Of Mice and Men: The Impact of Loneliness

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“Tell me- like you done before.” “Tell you what?” “About the rabbits.” Of Mice and Men, PG. 13 Steinbeck’s book, Of Mice and Men, conveys loneliness in his story through the characters and setting. This is how he used Lennie, Candy, and Curley’s wife present prime examples of loneliness throughout the story by the events that happen to them in the story. Lennie is a large and hardworking man, but with a strong mental cripple that causes him to forget things and speak improperly. This always gets him in trouble with George, other characters, or even the law. Him being tall, the antagonist Curley dislikes him. He pushes him around, talks ill of him, and even fought him. This resulted in Lennie being allowed to fight back and crushed Curley’s hands to dust. This embodies loneliness, as having a person constantly out to get you and hostile to the point of violence makes you feel alone and unwanted. Throughout most of the story, it is implied that he is in the barn playing with Slims puppies. Eventually, he accidentally kills one of the puppies. He gets flustered and angry, and hides the puppies body until Curley’s wife walks in and finds out what happened. She tries to comfort and understand him, but he is resistant because George did not allow him to communicate with her. He eventually opens up and she talks to him about her missed acting career and dislike for Curley. Lennie, however, seems not to take interest in this and tells her about his plan for rabbits. Favoring soft things, (and Curley’s wife’s hair being soft) she lets him feel her hair. One accidental hard tug causes Curley’s wife to yelp in pain, making Lennie attempt to silence her. Unfortunately, he had silenced her. These two events cause more loneliness, as deat... ... middle of paper ... ...Lennie led to her death. She let him to his hair. Lennie tugged to hard, she screamed, Lennie tried to silence her, and she ended up dead. This not only impacted her and Lennie’s life, but Candy, George, and Curley’s life, too. Candy and George’s hope was shattered, and Curley lost someone “close” to him. This makes others feel lonely by losing hope and loved ones. 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. Works Cited Of mice and men

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