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Alienation In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society. This can be seen in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men because of George’s beliefs and Lennie’s social class. George and Lennie are both judged by society due to their limitations. Another example of alienation used to highlight the values of a society is revealed in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Lee uses her novel to show how society can find it acceptable to alienate a group of people once they are othered and not thought of as humans. Lee also teaches us that when someone is detached from society they can have an important outlook on social issues. For these reasons, writers use the theme of alienation to reveal the surrounding society's assumptions and moral values. George and Lennie are the main characters in Of Mice and Men and are polar opposites. Lennie being the biggest tool in the shed, but definitely not sharpest, leads to more trouble …show more content…
Crooks is isolated from society and even the other men at the ranch because of his race. Candy is isolated because he is no longer useful due to his old age. Curley is isolated because of his weakness of character. Curley’s wife, being the only woman on the ranch, is isolated from the men on the ranch and seen as an outsider. Steinbeck is using his multitude of characters from different backgrounds to show that everyone experiences feelings of loneliness whether they can help it or not. Harper Lee employs the strategy of alienating a character to offer an untarnished perspective towards the surrounding society’s assumptions and moral values. Scout Finch is the main example of alienation in To Kill a Mockingbird. She is a young girl who is isolated by means of her naivety. This naivety offers an unbiased perspective of her surrounding society and thus develops their decay of contemporary

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