Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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To be alone and to be lonely are two completely different matters which many people tend to misinterpret. In order to understand this, one must know the difference between the two ideas. For an individual to "be alone", they must lack the company of others at a current point in time. Many people connect the word 'loneliness' to other words such as darkness, an inescapable reality or a prison cell. Of Mice and Men is a novel which explores the theme of loneliness and how it affects the characters—in either an unambiguous or abstract way. The story is set during the 1930s during the Great Depression in a place called Soledad. The name itself translates to 'loneliness' in Spanish. In John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, he proves that loneliness…show more content…
One of the characters that struggles with loneliness because of this is Crooks. As a black man in the 1930's, he faces racial discrimination on a daily basis and is forced to live by himself in a barn. In an attempt made by Lennie to befriend Crooks, Crooks says, “You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me” (Steinbeck ch.4). Since he is so accustomed to the constant isolation, he is doubtful of anyone who suddenly tries to talk to him peacefully. Crooks finally caves in and says, "Come on in and set a while, long as you won't get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down" (ch. 4). His tone of voice was friendlier than before, making it evident that he was easing up in Lennie's company. Despite Crooks being mistreated because of his race by Curley's wife, she also suffers from loneliness due to her gender. The workers exclude her from their conversations in fear of Curley. While talking to Lennie, she admits, “You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?” (ch. 5). Curley prohibits his wife from socializing with the other men, therefore isolating her. Thus, as displayed by these examples, loneliness can cause individuals to become isolated due to discrimination against their race or…show more content…
A character who becomes isolated due to making a difficult decision is Candy. Candy is already lonely considering the significant age difference between him and the other workers, however his dog keeps him company. Once he decides to kill his dog, he is left completely alone. He regrets his decision to let Carlson, a stranger, kill his dog instead of himself. When he and George are in a room together, Candy admits,“I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog" (ch. 3). Although there is nothing else he can do, the situation means a lot to him since he uses his time to think about the decision he has made while isolating himself. Another character who becomes isolated for this reason is George. George knows the only way to protect Lennie is to give him a quick and painless death as opposed to the torture and pain that Curley would inflict upon him. After George shoots Lennie, the narrator describes, "George’s voice was almost a whisper. He looked steadily at his right hand that had held the gun" (ch. 6). His voice was almost a whisper because he could not believe what he had done. George becomes lonely and empty because it is his friendship with Lennie which motivates to him create a better life for himself. In the light of loneliness, it it clear to see that it can occur after making a difficult choice or
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