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

Life Through Someone's Eyes

“...George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger” (106). George, a main character in the novella, Of Mice and Men, faces many challenges throughout his life due to him having to be responsible for Lennie; he is forced to make difficult decisions based on the actions of Lennie, eventually making one of the hardest decisions any man could make. George, however, is not the only one who embodies loneliness throughout the novella. John Steinbeck, the author of the novella, utilizes various dialogue tactics to express the true meaning of loneliness throughout the story.

Lennie, a huge, child-like man, causes him to lose his life in the workforce and he is forced to move from place to place because of Lennie’s impulsive actions. Having no one to go to and being forced to flee every place he soon settles in, embodies how truly lonely he is no matter what he may do to keep Lennie happy. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They don’t belong no place…With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us,” acknowledges George ( 13-14 ). The quote manifests the special relationship between George and Lennie, and how George is forced to mature early on to nurture Lennie. Within this quote, Steinbeck introduces the idea of human suffering in the world, and how most men do not get to enjoy a friendship Lennie and George share; simply embedding the idea of how friendships symbolize a way to overcome “loneliness” in the world. Although the relationship between Lennie and George is unbreakable, George does not get to express his true feelings with him. Throughout the book, George is a closed person, not being able to express his emotions with anyone — only in outbursts to Lennie who doesn't quite understand what he means. However, when George meets Slim, he finally opens up, sharing a dark memory between him and

Steinbeck describes migrant workers in the novel as “lonely men” who constantly move to fulfill their dream of owning land someday; in other words known as “hoboes”. George and Lennie can be described as migrant workers within the novel due to how they have frequently moved from place to place in hope to find a steady job to achieve their goal of “living off the fatta the lan’” with one another ( 14 ). While leaving them essentially homeless, having barely any belongings and living only in the hope of others for survival. Although George and Lennie live in the world off of hope, their hope also correlates to other members in the barn such as Candy who wish to join thein when Lennie converses about their conquest to owning a farm someday. Candy, a tall, old man, lives on the farm only to “sweep” the bunkhouse in spite of being too old and incapable of doing anything else on the farm. However, when Carlson kills his old dog, Candy begins to worry about how the ranch will treat him when his time of use for the ranch is up; furthermore explaining the will to leave and join George and Lennie on the journey to the “fatta the lan’”. “ You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else….i wisht somebody’d shoot me…I won’t