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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is set during the great depression in Soledad, California. In this book there are two main themes which are loneliness and the decline of the American Dream. With George and Lennie they both are trying to achieve their “American Dream” but, with the great depression it made things very difficult. The great depression was making it hard to have the things you want the most. This can cause sadness and that could make people feel lonely, especially if they need to constantly move so they can find work which in turn would mean they would not know anyone. George is a small hard working man who is sharp in every way. His physical features are slim and intense and, he has a sharp mind and wit. He is quick tempered when dealing with Lennie. George is quite a good example of both loneliness and the falling off of the American dream. An example is George is always feeling lonely even though he is constantly around people but, they’re people he doesn't know or is not close with. In all reality George has no friends, no family and that can make a person feel quite lonely. For example “guys like us are the loneliest guys in the world. (Steinbeck 3)”. This shows that the life George …show more content…

With Lennie’s disability people make fun of him of believe that he is too incompetent to complete a job so employers won't give him one. Especially in the time of the depression people did not get jobs easily and, if they did the jobs would not pay well which would make it difficult to be able to buy what you want. An example is "It ain't no lie. We're gonna do it. Gonna get a little place an' live on the fatta the lan”(Steinbeck 4). When Lennie says this it shows him saying that he plans on living of the land they own which could mean that with the depression everything is expensive and the need to live off the fat of their

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George, a quick witted caretaker of his disabled friend Lennie was a worker during the great depression. Lennie, a big built man with some sort of mental abnormality who worked during the Great depression as well. During this time and age every man was fulfilled with loneliness but somehow these two men stuck together like glue. Because of Lennie’s unnamed mental disability that allowed him to be extremely violent without realizing it in John Steinbeck's, Of Mice and Men, George was faced with an extremely hard decision. He carried Lennie's fate in his hands.

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510 Words | 3 Pages

Many of the characters in Of Mice and Men were isolated or alone. The three characters I chose were Crooks, Candy, and Slim. Crooks is a african american stable buck, Candy is a swamper, and Curley's wife. The people I chose are either isolated or don’t talk about their life. Steinbeck uses loneliness to give us a better message.

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678 Words | 3 Pages

Back during the time period of the Great Depression if there was anyone with a disability they were looked at differently, and it seemed to be the case with Lennie. Lennie has this unknown mental disability that is revealed in the novella when he pets a dead mouse. Lennie is lonely because he does not really have friends nor family he only has George which he depends upon for everything. Lennie is already considered a lonely person because he lives on a ranch.

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861 Words | 4 Pages

Lennie and George rely on each other in many ways. George announces that even though he may portray through his actions that he seems mad at Lennie, he is never actually mad at him. This symbolizes companionship versus loneliness because it informs the reader that in a companionship there will be things to overcome in order to have a companion versus being lonely. George tells the

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717 Words | 3 Pages

A lot of people don't really understand how much everybody coming together and being there for each other affects one and other a lot of the times discrimination and selectivity are a big cause of loneliness . Three characters that represent loneliness the best are Lennie , Candy , and Crooks and the following paragraphs are why . Isolation from others because of something that can not be controlled can often leave somone lost and depressed. Crooks was mistreated and isolated from everybody else because he is black . He never received the same amount of respect as the others.

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1058 Words | 5 Pages

John Steinbeck lived through the Great Depression, so he wrote about it. The Great Depression started in 1929, when the stock market crashed. Money was scarce. At the beginning of this time, came the Dust Bowl. There was no rain out west and that created dust tornados.

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491 Words | 2 Pages

In Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, there are several important themes explored through the characters. One of the most poignant motifs, evident throughout the novel, is loneliness. The novel is set in 1930 during the great depression. Men became migrant workers, moving from place to place in search of temporary work. This lifestyle meant that they could not form meaningful relationships.

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685 Words | 3 Pages

What does it mean to be lonely? Well in John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men he shows loneliness to be the lack of having someone to talk to or to simply have human interactions with, which everyone needs. Steinbeck does this by telling the story of two men, George and Lennie and a lonely world that they live in. Characters like crooks and Curley’s Wife are experiencing the loneliness that is seen as a common theme in the novel. Crooks’ words to Lennie about loneliness was the strongest reinforces to the theme of the novel, because Crooks’ words where the first and biggest flat-out saying that without someone we get lonely.

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548 Words | 3 Pages

Secondly, In this novella men find a way to isolate themself and eventually cause them loneliness. Another reason why man sharing a bunker together can be lonely is because of fear. Men can become so scared of each other they can force themselves into isolation. The reason these men carry so much fear is, they are scared to lose independence, the fear of being rejected, and losing masculinity. Generally speaking men are so scared to bruise their independence.

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507 Words | 3 Pages

Poverty was a big thing in the story in mice and men, same goes with the Great Depression no one knew what to do and couldn't control it or stop it. John Steinbeck’s novella, of Mice and Men, about isolation and loneliness, can affect life choices with all aspects of life social emotional, and professional. The characters in Mice and Men have different emotions and half of the characters feel isolated and lonely. "None of them guys is goin' on to leave that tenement.

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749 Words | 3 Pages

One of the central characters the novel focuses in on is George. Although,

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703 Words | 3 Pages

When thinking of a theme, it can be seen through the plot and has notable symbolism in Of Mice and Men, loneliness. From big to small and almost unnoticeable, ( Steinbeck's decision to set the novel and scenes to Soledad, in Spanish, which means solitude), loneliness is portrayed through the characters inside the chapters of the book. In the era of the Great Depression, The always traveling workers found it almost impossible to find a home. Men were forced to wander from place to place seeking employment whether temporary or not, to live in houses with people you don't know and suffer under hard-working bosses. George defines the sadness of his situation during his talks to Lennie. "

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629 Words | 3 Pages

In “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, George Milton and Lennie Small are two migrant farm workers who travel together during the Great Depression. George is a small but smart man, while Lennie is a big, and strong man. Even though Lennie is mentally disabled, it doesn't stop him from working. George always says that his life would be so much easier without Lennie, but he always refuses when Lennie offers to leave. George and Lennie share the same dream.

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1699 Words | 7 Pages

During the time of the Great Depression people did not know about mental disabilities and that is why Lennie was not treated fairly. Lennie got into a lot of trouble at work, which caused for him and George to find different jobs all the time. An example of when Lennie and George had to leave a job because of Lennie’s actions was when they were in Weed and Lennie touched the girl’s dress and would not let go. The only reason why Lennie did that was because he saw something he liked and he did not want to let go and he became scared when she started to scream. People during this time period were unaware of mental disabilities which made it hard for them to get jobs.

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222 Words | 1 Pages

Other behaviors observed (one paragraph): As stated above, Christopher was such a sweet and relaxed baby, as for 95% of the time he would just lay there in either his caregiver arms, or my arms. The only time he seemed to start to become a little uncomfortable was when I tried to feed him. Please keep in mind that I myself am not regularly around babies, so I was very uncomfortable to be around the child, and was not confident in feeding him, I was so afraid that I was going to hurt him or something. I was pleased to see that though he was exposed to drugs, he was not lying there like a vegetable, but rather he was responding, and displaying normal reflexes for the most part. Denise did state that some of the sensory items (smell and sight)

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