is as long he’s with you. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely and he gets sick. He got nothing to measure by” (Steinbeck ). When loneliness is strucken upon the farm, the inner feelings of everyone start to show. Bitterness, anger, boredom and curiosity all triggered from solitude, cause a wild turn of events for the peaceful ranch farm in Soledad. Pure loneliness caused death, grief and more seclusion.
Because the book takes

place directly after the Great Depression many people are experiencing feelings that cannot be expressed.

To overcompensate for their emotions they try to cover it up by hiding from society, causing a mass separation between the farmers. This is an effect of loneliness, Loneliness is introduced in the book in chapter 1 with George and Lennie as they start their journey to the town Soledad, which coincidentally means loneliness is Spanish. To begin with, they were both lonely men. With polar opposite personalities and attitudes they both started to get fed up with each other. George even admits his loneliness to Lennie in chapter 1. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place” (Steinbeck 13). George is trying to overcompensate for the fact that he gets really lonely being with lennie all the time, that he expresses his feelings by saying “guys like us,” because he doesn't want to admit that he is indeed lonely. George’s loneliness causes himself to lose his grip on lennie. Lennie’s disability slows George down, so he sets him free for his own sake. Without George’s supervision, Lennie can get out of control. Which does happen, The farm was soundless one day except for the sound of Lennie meddling around in his

room. Curley's wife in another room, who is also painfully lonely stumbles across Lennie. Of course her flirtatious actions lurs Lennie in, and he cant help but talk to her. Conversations heighten which leads to un filtered emotions to pour out. “Why can't I talk to you. I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely. Lennie said, well I aint supposed to talk to you or nothing. I get lonely she said. You can talk to people but I can't talk to nobody but Curley” (Steinbeck 86-87). One thing leads to another and next you know Lennie is stroking Curleys wife head, with her consent of course. “Here-- feel right here. She took Lennies hand and put it on his head. Feel right aroun’ there an’ see how soft it is” (Steinbeck ). Her flirty actions causes Lennie to have another OCD attack, causing the death of Curley’s wife. Immediately after the death, Lennie says, “Don’t you go yellin’, he said, and shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And she was still, for lennie had broken her neck” (Steinbeck 91). Just like the rabbits and puppy, Lennie couldn't control himself. Because of Lennie, George is put in a tough situation, he has a choice of either killing his partner, or letting Curley do it. George understands that he is responsible for Lennie, and no one other than himself should take care of the situation. On the farm, loneliness has caused two very tragic deaths, and an even lonelier atmosphere. Instead of bonding together through these depressed times, each member on the farm strayed away from each other causing a series of forlorn events.
In the same way, The Great Gatsby displayed similar actions when faced with loneliness.

Jay Gatsby, the main character, who suffers from extreme loneliness, has a strong passionate love for a girl whom he would never be able to be with, simply because of the lack of timing between the two. Gatsby had a dream, that one day he would reignite the passion he had for Daisy no matter what it took. To keep his flame burning, everyday he would stretch his arms across the river in the direction of East Egg, towards Daisy’s home. “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far way, that might have been the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 21-22). Every night, Gatsby seems to end up on his pier overlooking Daisy’s home. He does this for the pleasure of knowing that the odds for him and Daisy reuniting are increasing each day, due to all the hard work Gatsby has done to reinvent himself, by becoming a successful, upper class man. Gatsby runs into some obstacles, and his plan deteriorates right before his very own eyes. The word of Daisy and Gatsby’s love affair has become apparent to Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband. When Tom finds out, his reaction is simply disorderly. Tom confronts his enemy, but Gatsby reacts to Toms foolishness by letting the truth out once and for all. “She never loved you, do you hear?

‖ he cried. She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved any one except me!” (Fitzgerald 130, 131). Although the truth is good, the truth can be very dangerous. Gatsby officially proclaimed his love for Daisy, and that enraged Tom, He wanted Gatsby gone and removed from Tom and Daisy’s life. This costly mistake Gatsby did by revealing an unpleasant secret to Tom caused a whirl of commotion that lead to the death of Gatsby. Gatsby’s death stemmed from his burning desire to finally meet Daisy again. His loneliness drove him to do whatever it took to finally meet face to face with his one and only love, Daisy Buchanan. If it were not for Gatsby’s heartache, the whole situation could of been avoided if Gatsby was not so set on the inevitable idea that Him and Daisy would work out. Yet again another life was taken by an uncontrollable emotion, Loneliness.
In conclusion, Both Novels, Of Mice and Men, and The Great Gatsby written by John Steinbeck and F. Scott Fitzgerald portray the theme of loneliness. In both books. Each character was driven by the emotion loneliness to seek adventure and happiness, which later caused grief, death, and desolation. This affected the supporting character by leaving them with an empty-soul, even more lonely than anyone was to begin with. Because both novels were written directly after The Great Depression, Loneliness was a common feeling for most people, and many people sought to change that, which caused an even greater amount of loneliness and depression.