Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

1678 Words7 Pages
An unclear state of mind, a craving for human interaction in extroverts led them to misery. Loneliness for long periods of time along desperation plays the key role in the book “Of Mice and Men”. The mere fact that the main characters, George and Lennie travel together, Crooks depressing ambition and Curley’s wifes constant hunt for attention prove this all too well. A person’s personality is a complex yet mysterious mixture of nature and nurture whereas I believe it’s nurture what pushes ones inside world. Crooks could be an example of this. His seemingly unrelatable problems caused by occurring racism of the time. Not having other coloured men around he felt alone on this. Truth is Curley’s wife was facing the same problem but that will…show more content…
He doesn’t just feel discriminated because he thinks he’s worth the same as other people. He hates society for not only discriminating his and not considering him a human being but also for them convincing him that he’s not that. This can be proved in page 81 in which Curley’s wife says: “Well, you keep your place then, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” –Steinbeck. In the very same page Crooks’s response is described as nothing. “There was no personality, no ego-nothing to arouse either like or dislike…his voice was toneless”-Steinbeck. This not only proves that but also raises the point of chronically disrupted emotional outbursts. The average person would react to discrimination as being insulted, the average reaction would be: “Do they think they’re better than me?”. However his immediate response shows how he considered himself smaller than other people. He doesn’t complain because society has told him he’s not good…show more content…
Though logically at first glance or thought it will seem that Lennie is helpless without George. This is in fact true and a very easy to spot occurrence. However Georges loneliness ties him to Lennie in more ways than one. Although one could argue it’s exaggerated, there are hints leading readers to believe George is depressed. On a more specific note perhaps George felt insecure in himself and regretful. Pg 39 “An I ain’t so bright neither, or I wouldn’t be buckin barley for my fifty and found. If I was bright, If I was even a little bit smart, I’d have my own little place…” –Steinbeck. He doubts himself openly, and so surely that he doesn’t expect anyone to prove him otherwise, if he did it’d be a cry for help but in this case it’s just the truth. He puts himself down in front of Slim. Slim isn’t very important in the book however he does represent the workplace in a way. George has no intention to leave a good impression in the form of simple routine or for the intention of future reference. A job offer or at least a contact. All he wants to do in this seemingly wicked world is survive comfortably. With a bit of booze on the side. As seen in page 11 “ Why I could stay in a
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