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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Steinbeck's novel "Of Mice and Men" includes a cast of characters including Lennie, George, Curley's Wife, Candy, and Crooks. Throughout the book, three major themes are present: loneliness, friendship, and dreams. The story follows two companions as they journey to a ranch and encounter many different individuals. The most important theme in this novel is loneliness. There is a lot of loneliness on the ranch. Curley’s wife is a very good example of this. As stated in the text,” I never get to talk to anyone. I get awful lonely.”(Steinbeck 88). This is a prime example of how Curley’s wife cannot talk to anyone. If she talks to anyone, Curley will get mad at her. Crooks also experience loneliness because of the racism on the ranch. As it states …show more content…

Every chance that she got to become famous was taken away from her, and after that, she decided that she might as well give up and marry Curley. She doesn’t like him, but she married him so at least she could do something. The third biggest theme is friendship. On the ranch, there are a good couple of people who share friendships. As stated in the text, “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.”(Steinbeck 50). This shows how Lennie and George are really good friends and they will always have one another to look after. The sad ending of this book, where Lennie is shot, is a true demonstration of friendship. As stated in the text, "George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again. "(Steinbeck 105) " In this difficult situation, George knows that he can either kill Lennie himself or let Curley kill Lennie. He decides that he has to be the one who does it. This is similar to when Candy’s dog had to be put down, and Candy said that he couldn’t do it. Later when Candy’s dog was killed and it wasn’t by Candy, he felt bad that he wasn’t the one who did it. In this book,” Of Mice and Men” there are three main

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As the only women on the ranch, this causes Curley's wife to be the minority to all of the men on the farm. This causes her to become very lonely and isolated since she is the only women. In the texts Curley's wife says, “‘I get lonely,’... ‘You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad, ‘How’d you like not to talk to anybody?’”

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“George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head… He pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 106). George ended up killing Lennie in fear of what was to happen to him in Of Mice and Men by George Steinbeck. George and Lennie are two migrant workers, and best friends, travelling looking for a job. They wind up at a farm where they have to deal with the boss’s son, Curley.

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Curley’s wife in this novel represents loneliness. Moreover she often had no one to talk to. She was habitually rejected by the ranch hands. Curley’s wife was always looking for someone to bend an ear to; she was not trying to seduce them. Curley’s wife is looking for someone who will listen and talk to her.

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Within the novel it states, “Tell about what we're gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it” (Steinbeck 15). This quote shows that Lennie is causing distraught to George, leaving him to potentially ruin their future. Also, George took in Lennie when Lennie’s Aunt left him to George, so George trusted Lennie to not cause trouble to his passion. Something distinct to an individual, a personality trait, is shown in Lennie as his behavior results in him making unwilling choices towards others. George shooting Lennie in the back of the head was a good choice, as he was causing to much harm to George, as George has to watch over him.

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She has no one on the farm to talk to besides her husband. Curley’s wife lives in very poor and lonely conditions as no one wants to talk to her, and on top of that Curley treats her as if he owns her and decides what she can and cannot do. We come to learn at the end of Curley’s wife 's role at the end of the book how she really feels and we discover that she regrets not being an actor and regrets coming to the ranch. She also opens up by saying that she doesn’t even like Curley. Curley and his wife 's marriage is loveless and she wishes she could get out of it and have some attention.

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George found out and goes to find Lennie before anyone else. So he can have the last moment before he George does something that ends their friendship along with the troubles from Lennie. “And 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 the crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering” (Steinbeck chpt 6). George ends up killing Lennie himself. This must of been very hard for him because even though Lennie was a hassle, George remembers when they were together and how they had hopes and dreams of having a farm together and that they had a good

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This scene shows how Curleys Wife became bitter and angry over time from loneliness because it shows how she can just snap and yell at the men when she realized she wasn’t wanted and they didn’t want to listen to her. This also shows how much power she has over them and how having somebody to talk to can help a lot. Without a doubt, the theme is represented through Curley’s Wife because of how mean she can get when people don’t want to listen to her and think that she is trying to get with the other men just because she is the only woman on the ranch. This all shows how Crooks, the stable hand, and Curleys wife’s loneliness turned to bitterness and anger by showing how mean they can be when they realize people don’t want to listen to them or when they get annoyed. For instance, Crooks teases and makes Lennie sad and confused by telling him that George won’t come back, just shows that he wants to put his loneliness on others to see how they would react.

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After all the anger that George has shown towards Lennie, he utters these words now so Lennie can die with a sense of peace. George does not want to pull the trigger, but he knows that the further consequences of Lennie’s actions will only worsen. To save Lennie from Curley’s wrath, possible imprisonment, and perhaps years of suffering, George takes Lennie’s

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So, she lived in the house with a man whom she never really loved. She was in the house all day because she didn’t have a job. No one on the ranch would dare talk to her when Curley was around and even when he wasn’t they still wouldn’t communicate with her. It is evident the guys do not communicate with her when she comments “I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely” (Steinbeck 86).

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Another way the idea of loneliness is portrayed in the story is Curley’s wife. Curley doesn’t like her talking to the other people because they are all guys and she flirts a lot. She said “I get lonely, you can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody”.

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This scene shows that Curley’s wife never wanted to be on the farm, she wanted to go be a star and get out of her small town. This dream ended when she married Curley, who moved her to an even smaller town. In addition, during this time period it was practically impossible for women to divorce their husbands. This meant she couldn’t leave Curley, even in the name of the law.

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Friendship is something everyone needs to survive. Without friends, there is no one to look to in times of need; no one to support you . In the novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, it is clear that George and Lennie are best friends who always stay together, even though their relationship is strained. But sometimes, friends must do what is best for the other. Due to this, it is clear that George was justified in killing Lennie at the end of the novel.

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