Loneliness is a very contradictory topic throughout the whole story, as the story is about friendship between the main protagonists which is in conflict to all of the characters being extremely lonely. At first the characters aren’t presented in a way to make them look lonely but after closer examination loneliness is an obvious element in the story. In the beginning both Lennie and George seem to be lucky to have each other yet they arent content with that and dream about settling down on their own farm, George wishing he had a wife and Lennie wanting pets that he could take care of.
Distrust and prejudice between characters isolates each character from the others, strenghtening the feeling of solitude in Of Mice and Men. The suspicious boss at the ranch questioning George’s and Lennie’s frienship as soon as they arrive is a true example of this looming doubt in the atmosphere that separates the characters. The only person who blindly trusts someone, is Lennie who is keen to do whatever George commands him to do. Ironically, this trusting kills him later as well as it does Curley’s wife, similar to the way the mice and pup die after letting Lennie close to them. Curley’s wife is assured that all of the ranch men are afraid of his husband and wouldn’t dare touch her, which encourages her to get in closer contact with Lennie and takes a trusting step that leads to her death. Lennie follows Geoge’s orders after he unintentionally has killed Curley’s wife and rushes to his and Georges meeting point unaware of the his fate.
“You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.” The stable buck has learnt that staying aloof benefits him and he maintains his remains of dignity by making it look like he chooses to be aside. This and the earlier example present loneliness as a protecting cage that the men have built around themselves to protect the only valuable thing they have, themselves.
“I get lonely.You can talk to people but I cant talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody? ” Curley’s Wife is portrayed as the loneliest character on the ranch, and desperate for company. Loneliness has caught her, and she cant escape, wherever she walks to everyone tries immediately to get rid of her. She is trapped on a ranch with people around her who are afraid to give her any attention, she tries her best to be nice and attempts to make some contact with the men but doesn’t get anything back. She is isolated but doesn’t want to be, and handless loneliness like it’s a jail around her.
In summary, the theme of loneliness is on every page of the book, even the story itself takes place in the middle of nowhere. It is treated as something valuable. It narrates the story narrates a tradegy of honorable friendship with the ominuous hints throughout the story make it clear that the loneliness on the other side of friendship eventually wins and the end might not be pleasant.
