Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Of Men

Men with such need for brotherhood often are desperate for bonds, yet they still persistently victimize others that are parallel in hardship and ordeal. The indisputable topic of Of Mice and of Men revolves around isolation and loneliness. Even the city, Soledad, that the story is developed on reflects the author's motif. In Spanish the word soledad literally means solitude. Each character is lonely at some point in the book, for they cannot escape the discrimination , stereotypes, and adversity of the harsh and unforgiving economic downfall in the 1930’s. During that time period, money was scarce and people often had to move around constantly to get jobs, never staying long enough to form meaningful connections with others. John Steinbeck

We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us”(13). When George speaks to Lennie he reflects on the typical migrant worker. Most people living in the ambiguous territories of America during the Great Depression, found it hard to keep meaningful bonds and a feeling of belonging. George portrays that when you got somebody to talk to that gives a damn, you feel a sense of belonging. Multiple characters in the novel echoes on Georges thoughts of migrant workers. Curley’s wife desperately tries to fit in and belong on the ranch, provoking the belief that Curley’s wife only married Curley in order cure her loneliness. A stable buck, an old swamper, and even the protagonist, George, displays their desperation by always yearning for a person to talk to. Every character in the book Of Mice and of Men expresses their loneliness at some point, however, one of the most lonely characters in the book was the black stable buck, Crooks. Crooks was a secretive and misunderstood character in the beginning of the novel, however, we soon see that his actions were all based off