Preview

Theme Of Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
448 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Theme Of Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
The novel “Of Mice and Men” is a story that tells of two traveling partners who experience different life situations that makes them stronger as a whole. George, the leader of the two, takes on all responsibility for their actions and things that they would have to do. Lennie is the second in the duo. He is special needs and is always using his sense of touch. He picks up things such as mice, velvet, and rabbits to help satisfy his need to touch things.

In the book the most talked about theme is loneliness. In the time of the Great Depression people traveled around California looking for possible work to help earn money due to the loss of jobs and the crashing of the stock market. During this time most people became homeless. Due to this
…show more content…
He takes care of Lennie because he promised Lennie’s aunt, Aunt Clara, that he would protect and look after him. So when the Aunt dies, George steps up and keeps his promise to take care of lennie. While venturing through the different cities he is the person who speaks to their employers to help them obtain different jobs. Even though George tries to keep a positive mind, he can still be pressed with future thoughts when he is upset. When Lennie gets caught up in trouble they flee before things get to worse. The most important event like this occurred in Weed, the town they lived in before. In the town of Weed, Lennie was touching a girl's soft dress. After while she began to feel uncomfortable, so when she tried to pull away, Lennie would not let go. Then the girl yelled. So George and Lennie had to run away to save their lives. This began the start of their life on the run. This experience is told by George in chapter 3. "Jus’ wanted to feel that girl's dress—jus' wanted to pet it like it was a mouse—Well, how the hell did she know you jus' wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in an irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin' for us, and we got to sneak out in the dark and get outta the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Have you ever felt lonely or isolated before? In the story “Of Mice And Men” by John Steinbeck these characters Candy, Curley's wife and Crooks are all on the look for the American dream during this they all experience loneliness and isolation in their own way.…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife’s situations were all examples of what occurred in the 1930’s as a result of the discrimination during that time. Because of this common lifestyle, people were often lonely and either accepted their situation and secluded themselves from society like Crooks, or refused to admit defeat and strived to connect with others in the same way as Candy and Curley’s wife did. Either way, all characters during the economic crisis lived a lonely and depressing life. And in a sense, the Great Depression was the kickstart for a great deal of depression in…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel ‘‘ Of Mice and Men’’ loneliness is present troughtout th novel.Many of the characters amit suffering from it. Early in the novel George says, : ``Life working as a hand ranch is on the loneliness of life.As the story develops George,Crooks and Curley’s wife all confess their loneliness.Each of these character searches for a friend to talk to.…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a novel about two men, George and Lennie, who are looking for work so they can make a stake and build their dream home and live out their lives in happiness. Lennie might not be the smartest man alive but he is the main reason for the success of both him and George. Not because of his physical ability alone, but because he helps George achieve his full potential. Lennie and George have traveled together for many years taking care of each other and watch each others…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck) is a novel overflowing with friendship, colorful characters, vivid detail and yet a tragic storyline. George and Lennie are two guys that travel the country looking for work during the depression era. Given that Lennie is "not quite right", George must be accountable for Lennie's actions and take care of him. Throughout several sequence of events, George gives himself up to care for Lennie and his needs. Although the two do have a dream to buy a farm, George doesn't achieve it for reasons that may or may not be related to Lennie's mistakes. George is a rather tragic character because he could be very successful if he didn't have to look out for Lennie.…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sometimes it seems as though the most privileged people are the weakest because they are not prepared to fall. “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is a short novel that focuses on the hardship of living in California during the Great Depression. Some may agree that the main conflict in this novel is the misfortune of a kind-hearted barley bucker, Lennie, but a greater theme lies under the pages. The real hardship goes to Lennie’s best friend, George, who’s worst fear is being lonely because his heart is weak and needs someone to lean on when times get tough.…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men George Milton and Lennie Small are on their way to work on a ranch in Northern California after Lennie’s childlike brain and his odd fetish for petting things like mice, rabbits, puppies, and women get him into trouble. One of the major themes in John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men is having a dream creates hope, friendship, and determination.…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Because every person has a different perspective, there should be an equal amount of people willing to see the world from each others eyes. In Steinback's Of Mice and Men, there a five very different but equally significant views of the lives of the characters. These themes include: the loneliness each one feels or doesn't feel, the oppression by Curley's wife, the social responsibility of George having to take care of his friend, the hopes of the two main characters, as well as the innocence of the gentle giant everyone calls Lennie.…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning of the story, George escaped with Lennie from Weed to prevent Lennie from getting lynched. George did absolutely nothing, he had nothing to hide from. Also George warned Lennie about Curley, he told him that he has seen people like that before and demanded Lennie to stay away from Curley (Steinbeck 29). In addition, in order to make sure Lennie got the job, George talked for him (Steinbeck 21). George is like a parent to Lennie, from the beginning we see how he told Lennie that the water he was drinking from didn’t seem potable. He told Lennie to throw the mice away, not to be mean but because it was already dead, it wasn’t fresh. Lennie acted acted like a child and George acted like a parent, he said and did stuff similar to what a parent would. He did all that because he cared for…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, tells the story of two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, who move from place to place in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in Soledad, California. George is a small man and Lennie is a mentally handicapped giant. The two men have to move from place to place more than other men because Lennie doesn't understand certain things and causes trouble without knowing what he did. However, they share the dream of owning their own ranch. Many obstacles stand in the way of this dream but one of the biggest obstacles is Lennie and his mental disability. In this novel the theme of friendship emerges. It appears in the novel when George and Lennie are making their way…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Loneliness and isolation is a dominant theme in Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck during the great depression. The reason why Candy was isolated was because he was old and handicap. The only thing that kept him happy was his dog but no one liked him since he was old and stinked. Crooks has always been isolated because he is black. Being black during this time people didn't really like you they were afraid that since you're a different color you're going to cause a crime. The main character of the story was George he was isolated from everyone that was equal to him. Lennie was the only one he had to talk with but all he did was agree with him since he was retarded. Many of the characters in of mice and men are isolated and lonely, which echoed the feelings during the great depression.…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “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” (Steinbeck 35). Not many people travel together during the Great Depression thus creating many examples of isolation and loneliness. John Steinbeck demonstrates loneliness and the need for companionship through the characters Crooks, Candy, and Curly’s wife in his novel Of Mice and Men.…

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The loneliness of Crooks, Lennie, Candy, and Curley's wife is shown in many different ways. The first person that is lonely is Crooks. Crooks is lonely because he is the only black man on the ranch, and he cannot go in he bunkhouse because it is filled with white people, so he cannot talk to anyone before bed. For example, nobody is allowed in Crooks room because he is not allowed in the bunkhouse therefore Crooks has books in his room to read. Another person who is lonely is Lennie. Lennie is lonely because all he has is George, and when George leaves Lennie has no one else. He is also lonely because he cannot talk to people because they do not understand him. For example, when George went into town, Lennie had no one to talk to so he went…

    • 298 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Loneliness is the theme of the novel Of Mice and Men. The shadow of loneliness follows the majority of the characters. Loneliness is the meaning of the and the end of the novel. Everyone seems to deal with their loneliness is different ways. Loneliness can be the beginning of people having serious problems. Everyone in life needs and deserves to have someone to talk with, that’s just how life is. How could you possibly live being an extremely lonely person?…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are several themes present in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, among them powerlessness and the impossibility of the American dream. Although these two themes definitely make up a fair portion of the story, they are not the subject of this paper. Nay, for standing prominently alongside these themes is loneliness, which is indisputably one of the most major concepts explored in the duration of the story. The theme of loneliness is thoroughly fleshed out through both characters – specifically Lennie and Curley's wife – and the involvement of migrant workers in general.…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays