Isolation and loneliness in 'Of mice and men'

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David Bulley 39427

Isolation and loneliness in ‘Of Mice and Men’

Isolation and loneliness affects every character in Of Mice and Men to some extract with the exception of Slim. This is partly due to the fact that they move from ranch to ranch unable to form a real relationship. Or there was something about them that society didn’t accept, such as skin colour, being crippled, being a woman in a man’s world or being a retard.

The ranch is the main setting in the book which emphasises isolation and loneliness, and the location of the ranch is called Soledad which is Spanish for ‘loneliness’. The ranch is very remote because George and Lennie take such a lengthy walk to get there.

The boss of the ranch shows that he is lonely because he is unaccustomed with the idea of friendship between two men.

‘I never seen a guy take so much trouble for another guy’

The workers are all nomadic and solitary, like the man who used Georges’s bed before him, ‘He just quit, the way a guy will…just wanted to move.’

When George was describing the dream to Lennie, George describes the workers as ‘the loneliest guys in the world’ with ‘no family’ and ‘nothing to look forward to.’

Slim talks to George saying how rare it is for him to see two men travelling together and being friends, ‘I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.’

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All the men on the ranch are able to pass through the ranch except Candy and Crook who are forced to stay because of their disabilities. No-one seems to have a family and they all go into town to spend their wages to not be lonely for a night.

George and Lennie were very different from the other ranch hands, they had each other, ‘we got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us’.

George and Lennie enjoy the dream of the two friends owning land together, ‘An’ if a fren’ come along…we’d say ‘Why don’t you ...

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