needed. They would then have to wait for the next vacancy available. In these conditions men most usually travelled alone- it was hard to form any stable relationships in a life where it was vital to travel so often and when self-survival was more important than anyone else's.
It’s in this world of self survival that John Steinbeck based “Of Mice And Men”, which is a portrayal of effects these conditions can have on human nature. The most prominent of these effects in the novel itself is loneliness, (a major theme) which is present in some way in every one of Steinbeck's characters. The book itself has been described as a ‘symphony of lonliness’.
In a world where one’s own survival and well-being is priority and you are mostly alone, the workers became very isolated. The effects of the lack of friendship, love or compassion on the workers have made them unable to relate in any way to anyone but themselves, and the self-importance that is forced to become their priority renders them unable to feel much pity or empathy for anyone or anything, turning them inwards and embittered towards a world which hasn't treated them well. They all live an existence in which every day is taken as it comes, each one matters in the fight for survival. They do not think in the long term, they spend the small wages they receive as soon as they can in taverns and whore-houses, they do not have dreams of the future.
Loneliness effects some characters in other ways. For example,
Curley’s wife lives a life rivalling and arguably, exceeding the
worker’s in isolation and loneliness. She has entered into a loveless and -the suggestion is- brutal marriage on a ranch full of wary, frightened and suspicious men with no-one to talk to, no love or tenderness, no prospect of change or escape from it. Unlike the men, she also has no motivation to survive. The workers aim in life is to survive, to keep on going, to keep on surviving through all the deprivation, as some still have prospects for change. Curley’s wife is stuck at a figurative dead-end. She has arrived at the place she will remain for most probably the rest of her life, in an incessant routine of lonely, endless monotony. It is this isolation and the dissapointment of niave dreams of Hollywood and broken trust that has turned her into the character we are presented with in the beginning chapters of the book. The “whore”, the “slut”, the “jail-bait”, and the “tart” are her own form of survival- whereas the men have had to become totally self-interested and self-dependent in order to survive, Curley’s wife has had to survive by attempting to gain power and attention in the only way she can in a ranch full of men- through sexual supremacy.
However it appears there are infact two characters in the novel less affected by the isolation than the other characters, Slim and Lennie. It could be argued that George is also less affected, as his friendship with Lennie saves him from turning totally inward. Lennie’s friendship and care stop George from becoming like the other ranch workers, as he has to think about Lennie’s well being in addition to his own.
George and Lennie’s relationship is almost more like that of a parent and child than of friends, and George has to look after Lennie, therefore George thinks about someone other than himself. So far his relationship has had its downsides, because as this isn’t a normal friendship and Lennie is less capable mentally, Lennie keeps getting George into trouble. This proves that George needs to become isolated, lonely and inward as the others if he wants to be able successfully to survive. The conditions of the workers affect them in sad, terrible ways, yet it’s interesting that they actually need to be behave in this way if they want to survive. There is a strange need for loneliness and isolation, and this is how loneliness effects George and ultimately, George and Lennie’s friendship.
