How does Steinbeck show the theme of loneliness in scene four?
How important is the scene to the novel as a whole?
Originally titled ‘something that happened’, Of mice and men was written in 1936 and published sometime later in 1937 Steinbeck himself was born in Salinas, California in 1902 and spent time as a ranch hand and working with migrant workers which gave him first hand accounts of what life was really like during the depression in America, this being around the time the book is set. Steinbeck died aged 66 in 1968 having secured his place in the history books with his well known novels and having won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962.
I believe ‘Of mice and men’ is a compassionate story of the lives of the unskilled workers “ranch hands” in the case of the book during the great depression that affected the whole of America from the catastrophic wall street crash of 1929 the ripples of which shaped the 1930’s and the hardships felt throughout that period. It also has the underlining message of hope and the ‘American dream’, Freedom and equality the book doesn’t follow these ideas specifically but is a story much the same as now most people could relate and identify with the age old themes of loneliness and friendship inequality the difference between right and wrong and balance with much of the book foreshadowing and coming full circle, this is displayed with much of the scenes opening and closing the same way. From the very beginning it is clear the main focus is loneliness set in ‘Soledad’ (Spanish for loneliness) the story centres around an unlikely couple of ranch hands George and lennie, and its obvious from the first page they are a lonely pair having just fled an anywhere town called weed due to lennie’s mental handicap and the prejudice of what wasn’t understood at the time.
