Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Loneliness is a uniquely painful feeling that exudes an aura of emptiness, which plagues its victims. The loneliness epidemic is rising and surveys show 60% of Americans feel isolated in their everyday life (Yang). John Steinebeck’s, Of Mice and Men perfectly exhibits the causes and effects of loneliness, especially with the discrimination during the 30’s. Although the common empathetic heart of most humans they will see Lennie as the only victim with disadvantages, a grueling lifestyle and see Curley's wife as a vain whore only looking to stir up problems. Curley's wife constantly deals with the same feelings as Lennie, but because of the way Steinbecks portrays her gives us a negative denotation. However, the sexism Curley's wife endures

His retardation sometimes causes others at the ranch to shun him, even to the point of thinking he is "cuckoo." Since Lennie cannot think as quickly as the other men, he is often over looked and secluded from the other ranchers. As a result, Lennie is unable to face reality at times, which puts him even more out of touch with the real world and other ranchers. Lennie is frequently off in his own dream world and is constantly preoccupied with dreams of the farm which he and George someday hope to buy. George, his best friend does all the talking and thinking for Lennie which has caused him struggle with common life skills without George holding his hand. He fears what would happen to him without George. As shown with his conversation with Crooks,“Lennie says miserably, George won’t go away’’( 73). Steinbeck used this to show Lennie's loneliness, because without George he will not be able to survive or even adapt to his surroundings. Lennie is an extreme figure of the isolation and loneliness Steinbeck is trying to convey, to show the extreme isolation many migrant workers especially with Lennie's

He often exerts the same behaviors as a child. Throughout the book, Lennie often talks about tending to rabbits on his farm George and Lennie dream of, his love for small animals; that he often kills with his extreme strength. If you were witness to a child killing small animals it would pose a concern but you can't discount Lennie's actions just because he's a grown man, he still has a child's mindset. Researchers say that child violence towards animals is usually a sign of neglect or abuse and demonstrates antisocial personality disorder which means they are incapable of forming any time of guilt or remorse(). In Steinbecks Of mice and Men Lennie never felt guilt or remorse towards these animals just worried George would be bad and take away his ability to tend to the rabbits. As this stems from a form of neglect, Lennie felt neglected by George and felt he was unwanted and a burden on George. This feeling causes Lennie to act out his anger toward small