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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Isolation Loneliness is a way of life. Everyone is lonely once in a while. In John Steinbeck's powerful American masterpiece Of Mice and Men, the main characters George and Lennie have to move along to a new ranch for work after Lennie had lost control of himself and scared one of the women there. Many characters in the novel are isolated and openly discuss their feelings of loneliness openly. First and foremost, Lennie feels lonely because he is not able to interact with everyone else due to his childlike mind. While George and Lennie are having an argument, Lennie says, “If you don' want me I can g off in the hills an' find a cave. I can go away any time."(Steinbeck, 12) Lennie feels as, if not even George wants to be around him anymore and offers to leave him alone and get out of his way. Lennie can only hold a real conversation with George due to his disability, but he feels like he is only a burden to George. …show more content…

While Candy is in Crooks’ room for the first time, Crooks says, “Guys don't come into a colored man's room very much.” (Steinbeck, 75) Crooks lives by himself for the reason that he is a different race than everyone on the ranch. He is so accustomed to being in isolation that he suspicious at “new friends” and ends up pushing them away. Also, with his back injury, he is discriminated in more than one way. He is now discriminated by his race and the fact that he cannot work due to his injury, therefore he is denied the opportunity for personal contact with the other ranch

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