How Does Steinbeck Present The Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

The feeling of loneliness is most often attributed as a void, an empty shell that is just lusting to be filled with something, anything. A feeling expressed many times throughout the novel "Of Mice and Men" authored by John Steinbeck. The novel mainly recalls the trials and tribulations of Lennie and George, two workers trying to find stability after running away from town. Eventually settling on a ranch with other workers. Although, while every worker shares some form of commradery, all of them are alone and are within their own separate worlds lacking the connection with others that makes them whole. John Steinbeck heavily relies on symbolic chracters and events that occur throughout the story to emphasize the loneliness of each character.

One such character: Curley, is notable in the fact that while he does have connections to other people, many disregard him and look down upon him for his frailty. Curley is often accosted by other workers for being old and slow, he's seen as dead weight and a lousy worker. Despite the opposition, he manages to find solace within the friendship of his old dog, though his salvation is abruptly taken from his as the other workers euthanize his dog on the grounds of the dog being too old and suffering, but in reality, they disliked having the dog in their quarters and would much rather get rid of it by coaxing Curley into letting the workers shoot the dog leaving him with almost nothing. Another similar worker who is outcasted and alone is Crooks. Crooks, considered one of the best

A significant instance of this is the time when the workers leave the ranch in the afternoon and spend the evenign in town drinking and spending their night within brothels, all the while, Lennie is left practically alone on the ranch. While all the other men are relaxing from their work and enjoying their pay, the hardest worker they have is wandering around with the only other person with him being Crooks who was also left behind on purpose. Demostrating how inconsdierate the other men are. Even though Lennie is slower than the rest and Crooks may not have the same skin color they are just brushed to the side because they are different from the rest. The action is even more cruel when the detail is relayed that Lennie does not even know why he was left behind and Crooks does not even mind, he's become desensitized to being written off. Which could also be said for Candy's wife. She, just like Lennie, is left behind which is understandbale because she does not belong in a brothel, but rather because she is distant from Candy. She never really loved him because she settled for less, she wished to be in Hollywood, to be famous, and now she is stuck on a dusty ranch full of men that catcall her and a husband that pays little attention. Resultingly, her lonliness is showcased when she approaches Lennie and begins to flirt with him in the barn,