Theme Of Loneliness

Friendship is universal but so is its opposite, loneliness. No one wants to be lonely, but when someone is, they can become desperate for any sort of human contact. In the book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, this theme of loneliness is explored extensively. In the land of migrant workers, who usually travel around alone, George and Lennie are the exception. They travel around together, coming to this ranch full of other lonely characters. The books is about what goes on at the ranch, George and Lennie’s dream, and more, a lot of it based upon George and Lennie’s interactions with the other characters. All of these people are lonely, and it is shown in many ways in different people. Extreme loneliness causes a person to become desperate for companionship, as demonstrated by Curley’s wife and Crooks. One character that especially exemplifies this desperation for human contact is Curley’s wife. She is married to Curley, who is the son of the boss of the ranch. She pops up throughout the book, always asking where Curley is. Later in the book, she practically admits to some other people that she already knew where Curley was, saying “I know where they all went” (Steinbeck 77). And after …show more content…
It causes people to become desperate for companionship, for conversations, for friends, for human contact, and this theme is explored through the characters, most of whom experience some degree of it. Some of the loneliest were Crooks and Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife has no one to talk to and uses the excuse that she’s “looking for Curley” to talk to the guys on the ranch. Crooks is black and therefore has to live in a separate room attached to the barn and is very isolated as well as lonely. So lonely that even people coming into his room make him happy. These are just two characters in a story of many that suffer from loneliness. Loneliness that causes them to be desperate for companionship and