Comparing The Lonely Trails In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The Need To Belong: The Lonely Trails

As two men, George and Lennie, travel to find work during the times of dusty vegetable fields of Soledad California, they hope to someday own the ranch of their dreams. Upon their adventures in Soledad, they cling onto their only asset in this time: each other. John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men conveys the emotions of loneliness and isolation through the novel of the men's journey. People surrounding Lennie and George such as Curley's wife, Crooks, and Candy are able to exhibit the need to belong to something more, something more then the loneliness they live through. Expressing the loneliness in the tale shows the aspect of wanting to belong to more than themselves and the life they live forsaken.

Steinbeck is able to show loneliness through people who surround George and Lennie. Men who surround Lennie and George while on

Even with his big heart and his lack of intelligence, George is always there; without him, Lennie is lonely along with vulnerable. Many of the men were alone as they traveled, however, the uncommon characteristic of George and Lennie traveling together shows their bond. Meanwhile, Lennie’s intelligence’s, having a mental disability, does add to his loneliness as a character. Lennie still is not able to understand much of what people say, and this is what makes him vulnerable (71). This vulnerability causes him to be looked upon differently, as a weird person. With the big heart, Lennie has, all he wants to do is live his dream and to belong to a life of him, George and the rabbits. Through the uncommon bond between George and Lennie, loneliness is still a prominent feature of Lennie’s Character, his mental disability causes him to be with nobody to turn to besides George. This is what causes Lennie's loneliness and dream to want to belong somewhere to have a happy life with his