Loneliness in The Novel, Of Mice And Men
Loneliness in The Novel, Of Mice And Men
In the Novel of “Of Mice and Men”, by John Steinbeck, we can read the story of people and the loneliness they experience through out the novel. I think that Steinbeck’s inspiration for this book came from his own personal experiences where he grew up, Salinas. The book is about lonely farm workers. They all have different reasons for being lonely, like, their age, race, sex.
The central characters are George and Lennie. They are a couple of poor farm workers. Lennie is a gigantic and mentally retarded man, who has possesses extreme strength; he is kind of alone because his mom, Aunt Clair, died. The other character is George. He is a smart talking and witty man. He has to take care of George. He is alone because being with Lennie has isolated him from everyone else around him.
The relationship that George and Lennie have is a bit odd. Since George is the smart one, he assumes the dominant role in the pair. He acts like an overtired and overworked parent who can get a break. George thinks of Lennie as burden as well as a friend.
Another character, who I think represents loneliness, in the story is Candy. He is an old man who doesn’t have a hand because he had an accident. He doesn’t do much anymore, except tend to his old and disabled dog. His dog is his only true friend and is was attached to it. His future doesn’t look very bright; he is heading toward being an old and lonely man with out anyone to take care of him. He is scared of the fact that they are going to send him away just like they did to his dog. But he is trying to avoid this future by joining George and Lennie in their quest to own their own ranch. By doing such a thing he will no longer have to be alone and will not feel worthless.
While Candy is a cast-out because of his age, Crook is a cast-out because of his race. He is an African American who tends the stable. He has become an over protective bitter person. He uses this to keep people from him. He is treated in a bad way, he lives away from everyone else and his accommodations aren’t...