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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Olivia Whaley Leon Mrs. Gilardi Honors English I 28 February 2024 Loneliness: Of Mice and Men ‘“I ain’t got no people,” George said. “I saw the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain’t no good.”’ wrote Steinbeck. In the novel “Of Mice and Men” two men by the names of “George” and “Lennie” were known to travel together during the Great Depression. With the Great Depression being a difficult time for many, it had appeared unusual for one to travel with another. As time goes on, Lennie and George set out to work in order to accomplish their dream of life. Although Lennie and George were known to travel together, loneliness played a monumental role within the novel. John Steinbeck develops the theme of loneliness through the use of …show more content…

For example, in the beginning of the novel, Lennie and George had just arrived at the ranch, in hopes of starting their new job as soon as possible. However, when they first met with the Bossman, he questioned and judged as to why Lennie and George would possibly be traveling together. With page 22-23 stating ‘“I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin’ out. ‘Well I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is,”’ It shows that for George to automatically get accused of taking care of Lennie simply due to the benefit of money it has, that being alone has been normalized, considering the way people act suspicious when they see two men traveling together since it isn’t seen often. Similarly, towards the middle of the book, George and Lennie get asked some more about traveling together. However, this time, George and Lennie got approached much nicer than they had in the beginning. “Oh, I dunno. Hardly none of the guys ever travel together. I hardly ever seen two guys travel together (Steinbeck Page 87). In California, during the Great Depression, it wasn't common for people to travel together, especially for so …show more content…

However, with them both knowing it was a bad idea, in the end it resulted in conflict that would change both of their lives. The conflict portrayed in these pages made it clear as to how loneliness is shown in the novel. To bring everything together, in the novel “Of Mice and Men”, loneliness is shown through characters, setting, and conflict. A way in which loneliness was shown through characters is when Lennie and George were accused of traveling together simply for the benefit of it rather than it being seen as a relationship type way, just how loneliness can be shown through the description of settings. Occurring in the novel, the world had become quiet, everything and everyone stopping what they were doing right where they were. With the world being described this way in the novel, it created a melancholy feeling. Finally, through the use of conflict, loneliness had played a part in the novel, considering that many things had happened, due to the feeling of

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The same reaction to George and Lennie’s relationship when travelling in shown multiple times through workers who meet them. The Boss is in disbelief when George says that Lennie and him travel together. “I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin’ his pay away from him?” (Page 22)

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