Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

479 Words2 Pages
What is true happiness? Most will never know in the world that Lennie and George live inside due to the fact that everyone has been isolated and lonely. They have been separated by discrimination and the fact that segregation was much more serious that it is currently. In the beginning of “Of Mice and Men” it shows two ghetto farmers established as George, a short tempered loving friend and Lennie, a mildly retarded giant in 1937 California looking out for each other and a job. Steinbeck introduces his world of hard challenges and lonely characters which assist and hurt them. Near the end, Lennie accidently kills Curley’s wife, and hides back in the original setting where they went to meet up is trouble arose. George making his decision ultimately…show more content…
At one point in the story, George says to Lennie “Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want.”(5) This points out that Lennie wants to be happy like everyone else but cannot achieve that goal whether it be discrimination or people or hardships. In the time of the Great Depression, discrimination was a major part of society including racism, sexism, and discrimination against the disabled. Crooks, the black horse tender says to Lennie, “’Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black.”(67) Because Crooks is black, the other workers exclude him from their routine card games. Steinbeck reveals that it is wrong to discriminate by race. Another reason that kept people from achieving their dream of happiness is solitude and loneliness. Curley’s wife says in desolation, “Wha’s the matter with me? … Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways? You’re a nice guy. I don’t know why I can’t talk to you. I ain’t doin’ no harm to you.” (43) Curley’s wife was not allowed to talk to anyone because Curley restricted her freedom. The whole cast in Steinbeck’s world is lonely and feels desolate yet thay try to bring others down. Steinbeck shows that no matter the person, you will feel deslolate when you have no
Open Document