Consider the theme of loneliness in the novel, 'Of Mice and Men'. How does it affect the friendships and relationships in the novel?

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OF MICE AND MEN

TASK: Consider the theme of loneliness in the novel, ‘Of Mice and Men’. How does it affect the friendships and relationships in the novel?

      Steinbeck began writing the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ in 1936, however a ‘puppy in a family house’ ripped up the first script one evening. This meant that Steinbeck had to re write the script from memory and 65 years later it still remains a classic of 1930’s American literature.

   Steinbeck’s inspiration for the novel came from his own experience of jobs, which included a farm labourer on a ranch. This experience subsequently helped him set the scene for ‘Of Mice and Men’. The scene for the novel is therefore on a ranch in a small town called ‘Soledad’. The name of this town symbolises the theme of ‘loneliness’ because of its meaning.

   The book is about two men called George and Lennie who go to work at a ranch in Soledad. These are the two main figures in the book, but other characters such as ‘Candy’ and ‘Slim’ are also important.

   George and Lennie travel together therefore they are not classed as lonely figures in the novel. They have each other and ‘give a damn’ about each other, unlike the other characters in the novel. A main feature in the book however is the unlikely relationship between them and when we read the novel we begin to see this and understand why it is so unlikely.

    Many characters are portrayed as being ‘lonely’ for different reasons. These are mainly their age, race or gender. The disabled characters are also lonely because of their handicap.

   The central characters in the story are George and Lennie.  They are two complete opposites and we could describe them as being like ‘chalk and cheese’. These two men are forced to leave their previous employment in Weed, and go in search for another job on a ranch. Just like ‘Soledad’ being significant, Weed also has a symbolic meaning. We know a weed to be an unwanted plant and putting it into context, they are ‘unwanted’ in the town.

  They work to collect money for their ‘dream’, which is a common feature in the story, and this is what drives the two men on and keeps them going.

   When they arrive at the ranch we begin to see that the characters find their relationship unlikely. The boss is suspicious because it is so unusual for two men to arrive together. ‘You takin’ his pay away from him?’ The boss automatically thinks something isn’t right because a friendship in those days was highly unlikely.

    The relationship between George and Lennie is very unusual. They have a close friendship and they have each other which is more than what the other characters have in the novel: ‘I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.’ This shows their close bond and they are not as lonely as some of the other men who feature in the story.

   George often calls Lennie a ‘boy’ but because of their close bond and friendship this is not patronising and doesn’t upset Lennie. George feels that he has a responsibility to look after Lennie because his ‘Aunt Clara’ left him to take care of Lennie, and he would not be able to survive if he was on his own, in fact he would be dead if he didn’t have anyone.

   George has many different views towards Lennie throughout the story. George sometimes becomes frustrated with him because of his mental disability and therefore George cannot hold a conversation with him: ‘If I was alone I could live so easy. I could get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble.’ This is George talking about what it would be like without Lennie. He goes onto describe how he could ‘get a gallon of whisky, or set in a pool room and play cards or shoot pool.’ This tells us that Lennie restrains George from having fun and freedom. It reminds us of Lennie’s disability and how much he has to depend on George; if George wasn’t there to look after Lennie then it is almost certain that he would be dead.

   Lennie is very childlike and George has to act like a father and watch his every move because he doesn’t know what he could be getting up to. However in other parts of the novel when George becomes frustrated he feels sorry for Lennie. ‘His anger left him suddenly… He looked ashamedly at the flames.’ George realises he has been cruel to Lennie by telling him how he could live with out him and realises that it must make Lennie feel horrible and unwanted.

   Lennie admires and looks up to George: ‘Lennie who had been watching, imitated George exactly.’ This shows us Lennie’s view towards George and we imagine that Lennie wants to be just like him. Another reason George acts in the father role is because Lennie is so child like: ‘Look George, look what I done.’ We can see that Lennie is trying to impress George so that he would feel proud just like a child does to their parents. The father role also shows the control and authority he has over Lennie.

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   George and Lennie travel together and this seems strange to the ranch workers on the ranch in Soledad. There are many reasons why they travel together and some are more obvious than others are. As we know the characters are very lonely but George and Lennie have each other for company. ‘Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world, they got no family.’ ‘With us it ain’t like that.’ We are able to understand what it is like for the other ranch workers and I think George and Lennie may be scared of ...

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