The theme of loneliness in the novel "Of Mice and Men"

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The theme of loneliness in the novel “Of Mice and Men”

By John Steinbeck

Loneliness is a basic part of human life. Loneliness is an inevitable fact of life that not even the strongest can avoid. Every one becomes lonely once in a while but in Steinbeck's novella "Of Mice and Men", he illustrates the loneliness of ranch life in the early 1930's and shows how people are driven to try and find friendship in order to escape from loneliness.

The theme of loneliness is a dominant theme in john Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men”. Steinbeck displays the theme of loneliness and what people are willing to do to avoid it in a variety of ways.

One of the most important things in life that is really needed is a friend. Without friends, people would suffer from loneliness and solitude. The characters in this novel are intrigued and envious of the special friendship shared by George and Lennie because they do not have that in their life.

The setting of the novel is destined for loneliness. Soledad is short for the town's full name, 'Nuestra Senora de Soledad' which means 'Our Lady of Loneliness'. This is the town that is closest to the ranch, a place that is already full of lonely, solitary people.

"Guys like us, that live on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world." George means that if not for each other, then he and Lennie would be all alone, with no friends, like all the men like them, working from ranch to ranch without making any friends, and living a lonely life. Clinging to each other in their loneliness and alienation, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie dream, of a place to call their own.

George and Lennie are very different, physically as well as mentally, even though they talk to each other, we can sense that they are both on a different level. George is a smart, quick-witted man, who seems to need mental stimulation from a companion, which he cannot have in his relationship with Lennie. And Lennie doesn’t always understand what George is talking about, as Crooks points out “Sometimes he talks, and you don’t know what the hell he’s talkin’ about. Aint’ that so ?…Jus’ talks on, an’ you don’t know what the hell it’s all about?”. Even though they have each other, they are still both lonely at a certain level, but as Crooks also points outs “it don’t make no difference”; what he means is that it’s not what’s being said that is important, nor that the person understands clearly what the others talking about, the important thing is human contact and being there together.

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Crooks, Candy and Curley's wife all suffer injustices such as discrimination and prejudice, resulting in loneliness and isolation. They learn to cope with their loneliness through their interest in Lennie and George's friendship. In some ways I think they may even be envious of the bond.

Crooks is a black man that experiences isolation because the society in which he resides is racist. The quote "A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't matter no difference who the guy is, longs he with you. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an he gets sick" was ...

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