Of Mice And Men Thematic Essay

Isaiah Lee Mrs. Romine and Mrs. Ross English 1 Hour 6 14 December 2023 Of Mice and Men Thematic Essay During the time period of the Great Depression, people began isolating themselves because they were not happy due to discrimination. In the novel Of Mice and Men, many characters were forced to isolate themselves due to systems that kept them in that place such as racism and sexism. Throughout the Book Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows how sad loneliness and isolation is through his characters’ actions, conflicts in the plot, and the setting of the 1930s. This theme of loneliness and isolation is developed heavily between two characters in the novel: Crooks and Curley’s Wife. In the Book, Crooks says “Cause I’m black They play cards in there,

This piece of text evidence says that Crooks can't be around anyone because they're racist and he has to isolate himself from everyone since they didn't like black people back in the 1930s. This is saying that Curley's Wife is lonely because Curley won't let her hang out with anyone else besides him because he's very jealous and protective of her. The theme starts to develop through conflict in the plot, such as Lennie and Curley. Curley is mad at Lennie because he thought that Lennie was laughing at him when he was convinced that Slim was having an affair with his wife but Lennie was actually smiling because he was thinking about the rabbits and the farm he and George are gonna buy someday but sense Curley wasn't in the mood he decided to punch Lennie over and over again even though Lennie wasn't fighting back. In the article it says “He slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right” (Steinbeck 63). This evidence from the text shows that the theme developing through conflict is a Man vs Man theme. This shows that Lennie and Curley have not been getting along and how Curley has been out to get Lennie from the

I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” (Steinbeck 80-81). This text evidence from the article shows that people were treated differently based on their skin color in the 1930s and they took advantage of the fact that they were black so if they ever spoke out of line they could easily say that they were lying and they would believe it. This relates to the theme of loneliness because Crooks is black, he has to isolate himself and be lonely because of his skin color and how people won't treat him the same no matter what he does, all because of how he looks. In conclusion, the theme of loneliness and isolation is developed through Crooks being black so he has to isolate himself from the others because back then they didn't like black people and treated them poorly. The theme has also developed through Curley's Wife because she is the only woman on the ranch so she has no one else to talk to because the rest of the people on the ranch are boys and Curley doesn't allow her to hang out with any of the boys on the ranch so she is forced to talk to Curley and Curley