ipl-logo

Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

723 Words3 Pages

Loneliness can be as dangerous as smoking a cigarette. The book “Of Mice and Men” written by John Steinbeck is based around the time period of the Great Depression. Two men named Lennie and George are looking for a job while on the run because due to a previous encounter that went badly between Lennie and a woman. They go into to hiding for a few days but eventually settle upon a farm, where they become employed. However, this was not the resolution to the story, Lennie and George encounter many struggles along the way revolving around loneliness and acceptance. In the book “Of Mice and Men” loneliness becomes a problem for some of the characters who are not accepted into the society, this is shown by Lennie(abilities) , Curley’s Wife (controlled,), and Crooks.color/race. …show more content…

Lennie cries to George by acknowledging George doesn’t want to be around him, “"If you don't' want me I can g off in the hills an' find a cave”(103). Lennie is feeling an empathy on his back that he is not wanted by George, thus putting Lennie to feel less accepted by the George and the ranch workers. Lennie’s awareness of George treated him differently puts pressure on Lennie to try to fit in more and work harder. Lennie fears of being out manned, “I don’t want no fights,” as he has the protection from George. Lennie feels outnumbered by the other ranch workers who look at him differently and see him as a korky guy. His only hope for protection is George who is not always able to be right beside him , this makes it tough on George to feel accepted. Loneliness and acceptance is difficult for Lennie to find on the farm wirth the other workers because he suffers a mental disability that sets him

Show More
Related
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.

Read More
339 Words | 2 Pages

George plays the role of his caretaker, and sees him as a nuisance, telling him, “If [the boss] finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won’t get no job…” (Steinbeck 6). Lennie’s status of being the mentally handicapped outcast is the main factor

Read More
698 Words | 3 Pages

To begin with, the friendship between Lennie and George is the main focal point throughout the story. Author John Steinback illustrates George considering Lennie as a burden or hassle that he has to take care of. An example of that is,"I wasn't kicked in the head with no horse, was I, George?" "Be a damn good thing if you was," George said viciously. " Save ever'body a hell of a lot of trouble."

Read More
880 Words | 4 Pages

We all may have had the feeling of loneliness and isolation, wanting companionship feeling abandonment. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, there are men living on a ranch having their own reasons for loneliness or being isolated. The three characters Crooks, George, and Lennie crusade dealing with own ways of loneliness and isolation. Crooks has no one that likes him because he’s black, Lennie struggles mentally and George struggles with always having to care for him. They all can’t decide whether it is that they want to be alone or not.

Read More
695 Words | 3 Pages

Lennie’s mental difficulties often frustrate George, and at times he lashes out at Lennie. When Lennie complains, George explodes, “‘Whatever we ain’t got, that’s what you want. God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy’”(Steinbeck 11). Lennie doesn’t understand that George can’t give him everything. At times, George gets angry that he always has to support Lennie, “‘You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get’”(11).

Read More
438 Words | 2 Pages

In the Novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck many of the characters experience loneliness. This theme is identical to the movie, many of the same events occurred in the movie as in the novella. The factors that isolating actors in the movie are gender, race, and a lack of friendship. Steinbeck shows the need for a companion, and the torturous effects that occur to Crooks, Curley’s wife, and George who lack this necessity.

Read More
155 Words | 1 Pages

The feeling of loneliness can happen to anyone, even if that person seems to have the most perfect life, he or she can still feel isolated. In the book Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, the main two characters, George and Lennie escape weed because of an incident. They then go to a ranch hoping to find a good life and that no more incidents happen. However, Lennie is mentally disabled and very forgetful, thus George often is seen telling Lennie to not talk. On the ranch George and Lennie meet some people and many of them also seem to feel lonely.

Read More
482 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
690 Words | 3 Pages

At some point in life everyone gets picked on because that one person or those people know they are in a weak state. John Steinbeck, author of Of Mice and Men, tells of loneliness, the disadvantage of a disability and humanity’s cruelty toward the weak and how these conflicts can cause problems in general and how common these problems are. All said and done, everyone has been lonely at least once in their life, Slim tells George that “hardly none of the ever travel together,” that seeing George travel together with Lennie is rare (39). And on Lennie’s side Crooks feels envious of Lennie’s friendship with George that “a guy goes nuts he ain’t got anybody” to talk to (72). Crooks feels loneliness because he has never had a friend just because of his skin color, Candy feels lonely because there no other workers his age to talk to, and his dog he had since it was a young pup had been taken away from him making him even more lonely, and Curley’s wife acts like a flirt around men because there are no other females for her talk to.

Read More
1145 Words | 5 Pages

However he first tells Lennie about their dream, about tending rabbits, living off the land from the crops, and shoots him. Friendship and Loneliness is shown here where George is Lennie’s best friend, and everyone else stays away leaving Lennie alone. Other times in the novel the reader witnesses many other characters face this same factor of isolation. Some examples are,

Read More
1160 Words | 5 Pages

When being alone people do things they do not usually do around others. Lennie is an example of this because every time he is without George he finds himself in a rough situation. George is a steady backbone for Lennie he keeps him out of trouble and from turning the ranch into debris. Lennie’s actions are primarily due to some of his lack of interaction with people. When Lennie is disengaged his actions resemble the ones of an innocent child.

Read More
860 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
517 Words | 3 Pages

In the book Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck loneliness is very significant and a major theme. Many characters are very lonely and some of them try to look for an alternative way of life. The characters are isolated by particular features such as sex, age, disability, and race. Each is essential trapped by their situation and they are unable to help each other to escape loneliness they have. Also, to escape their own fate they have of their own.

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

One’s self has experienced loneliness from choice or forced into isolation. The novel ¨Of Mice and Men¨ written by John Steinbeck, took place during the Great Depression, near Soledad, California. The protagonist, George and the antagonist, Lennie are mid aged, white men who are working on a ranch with other mid aged, white men. Along with ones who aren’t as focused at the time, such as Crooks, the negro or black, Curley’s wife, the woman and, Candy, the old and weak man were treated differently from all the white, strong males in the novel due to the setting the novel. This making distance in relationships in Of Mice and Men, isolating these characters into loneliness.

Read More
581 Words | 3 Pages

But, as the novel advances, George beins to see that he is only working on farms because that is the only work he and Lennie are able to get, and he knows he could do much better work if he did not have Lennie drain him down. Furthermore, the geographical environment causes George to change psychologically, because of the remote area George and Lennie. On their plantation, it is in a very secluded area with only a few men. This causes suclison causes George to slowly become lonely become lonely. Even Though George has Lennie, he doesn't help George as a friend because George is too busy taking care of Lennie, and their remoteness only amplifies these feelings of emptiness.

Read More

More about Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Related Topics

Open Document