Loneliness In Of Mice And Men And Ethan Frome

"Do you ever feel already buried deep six feet under? Screams but no one seems to hear a thing." This quote by Katy Perry expresses the loneliness felt in Of mice and men and Ethan Frome. The common theme the two novels share is people want to be included but are too scared to trust anyone to do it. There is a tragic tone in both books. "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." George and Lennie had be together for a long time and despite George constantly insulting and complaining about Lennie, he saw him as a friend and brother. George shooting Lennie execution style may seem cruel

"Ain't many guys travel around together," he mused. "I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other." Slim is commenting on how people want to travel together and having a traveling companion is better then traveling alone. But he also says humans can't trust each other enough to include one another in such a fashion. "It was along time since any one had spoken to him as kindly as Mrs. Hale. Most people were either indifferent to his troubles, or disposed to think it natural that a young fellow of his age should have carried without repining the burden of three crippled lives. But Mrs. Hale had said 'You've had an awful mean time, Ethan Frome,' and he felt less alone with his misery." Mrs. Hale's comment showed all Frome wanted was to be understood and included but his fear of what the towns people thought of him prevented him from even trying to take part in any of the town activities and just hiding nearby until Mattie was done. The characterization of Mrs. Hale and Slim showed that all the main characters wanted was to be accepted but their own actions portrayed their lack of trust of

"The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool. On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees- willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter's flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool." The setting of Of mice and men is calm and beautiful which is quite a contrast to the mean characters and their violent actions. The peacefulness of the setting should create a cooperative, inclusive environment but it does not. The setting creates a deceptive feeling that adds to the tragic tone and characterization. "Day by day, after the December snows were over, a blazing blue sky poured down torrents of light and air on the white landscape, which gave them back in an intenser glitter. One would have supposed that such an atmosphere must quicken the emotions as well as the blood; but it seemed to produce no change except that of retarding still more the sluggish pulse of Starkfield. When I had been there a little longer, and had seen this phase of crystal clearness followed by long stretches of sunless cold; when the storms of February had pitched their white tents about the devoted village and the wild cavalry