Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men Loneliness Essay

The theme of loneliness and alienation is demonstrated through many of the characters in the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Loneliness is the feeling of sadness of not having any friends or company, while alienation is the act of being left out of a group one feels like they should belong in. Some characters in the novel share this feeling of loneliness and alienation including Carlson and Crooks. Multiple factors go into the loneliness of people like the time period, prejudices, and being a migrant worker. This essay will evaluate why these characters have the feeling of loneliness and or alienation. Carlsen is a migrant worker who exhibits traits of being lonely and alienated because of his job. When Carlsen is faced with the problem of candy’s smelly dog. Instead of talking

“If you want me to, I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now.” Carlsen offers to kill the dog instead of finding another way because he does not understand the relationship that Candy and the dog have built. This is due to the fact that Carlsen has not had a relationship compared to the one they have. Likewise, when Lennie was killed by George and Carlson comforts him, Carlson is confused. “Now what the hell’ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?” Carlson says this because he does not understand the friendship between George and Lennie. Since Carlson is a migrant worker, like many other migrant workers, was alone and had no friends. Workers would leave their family during the great depression in hopes of finding work. They would work at a ranch for a while then leave. This then causes the fact that they don’t have any permanent friendships. Therefore, the life of a Migrant worker like Carlsons can very easily become very lonely. Crooks is another character in the novel that experiences themes of loneliness and alienation because of his race. Crooks is a stable buck at the ranch. He is given his own room