Consider the theme of loneliness in the novel, Of Mice and Men. How dose it affect the friendships and relationships in the novel?

Edward Watson

In “Of Mice and Men”, John Stienbeck explores the theme of loneliness, set in the farmland of 1930’s California, where Stienbeck grew up. Stienbeck worked as a farm hand on his fathers land and so the countryside described at the beginning of the book, and a ranch itself would have been very familiar to Stienbeck. Characters described in the novel are lonely for different reasons depending on their social status. Age, Race and Sex are some of the reasons for characters loneliness, Stienbeck uses the novel to make these aware in society. George and Lennie are the main characters in the book; they are migrant workers, who are men that travel the countryside harvesting wheat for the farms and doing any other jobs they can find. The “Wall Street Crash” caused jobs to be scarce, during the 1930’s, when there was very unemployment in the United States. Agencies were set to send farm workers to where they were needed: “You remember about us goin’ into Murray and Ready’s, and they give us work cards”. They earned $2.50 or $3.00 a day, plus food and very basic accommodation. These sorts of people lived very lonely lives, as they migrated they had to pick up their roots and move on, on their own and so this what makes them lonely also it was much easer to get work for one-person rather than two or more.

George and Lennie are total opposites. George is decribed as “small and quick, dark of face with restless eyes and sharp, strong fetures.” Lennie on the other hand is “ a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes with wide, sloping sholders”. Stienbeck decribes Georges personality as careful and protective while Lennie seems to be rather stupid with a child’s mind. He’s very forgetful and likes to pet nice things with his finger’s “sof’ things”. George likes to be in charge of himself, and this is why he appreciates the time out under the stars where he can relax with his friend Lennie. Lennie however, enjoyes being with George and so the time under the stars is appreciated, but only because he’s with George.

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George and Lennie share share an special relationship like father and son where George helps Lennie with everything and looks after him. This is shown when George is talking to Slim about Weed: “We sat in an irrigation ditch “. This shows how George takes risks to save Lennie. George sometimes gives the impression that he would rather have nothing to do with Lennie but it is clear that George actually depends on Lennie’s friendship, being with someone gives him something to live for unstead of just being a migrant worker: “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you”, Lennie loves George because George looks after him, George being the only person who looks after him, George shows Lennie how to do things and gets food for them. George is in control as he does almost everything for Lennie: “I got three cans of beans in my bindle”. George and Lennie travel togeather although this is not usual and this is why they are not lonely.

Steinbeck introduces Candy, the old ranch hand into the novel as a “tall, stoop-shouldered old man”. Candy is kept on the farm as a janitor, he has one hand after he got the other one caught in a machine. He is not much use for anything and he knows this. Candy fears when he is to old to do anything that he will just get ‘canned’, which is why he buys into the friendship with George and Lennie. The only thing that motivates Candy is his old dog “gray of muzzle and with pale, blind old eyes”, which unfortunately is killed after Carlson decides not to put up with the smell and Candy is ganged up on to get rid of him; “If you want me to, I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now”.

The ‘American Dream’ is shared by George and Lennie who dream of the “little house and a couple of acres”. For American society as a whole, the dream ended with the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Cinema is the last American dream for many. Curley’s wife is one: “Could have been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes”.

Steinbeck describes Crooks with a “lean face lined with deep black wrinkles, and he had thin , pale-tightened lips”. Crooks lives in “a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn”. Crooks reserves the only right he has, “You got no right to come in my room”. However, when Lennie goes into Crooks’ room he relaxes and enjoys the company. Crooks’ job is a “Stable buck”, which means he tends the horses. He is the only black man in the novel and the other characters’ attitude towards him, shows the position of blacks in America at the time. Steinbeck describes Crooks’ past as a peaceful one. Crooks mentions this to Lennie: “The white kids came to play” “I went to play with them”. This shows that racism did not really affect him as he did not understand but his “ol’ man didn’t like that”. This shows how racism would affect his whole life. The scene in his shed, where it all appears that he is finally accepted for who he is, the reality comes back when Curley’s wife says, “listen Nigger” “I could get you strung up”. Because Crooks is black, he is forced to spend his time reading books: “Books ain’t no good” “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody”.

Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch; she cannot escape from the sexual image that the men have of her. She, therefore, uses this image as a means of getting noticed. She has “full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. When George and Lennie first meet Curley’s wife George describes her as “jail bait”. Steinbeck makes the reader feel the same way as the workers when it comes to discrimanating. The reader is made to feel that Curley’s wife is a “tart”. Workers at the ranch have this impression: “I think Curleys married …a tart”. However, the workers are frightened to talk to her. Curley is known as a boxer and the workers know if they get involved with his wife, Curley will beat them up.

The hasty marriage of Curley and his wife proves to be a failed attempt, on her part, to escape her own lonliness. From what we hear Curley’s wife married to spite her mother. However she discovers that her husband is not what she expects, “I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella”. It would appear at first that she likes Curley, as she wanders arround looking for him but it soon becomes clear that she is just looking for someone to share her feelings with. Curley’s wife describes her life on the ranch to Lennie as if it is no good: “I coulda made somethin’ of myself” . She uses her sexual image as a woman to get the mens’ attention just so she can talk to them. However, this does not usually work as most of the men are often to scared to talk to her. Although Curley’s wife looks and acts like a”tart” she is just craving attention and this is the only way she knows how to get it.

At the end of the novel, her lonliness causes her to converse with Lennie in the barn where the irony is that when she finally gets someone to talk to, it leads to her death! Curley’s wife is the victim of sexism, she is lonely because she has no one to talk to as people are afraid to talk to her. Lennie suffers from discrimination because of his learning disability. The fact that they are both unequal brings them together in the barn. Lennie is there to bury his puppy and Curley’s wife is there to have a conversation. However in the end, Lennie’s disability causes her death: “don’t you go yellin” “he shook her and her body flopped like a fish”. The incident in the barn affects George, Lennie and Candy’s relation because Lennie has finally gone too far. When George knows he has to kill Lennie, then the dream dies with Lennie leaving George and Candy lonely.

“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world.” In conclusion Stienbeck makes aware a serious problem leading to loneliness in 1930’s California through his novel “Of Mice and Men”. Discrimination

Peer Reviews

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

PicturePerfect

25th of Feb 2012

Quality of writing

The essay is fluent and generally it flows well, also there is no real issue with spelling and grammar. The candidate uses an acceptable range of vocabulary and s/he uses punctuation appropriately. Overall this is reasonably good example of the quality of work expected at this level.

Level of analysis

The candidate uses quotations to describe the charters physical appearance and successfully selects appropriate quotations to analyse the characters behaviour and emotions. S/he includes personal opinions to highlight relationships between the characters, especially between George and Lennie, in which they describe how George really feels and how his actions towards Lennie show his love and kindness. Unfortunately the candidate fails to discuss the use of linguistic techniques such as onomatopoeia, metaphors and similes, this is necessary to achieve a higher grade. For example in chapter one, Lennie is described as animal like, he lumbers along like a bear and drinks from the pool like a horse. These are strong animals and this use of imagery and similes refer to LennieÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s physical strength but it also suggests that Lennie has the intelligence of an animal, a simplified intelligence. In addition the conclusion is too short, it should summarise your key points, answer the initial question and include your own opinions and reasonings.

Response to question

This is a good example of the work expected at this level. The candidate describes their points in details and manages to add personnel opinions. The candidate answers the set question well, they have also included information from independent research. This shows an interest in the novel, and makes the essay more appealing to the reader. I like how s/he uses the introduction to describe life in America at the time this novel was written, it helps the reader to understand the emotions of the characters and relates well to the set question. The candidate goes into a suitable depth and analysis when discussing the characters feelings and the reasons behind their actions.

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