Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Improved Essays
John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men, talks about the loneliness and struggles of a traveling ranchmen. Although the main focus of the book is on George and Lennie and their journey to eventually own a piece of land of their own, there are many other characters in the book that portray the main theme, loneliness, just as much. The boss’s son Curley is a perfect example of the lonely lifestyle the workers and other people on the farm live. He experiences dramatic loneliness not only by putting other people down to make himself feel better, but also with his marriage.

Curley feels as though he is entitled to boss people around because of being the boss's son and does this by putting others down. His attitude portrays him as a self centered

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    John Steinbeck's classic novel Of Mice and Men distinguishes the effects of loneliness and isolation on different types of characters. Lennie and George have a special bond that the other characters do not, friendship. Many other characters lack this simple quality that can change a man for good. The most lonely character in this book is Curley’s wife. Her dreams of becoming a Hollywood star holds her expectations high, but when she married Curley she is isolated because of Curley’s fear of losing her.…

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this novel, Of Mice And Men,Steinbeck writes about two workers named George and Lennie looking for work during the time of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. The Great Depression caused the rich to go poor in just a night. Many people went hungry and homeless. Many people lived in hoovervilles. Hoovervilles were like towns with just homeless people.…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The characters in this book work and reside of a farm together, but not everyone on the farm gets along. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, he develops the concept of loneliness through Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife in order to demonstrate that loneliness affects how people think, feel, and act.…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Loneliness is a very prominent characteristic in the book Of Mice and Men. Some of the characters are very lonely including some of the more involved characters in the book. One of the most lonely characters in the book Of Mice and Men is Crooks. The African American stable buck that lives in the barn with the horses.…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Loneliness can have a staggering effect on a human’s mentality by making them feel isolated from other people. This can then lead to a person having depression and not feeling confident about themselves. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, two men named George and Lennie begin work on a ranch to fulfill their dream. Lennie, who has the strength of a bull, is mentally limited which can lead to him struggling to process thoughts and actions. This trait of Lennie’s leads to him being socially awkward around people because he does not know how to behave.…

    • 125 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel Of Mice and Men the author, John Steinbeck, emphasizes the element of loneliness and the characters feelings of being lonely. In the book, it describes how the most men that work on ranches come and go. Since they come and go, they do not have time to form friendships. This is why cathouses such as Susy’s place were very popular around this time. The best examples of this in the book are the skinner Slim, the old swamper Candy, and the stable buck Crooks.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    John Steinbeck 's Of Mice and Men In the novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck establishes an evident contrast between the individual men who work on the ranch and lead solitary lives, and the two main characters, George and Lennie, who function as a family unit and share a common dream. Steinbeck effectively develops the theme of loneliness and alienation through the use of other characters as representations of minorities. The theme is used as motivation for many of the character’s actions. This leads up to the novels ironic resolution that may be viewed as a suggestion of Steinbeck’s philosophy about life and living.…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Curley’s wife dreams of becoming an actress and wants to become a star; but in actuality her loneliness causes her death. She first appears in the story when she meets George and Lennie in the bunkhouse. She is lavishly dressed, with a full face of makeup, in an attempt to get people’s attention. Despite it being her first time meeting them, she has a flirtatious demeanor and acts provocatively. Her body language suggests that she is seeking attention from the men, so that they will engage in conversation with her.…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    “Of Mice and men” is a novella set in 1930s America. During this time period many American civilians had become rather lonely due to the great depression, racism and, sexism- hence why so many of Steinbeck’s characters felt isolated and lonesome. The American Dream of the 1930s was to own your own piece of land and “live of the fat o’ the land” but unfortunately during the great depression this dream was often put aside. The Dust bowl was also occurring which were several extreme droughts causing farmlands to fail severely- the location of this novella was Soledad, California which was in the middle of these droughts. The setting of a Californian ranch showcases how detached the average bindle stiff had become as they travelled from ranch to ranch attempting to earn some money during their awful economy.…

    • 1842 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Comotion arises in the barn, as a woman struggles to get free. She twist and turns, then “SNAP,” everything stops as she lies on the floor dead, as a consequence of her trying to clear up her only flaw, her loneliness. John Steinbeck’s acclaimed novel, Of Mice and Men, centralised on the idea of friendship and having a someone, anyone, to get through the rough times of the Great Depression. The two main characters of Lennie and George aren’t the ones who are lonely but meet others who experience loneliness to the fullest extent and do absolutely anything to get out of it. Through the characters of his book John Steinbeck portrays loneliness as a device that persuades people to seek attention resulting in them doing things they otherwise would never do.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    1. Fardoussa Mahamoud Houssein Marilyn Tourangeau English 11 October 12th, 2015 Loneliness is an unpleasent emotional response to abandonment, isolation and lack of companionship. In the novel ‘’Of Mice and Men’’ by John Steinbeck, loneliness is a motif found through several characters. Although present in most, the theme of loneliness is mostly present in the characters of Crooks, Curley's wife and Candy. To begin, Steinbeck illustrated the theme of loneliness through Crooks’ segregation from the other workers.…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the Great Depression, the economy plunged, and with it the social environment as well. John Steinbeck emphasizes this in Of Mice and Men, where the people on the ranch are in a state of isolation where there is a lack of social interactions. The characters of Of Mice and Men are socioeconomically unwell to show the harsh experiences many had during the time period. Steinbeck uses Curley’s Wife, Crooks, and Candy to show how damaging the Great Depression was to remind the reader the importance of communicating with others during a difficult time. Steinbeck uses Curley’s Wife to portray the effects of depression through loneliness in people’s social interactions.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    any characters in the novel have their own feelings of loneliness. In the novel they show us how lonely they are and let us know more about that time period. The author Steinbeck uses them to deliver his message to show us how important each character mean. George is one of the main character in the novel.…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Loneliness and isolation are both factors of depression, ironically with this story in The Great Depression. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, set in The Great Depression, George and Lennie get a job at a ranch after previous failed attempts at other jobs due to Lennie’s childlike disorder. They start to get used to their jobs alongside with Crooks, Candy, and Curley and his wife. Lennie’s childlike disorder, however, caused him to accidentally murder Curley’s wife, which ultimately led to his own death. Steinbeck’s description and dialogue expresses his attitude that loneliness and isolation were caused both by social barriers and personal choice, which in some cases, led to death.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    John Steinbeck was a communist during the Great Depression. Communism is the idea that the working class shall rise up, in order to establish a society of all people equal in wealth and power. Steinbeck wrote the book Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men takes place in the Salinas River Valley, California. The story follows the journey of two ranch hands during the great depression.…

    • 854 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays