How Does Steinbeck Present Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

John Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men [1937] shows a glimpse into the harsh realities of American society in the 1930s on a ranch. Crook's experience of false hope, the economic hardships, and the inequalities and limitations Curley's wife faced were major situations to the main theme. Steinbeck used many literary devices such as symbolism, imagery and foreshadowing throughout the book to guide the reader on the emphasis and the emotion. Moreover, through these situations, the main characters serve as a powerful reflection of the hardships and inequalities that took place in America in the 1930s.

Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men [1937] is an accurate reflection of American society in the 1930s using techniques such as symbolism with

Steinbeck portrays the theme of loneliness through the character Crooks and his isolation using techniques such as symbolism and descriptive language. Firstly, it can be seen that the idea of a farm was used by Steinbeck to symbolize hope and a better future. For Crooks who is an African American man, he is well aware and educated of his limitations and his place in American society, he uses the farm as a symbol of hope as a way to run away from his situation. Steinbeck uses imagery to show the differences between Crook's situation and the fantasy of a farm by describing it vividly. pg “An alfalfa patch in the back, some Chien, and a place for alfalfa and a cow or two,” This is the description of the farm by Crooks and draws an image of a beautiful, peaceful way of life. "Nobody gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land," was the Dialogue shared between Crooks and Lennie revealing Crook's

The cyclic lifestyle that was shown on the ranch was the cycle of poverty which is when poor people don't have enough resources to escape poverty and are not financially free. Steinbeck used a range of literary techniques to show economic hardship and the cyclic lifestyle such as symbolism, imagery, and repetition. pg 74 "saw hundreds of men come by on the road and ranches, Hundreds of them. They come, and they quit and go on every one of em's got a little piece of land in his head and not a God damn one of em' ever gets it," Crooks says to Lennie who is trying to crush his dream. Crooks are trying to explain that the American Dream is unattainable for Lennie and himself. Steinbeck showed imagery in pg18 ," The bunkhouse was a long, rectangular building. Inside, the walls were whitewashed and the floor was unpainted. There were eight bunks in the room," this description of the bunkhouse goes to show the poor living conditions, lack of resources and care given to the workers. pg 13 “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They have no family. They don't belong to no place... With us, it ain't like that. We have a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us," George says. The word 'loneliest' was used repeatedly to emphasize the cycle of