How does the effect of loneliness change character’s opinion about isolation? In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck utilizes diction and tone in order to convey the idea of loneliness and isolation. The author’s tone remains realistic through the novel. The diction embraces each character’s opinion about solitude and shows how these feelings change over time. Throughout the novel, several characters gain mixed feelings about themselves and through these changes, readers feel empathy towards those characters, yet, also realize that through human nature, seclusion feels necessary but because of loneliness, people seek companionship. Throughout the novel, George longs for solitude - a life without Lennie. When Lennie irritates him, he throws a …show more content…
tantrum about being alone, and claims, “God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy” (11). Through the quote, clearly, George grows tired of Lennie and the thought, that he could live a better life without taking care of Lennie, angers him. Furthermore, he shouts out “God a’mighty” in order to express the extent of his irritation. As we know from their past, Lennie caused George a great amount of hardship. When Lennie tries to feel a girl’s dress, they come close to being lynched. Moreover, he proves the point as his “voice rose nearly to a shout”(11), and he calls Lennie a “crazy son-of-a-bitch”(11). The author plants an image of how furious George must be with how his life has been with Lennie. Consequently, two men journeying together exists as a strange phenomenon as Slim explains, “Hardly none of the guys ever traveled together. I hardly never seen two guys travel together” (39). The general tone in the novel suggests that solitude is preferred over camaraderie. Evidently, George selfishly thinks of himself, however, when he snaps at Lennie, he regrets his actions, as he says to Lennie after his temper,” no-look! I was jus’ foolin’”(13). The author illustrates George’s internal conflict: isolation vs. attachment. The readers see that George doesn’t really want Lennie to go because he knows that the desire for isolation will not be forever because loneliness will set in. Another relationship the author designed like George and Lennie’s is Candy and his dog.
The readers learn that Candy, “Had him since he was a pup” (44). Steinbeck illustrates the unimportance of the pup by never telling the readers it’s name. As a nameless character, the readers feel the sadness and loneliness of the dog. Also, just as George and Lennie have known each other for a long period of time, Candy has had his dog for the whole life of the dog. Comparing Lennie to the dog, Steinbeck foreshadows the life of Lennie. The dog dies from a gunshot and later in the novel, Lennie does too. Candy and George both lose their only companion and eventually, solitude becomes loneliness. After “a shot sounded in the distance”(49), Candy doesn’t say another word and “rolled over and faced the wall and lay silent”(49). During this time, Candy’s thought and feelings were expressed through his actions. He rolled over, away from others, and he was silent. Silence is a form of respect for the deceased and a sign of sorrow, so during this time, he was thinking of his old companion, whom he had lived nearly his whole life with. Now that he was gone, he goes back to a life of solitude. But when you have a companion, it’s hard to get rid of the feeling and be a lone wolf, and Candy is not able to be a lone wolf, having a companion had led to him not wishing to be alone. The readers know this because Candy asks to join Lennie and George in their goal of a farm,”s'pose I went in with you guys. That’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in”. During this time, Candy misses the old companionship he had, so he goes to seek new companions, and in order to do that, he offers what he has to join them. This shows how desperate he is to have companions and how being alone and isolated is able to change someone’s
thoughts.
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.
Lennie Small, a mentally impaired man, is first introduced to us traveling with George. George, however, is not related to Lennie. Lennie travels with George because no one else understands him like he does. Lennie says, “Because…because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you…” (Steinbeck 14). Lennie believes if George ever left him that he could live in a cave by himself and not bother anyone again (Steinbeck 12). Lennie realizes he would be alone without George, but he never has known anyone else to depend on but George, and from that, they have a bond, a friendship. This shows Lennie’s need for his relationship with George.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses stereotypes and discrimination to convey a message of how the characters feel. A lot of the stereotypes and clichés are just common beliefs of the times, but a few are situational. To quote a quite distinguished reader, "Characters are ‘trapped’- either by what others think of them, or by their situation." A lot of the character’s feelings about themselves and what others think of them will lead to loneliness.
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.
Steinbeck describes Candy right after the men hear the shot that kills the dog. Candy's loneliness over the loss of his dog is short lived as he becomes part of George's and Lennie's plan to get their own farm. In fact, Candy makes the dream seem almost possible because he has saved $300 which he will contribute to the price of the property George can buy. The three men believe that one day they will up and leave the ranch and go live on their own "little piece of land." In the end, however, Candy is plunged back into despair and loneliness after he discovers Lennie has killed Curley's wife. The dream is shattered. He poignantly communicates his feelings over the loss at the end of chapter five: “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.” He paused, and then went on in a singsong. And he repeated the old words: “If they was a circus or a baseball game .
George says that none of his other friends are quite like Lennie. They did not have a true relationship with him. George also says that Lennie is an annoyance most of the time, but he got used to it and eventually could not get rid of him. This shows that George is lonely, due to the loss of Lennie. It is proven that Lennie causes George to realize his need for others in his life.
John Steinbeck explores human experience in the novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ in friendship, loneliness and marginalisation. He does this through the characters as explained thought the paragraphs below.
As the novel continues on we are introduced to another pair whose relationship is just as strong as George and Lennie’s, the two being Candy and his old pup. Candy and his pup have been together for years on end and have formed a indescribable love for one another. However, as the years have rolled past, age has caught up with the Candy’s best friend causing many to suggest euthanasia. Regretfully, Candy agreed, afterwards uttering, “I ought to of shot that dog myself George. I shouldn’t ought to let no stranger shoot my dog” (Steinbeck 61) Often with age, humans and animals alike become impaired and quite sentinel. In the case of Candy’s pup, his age had progressed to the point where life was too difficult and pain was more relevant than pleasure. It would only be fair for Candy to place his feet where paws lay and imagine if he could go out peacefully rather than through heavy slow breathing every day. Although Candy recognized this and allowed this procedure to be completed who showed he had the best intentions for his pup, he did not take manors into his own hands. Rather than stand shoot his pup out of love, he remained inside and allowed the dog to be killed without emotion, almost as though there was no meaning. Sadly, the past cannot redo itself so Candy is forever regretful of the loss of his canine friend, yet by
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.
Factors that can fuel loneliness are abundant: depression, trauma, social rejection, loss, low self-esteem, etc. The aspect of human connection and interaction is a psychological requirement for all people, even to those who push others away. These elements of isolation are presented through three methods in a 1938 novel of friendship. John Steinbeck uses indirect characterization, discrimination, and conflict to demonstrate the effects of loneliness and need for companionship in his novel Of Mice and Men.
Soon after they arrive at the ranch, George and Lennie meet some new and delightful people that they will be living with, until they earn enough money to buy a place of their own. One of the new people that Lennie and George meet was Candy and his old dog. Candy was an old swamper, and was missing one hand, his dog was just like him, very old and in poor shape. The poor old dog was blind, deaf, had no teeth and everyone complained about it smelling horrible, “we can’t sleep with him stinkin’ around in here.'; (Steinbeck:47) All the farm ...
Anshul Joshi Ms. Fox Period 5 English 23 November 2014 Extreme isolation in the form of solitary confinement is known to have devastating effects on the mind, having a strong effect on how people treat others. Unfortunately, this sense of loneliness can often manifest in negativity towards others. In Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, characters often bring down others as a result of their own isolation. This isolation results in a man using his power to unfairly hurt his workers, a discriminated against worker taking advantage of a mentally-disabled man, and a dissatisfied woman cruelly insulting a lower class worker.
"Were born alone we live alone die alone. Only through love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that were not alone” Orson Welles. In this novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck focuses on the loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930’s. One of the most important things in the life is to have a friend, without friends people will suffer from loneliness like in this novel, not everyone in the novel has the same connection and special friendship like George and Lennie’s. Of Mice and Men is the story about lonely men who travel from ranch to ranch not really communicating with other ranch hands. Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife all were lonely and dealt with their loneliness in different ways.
This is the piece of speech, when Candy is trying to persuade George to let him in on the ranch their going to get. The language Steinbeck uses here, makes Candy seem overly eager to get in with George and Lennie. Mainly because, he’s dog dies so now he doesn’t have anybody, and he feels he might get canned. So as soon as he hears the opportunity to break away from being lonely, he jumps at it. I feel extremely sorry for Candy because he has nobody to turn to. He really does try to find friendship in people, but sometimes tries to hard.
In Of Mice and Men, the author, Steinbeck, explores the theme of isolation. The whole book has a pessimistic and gloomy tone to it. Steinbeck has hinted at us the theme of isolation from full built evidence to subtle details (such as placing the city of the book in Soledad, California, a Spanish word for solitude). He argues that isolation forms when people become selfish and egocentric and worry about themselves all the time.