ipl-logo

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

479 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The theme of the story of mice and men

Imagine a book written in the 1930s still being filled with problems relevant today. Of Mice and Men is an example of this. There are numerous themes of Of Mice and Men. Some are loneliness and disappointment of dreams not coming true. Throughout the story, Steinbeck develops and maintains a theme of loneliness. Many characters are isolated and segregated based on many things. For example, Crook is left outside the bunkhouse and has to stay in the barn because he is black. Lennie is also left alone due to the fact that he has a mental disability. Candy is left out because he is old and disabled. Crook is a victim of racism. He is isolated from everyone and no one sees him except Slim; Crook admits that it gets lonely. Lennie is left out because of his mental disability. He is left at the bunkhouse when all the others went to gamble. Even George leaves him out and tells him out of anger how he would be better off without Lennie. Candy is with Lennie at home, but was left for a different reason. He is missing a hand and is getting old. They killed his dog for the same reason, so he is afraid he is going to get cut off soon. …show more content…

First, there is George and Lennie’s dream of getting enough money to sustain themselves. They want to work hard to get enough money to buy land, animals, and crops. After that, they don’t plan to work because they are going to live off of the land. Eventually, Candy joins in on the dream and Crook even offers to help. By the end of the story, the reader isn’t sure what the status of the dream is, but Lennie for sure doesn’t accomplish this dream. He killed Curley’s wife and George killed him to prevent him from hurting anyone else and from the other men hurting him. The second example of dreams not coming true is Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife has had the dream to be a film star. However, she was young when she started to pursue it, so her mom stopped

Show More
Related
640 Words | 3 Pages

It seems like the dream farm only existed with Lennie because he was the only one who truly believed in it. Additionally, George shoots Lennie himself when he ¨raised the gun...close to the back of Lennie’s head…”. This shows the reader that George truly cares for Lennie since he saves him from the torture Curley wants to give Lennie. This resolved the story because now we know Lennie won’t have to bear the misunderstandings of the world he doesn't belong in. The conclusion of the story is that Lennie’s demise occurs because of the death of Curley’s

Read More
1000 Words | 4 Pages

Unfortunately, Lennie is indirectly the only person holding back the dreams of George. Going into the ranch the two of them work at, George was already cautious about the kind of behavior Lennie displayed. He emphasized to Lennie to remain in his best behavior so that everything could go as planned. Candy, an elderly man missing a hand devotes all his money to the same dream that George and Lennie have. They were all so close to moving on until Lennie ruined their dreams.

Read More
463 Words | 2 Pages

George, Lennie, and Candy were about to live their dream out. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen because Lennie ended up killing Curley's wife. Since Lennie killed Curley’s wife, George had no choice, but to kill Lennie. It was Lennie’s dream to tend the rabbits, but he never got the chance. This is very sad ending to the story because we wanted to know if George, Lennie, and Candy would get the farm.

Read More
1050 Words | 5 Pages

In this novella, “Of Mice and Men”, written during the Great Depression, takes place in Soledad, California, and also the Salinas River. This story shows the life of laborers at this time that had to move from farm to farm, with low pay, just to make a living for themselves. The protagonists; Lennie and George travel together for work, which is not common for men at this time, and they depend on each other. Even though it is not directly mentioned it is inferred that Lennie is cognitively impaired, which explains why he needs George to assist him. As they go to work on this ranch in Soledad, Lennie makes trouble with the boss’s son Curley, which later became more intense when Lennie kills Curley’s wife.

Read More
844 Words | 4 Pages

Trace Adams Mrs. McLellan English II 20 March 2023 Author John Steinbeck the Author for “Of Mice of Men” describes different themes throughout his novel. Two themes that stuck out the most were Loneliness and violence. Loneliness stood out to me the most because it was shown through many characters throughout the novel, but violence was also shown and stood out to me. 2 characters that show loneliness in this in “Of Mice of Men '' are Crooks and Lennie; I’ll also be explaining how Lennie demonstrates violence in the novel.

Read More
1818 Words | 8 Pages

Early in the novel it is made clear to the reader the dream farm is a huge motivation for Lennie and George when

Read More
678 Words | 3 Pages

In the novella Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck loneliness and broken dreams play a big part in the story. Lots of characters in OMAM portray the essence of loneliness and broken dreams showing how much they struggle throughout the story. Such as Curley's wife and her failure to become an actor. Another example may be George and how he dreams of finding a woman but can't because he is too busy taking care of Lennie. There are many more examples I will be pointing out and explaining in the text below.

Read More
880 Words | 4 Pages

”(72) he can’t believe that something like that would happen to George that will leave him alone. After George had scolded him had replies ”If you don 't want me I can go off an’ find a cave. I can go away any time”(13). He requests that it would better off for George and everyone else if he is alone, even though he wants someone to talk to and be with. None of the other people really like Lennie on the farm and especially when the climax of the story happened he was dreadfully hated.

Read More
605 Words | 3 Pages

The theme of the novel, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is hope and loss. This is shown through the perspectives of Curley's wife, Candy, and George. In this story they all have a period where they hope for something more, but later on lose it. Although it is hard to remain hopeful in horrible situations, it is best not to lose hope and give into the situation you find yourself in.

Read More
936 Words | 4 Pages

First, large numbers of people have to deal with systemic issues that affect a great deal of people. John Steinbeck displays these systemic issues in Of Mice and Men through all of his characters and in their actions. His characters either caused

Read More
822 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
851 Words | 4 Pages

When Candy loses his only true source of happiness, his dog, he realizes the same will most likely happen to him as he approaches senility. Steinbeck uses this moment of realization to spur Candy to seek companionship because of the fear of dying alone. After wrestling with his fate, he forms a bond with George and Lennie, the main characters. Lennie is intellectually disabled and rejected by most ranchers on the farm, except George and Candy. As said by Bert Cardullo, “Steinbeck has Candy, and no other character in the play, treats Lennie as his mental equal.”

Read More
1760 Words | 8 Pages

Candy’s main problem is that he is not respected by the rest of the men, for he does not have the strength of Lennie or the calming demeanor of Slim. Rather, he is only frail and weak. And for that reason, he isn’t able to make good friends with any of the other ranch workers. This is proved by the fact that Candy stays back when the men go off hunting for Lennie at the end of chapter 5, such as when Slim states, “‘You stay here with her then, Candy. The rest of us better get goin’” (98).

Read More
562 Words | 3 Pages

Alexander the great was ,indeed, pretty great. Alexander was the king and conqueror of Macedonia as well as most of the middle eastern world, including Persia, Egypt, Syria and some parts of central Asia. He was a genius war strategist, scholar, politician and leader. He had a very great impact on the Roman Empire as well as leaders and scholars today.

Read More
698 Words | 3 Pages

Loneliness is a strong word, however it means a lot to be lonely. The definition of lonely or loneliness is sadness because one has no friends or company. In the novel Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck shows that Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s Wife have loneliness because they never have company or friends to talk to. These Character’s show that loneliness is a problem that must be overcome in order to live a happy, fulfilled life.

Read More

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

Related Topics

Open Document