In what ways is “Of Mice And Men” a novel about loneliness? With reference to at least two other characters, show how Steinbeck explores this theme in the novel.

Mandeep Khatkar 10E

In What Ways Is “Of Mice And Men” A Novel About Loneliness? With Reference To At Least Two Other Characters, Show How Steinbeck Explores This Theme In The Novel.

All the way through the novel, Steinbeck uses loneliness to draw parallels and comparisons between characters. For example, the relationship between George and Lennie is similar to the relationship Candy has with his dog. The dog is useless like Lennie is dumb, in the world they live in, there is no need for them but in a similar way Candy, Lennie, Crooks and Curley’s wife share one thing and that’s the isolation, they have from everyone else on the ranch.

From the beginning of the novel, it is clear that although George and Lennie are exact opposites, even though neither of them seems to be able to live without the other, even though George would be able to get along without so much trouble, Lennie is what sets him apart from the stereotypical virtues of a drifter. It is because they travel together though which the other men like the Boss who says it is suspicious and consider it very unusual, this is shown in what they say,

“I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy”

The boss even suspects that George is taking Lennie’s pay for himself. However, this is not the case, although at the beginning of the novel it is unclear exactly what George’s motives are for caring for Lennie. What is clear from the very start is that George is a figure of authority within the relationship like a parent. This is evident as he often praises Lennie by calling him a “good boy”. Lennie, on the other hand, is like a child who “blubbers like a baby” and lies about things. This story makes the reader aware that Lennie may have the mentality of a child, but it is his disability, which makes him inadvertently educate people not to take advantage of others. In addition, Lennie allows the reader to see how people who were different in that era were treated.

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It is when George tells Candy about the dream that you really see how Candy is isolated. In fact, Candy becomes so overwhelmed by the dream that he, too, is drawn to it this counter culture. In the dream, there is no exploitation or tedium just a place where he can live the rest of his life without hassle. The reason Candy is so isolated is his age, it stops him from joining the party of men who visit the town on the Saturday nights. Candy is one of these characters who is shaped by his environment and later uses the dream as his form of escape. Candy is old and disabled after losing his hand in some machinery. His dog, set by Steinbeck in parallel to him, is described as “pathetic,” “pale” and “ancient” which could indeed be applied to Candy. His old age is for him a painful hardship and segregates him from the rest of the men in the sense that he is unable to go out into the fields with them due to being too old and only having the use of one hand. He therefore has the lowest job as Swamper. However, fear of being “canned” and his years at the bunkhouse have taught him to be cautious as he warns Lennie and George,

“A guy on a ranch don’t ever listen nor ask no questions”,

but over the years Candy too has even been moulded by the living conditions. For example, he reveals no shame, only amusement when he recalls,

“we had fun…we woulda killed the nigger.”

This shows the cruel streak that has developed in him. It also suggests that there is a relish in seeing someone else as victim. After the death of his dog, Candy, aware that his dog was killed partly due to him being “old” and “useless” realises that he may shortly be facing a similar fate. It is the dream that therefore offers Candy a hope of survival, as he knows that otherwise he will soon get “canned”.

In the same way, Curley’s wife also bears in her heart a shattered dream and a deep suffering. However, her shattered dream is in the past and her life on the ranch is a direct result of it. We hear about this dream when she confides in Lennie. Curley’s Wife reveals to Lennie that her ambition was to become a Hollywood actor and that she was once naïve enough to believe that a man, whom she had met just once, was going to make her famous. This explains why she married Curley, in case she was pregnant. It is also, why she is on the ranch and isolated from the friends she used to have. Also it provides a reason for her to sexual powers in order to gain attention in the bunkhouse. She is always heavily made up and her posture is usually “arched” in a flirtatious manner. She also wears red which is a colour traditionally associated with danger and passion. This behaviour earns her the titles of a “tart”, a “floozy” and “jailbait”. Her deep and angry loneliness leads her into an immense craving for contact which is one of the reasons that she hangs around the bunkhouse so frequently. This also suggests that in a way, Curley’s Wife, who is never given a name, as she is never given a voice in the environment of the ranch, is locked inside her own prison of loneliness as we never see her and Curley together until she is dead. Candy suggests that, when they are together in private, there is the suggestion of perverse and violent going-ons. When confiding in Lennie, Curley’s Wife also suggests that her marriage is miserable when she states,

“Curley ain’t a nice guy” and “I ain’t used to this place.”

For these reasons Curley’s Wife shapes herself to the environment and becomes shaped as a sexual object craving attention from the men and when her final “confession” to Lennie proves that all she really wanted was some attention.

However, the character who is possibly most affected by his environment is Crooks the Stable Buck who is a Negro. He is first described as having “lived with pain” and the pain he suffers is not just physical but is more significantly within the deep wounds of the heart. The reason for this is that Crooks cannot show his emotions or else things will simply get worse for him because showing emotion is a sign of weakness. Also, since racism was casually institutionalised in America at the time, there is nowhere for Crooks to run and he too is like a prisoner since his present boss is okay and things could be much worse elsewhere. Most of the workers at the ranch just call Crooks “nigger” which constantly evokes anger in him but this is a type of anger which he cannot express because that would show weakness not because he is afraid. He is therefore described as “patient” as he has learned to tolerate the conditions he is made to live in. Even though Curley’s Wife who is almost as low down in the hierarchy, is able to ridicule Crooks without question. Instead of responding to Curley’s Wife’s remarks, he “reduces himself to nothing” and simply replies, “Yes, ma’am.” This segregation and hardship leads to Crooks becoming not only a lonely man but also one who cannot see a future for himself. This makes him hopeless and despairing. He therefore defends his few physical comforts fiercely. For example, when Lennie enters his room he tells him,

“You got no right to come in my room.”

He also treats Lennie cruelly in the way that he is treated as this has developed a cruel streak in him. He spitefully torments Lennie by proposing,

“S’pose George don’t come back no more”,

for a moment of sad sadistic pleasure because for a change he is not the victim.

One reason why the three characters are all segregated is that none of them have anyone to express their feelings to, until Lennie comes along and shows the reader why they have been isolated and how they are different. Each one of the three feel better having talked to Lennie because he is too stupid to understand what they are saying let alone why. Through out the book Steinbeck uses these characters to emphasize a message that he wants to get across to us. By looking at the situations which George, Lennie, Candy, and Curley's wife were in, we can conclude that Steinbeck wrote the book to tell us how important it is to have someone to share your life with. Lennie was proof of this.