Consider the theme of loneliness in the novel. How does it affect friendships and relationships? Essay

John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California in 1902. When becoming a fictional writer this area played an influential part in the settings of many of his freshs. This includes the great novel Of Mice and Men. As a teenager the demoralise scenes of the rural Californian ranches he worked on in the summer impressed on him deeply. Steinbecks best- cognize works go into this scene truly(prenominal) nearly with the plight of desperately poor wanderers in search of work and m integrityy, who, despite the cruelty of their circumstances, often triumph spiritually.Of Mice and Men is set in the years moreover after the great depression and stock market crash of the 1930s with the dust bowl raging in the s let outhern states. Like a dance orchestra of Americans George and Lennie were searching for work on the ranches, in their quest to own their own province and alert of the fat of the land. However, cruel and powerful forces beyond their fit thwarted their quest for land and their tragedy was marked, ultimately, by steadfast compassion and love. The novel is set in the farmland of the Salinas valley. The ranch George and Lennie work on is proficient outside Soledad, and the countryside surrounding the ranch is described in the beginning of the book as On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the substantial and rocky Gabilan mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees willows fresh and green with every spring, the passage emphasises the beauty and peacefulness of the area.George and Lennie were people co hands as Migrant Farm Workers. These travelled the countryside between the 1880s and 1930s harvesting wheat. They earned very superficial each day, plus food and very basic accommodation in the outbuildings of the farms. Unemployment was very high in the 1930s so the government set up agencies to organize and send farm workers to w here they were needed. George and Lennie were members of the procedure Murray a nd Readys from which they got their work cards. They, kindred most of the migrant farm workers, were in search of The American Dream which was to own their very own little house and a couple of acres.One of the biggest themes in the book is seclusion. Many of the characters admit to suffering profound loneliness. George sets the tone for these confessions early in the novel when he reminds Lennie that sustenance on the ranches is among the loneliest of lives, Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They dont belong no place. Candy has one companion and that is his dog, so when the dog is killed he has no one and therefore attaches himself to Georges and Lennies dream. He does this so that he doesnt force an castaway and exclusively. Candy still wants to carry out the dream even after Lennie accidentally kills Curleys married woman, even though he knows unaccompanied too well(p) that Lennie cannot return to the lifetime he led before. Crooks feels that he would work for free, as long as he wouldnt be alone and could communicate with soul A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody.Dont make no difference who the guy is, longs he with you Curleys wife is so overwhelmed by her loneliness that she seeks friendship from other men. She intimidates all the other men except Slim because she is beautiful and because she is Curleys wife. She ultimately makes friends with Lennie and confesses her loneliness to him Think I dont like to talk to mortal ever once in a while? Each of these characters searches for a friend, someone to help them cope with life. In the end, however, companionship of this type seems unattainable. For George, the hope of such companionship run shorts with Lennie, and true to his original estimation, he will go by means of life alone.The relationship between George and Lennie appears to be very unusual to the rest of the workers. It is clear that most of them are lonely. They all suck up divers(prenominal ) ways of header with it some remember wished-for friends with affection. Others become self sufficient and however pick up out for themselves making them very selfish. Crooks insists on the right to be alone even though he dislikes it. Carlson is incapable of caring for others and their judgements. This side of him is shown clearly when he bullies Candy into allowing him to shoot his ageing, smelly, rheumatic dog, He aint no good to you, Candy. An he aint no good to himself. Whynt you shoot him, Candy?The core of the novel is formed by the relationship between George and Lennie. With us it aint like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn close to us. We dont have to sit in no bar room blowin in our jack jus because we got no place else to go. If them other guys get in jail they can emaciate for all anybody gives a damn. But not us. In Lennies view, George is the most valuable person in his life he is not only his only friend but also a role model and his guardian. Every time Lennie does something wrong he immediately thinks how angry and disappointed George will be. He also has a child-like faith that George will always be there for him.George, even though he cares approximately Lennie, sees him as a constant origin of frustration and aggravation and frequently speaks of how much better life would be without his care taking responsibilities God amighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an work, an no troubleAn whatta I got, George went on furiously I got you You cant cover a job and you lose me ever job I get. However George is obviously devoted to Lennie. Georges behaviour is motivated by the hope to protect Lennie and, eventually, obtain the farm of their dreams so they can live of the fatta the lan.Lennies other childlike faith is that he believes they are both termination to eventually settle down on the farm told to him often by George. This faith enables George to actually believe this ac count of their future aswell Georges belief in it depends on Lennie, for as soon as Lennie dies, Georges hope for a brighter future disappears. Their companionship contrasts the loneliness that surrounds them the loneliness of the homeless ranch worker the loneliness of the outcast black man the loneliness of the subjected woman the loneliness of the old, helpless cripple and this arouses the curiosity in the characters that they encounter, even Slim commented, It seems kinda funny a cuckoo like him and a smart little guy like you travellin together.Their friendship goes back to when they were children growing up in the same town and when Lennies Aunt Clara died George took responsibility for him. They have been together for many years and as George says, have got kinda used to each other. Both of them bring different advantages to the relationship Lennies strength make them seem very attractive to potential employers who are seeking labourers. Slim says of Lennie, I neer seen such a workerThere aint nobody can keep up with him.Lennie is also a very handy person to have roughly if there is a fight. George is very intelligent and organizes both of their lives. He knows how to protect Lennie from other people and dangers, although this rarely happens from the time they meet Curley and his wife. From and so on Lennie just seems to go from one confrontation to another. Another reason why they stick together is that they enjoy travelling around the country with someone who cares for them. Lennie puts it well when he says I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.After losing his dog, Candy becomes very withdrawn. Steinbeck paints him as the sad, stereotyped symbol of old age, a man whose life is void of friends and hope. When the dog is dead, he feels that he has nothing and no reason for existence. However in chapter three he overhears George describing their dream farm to Lennie and he interrupts them and asks You know wheres a place like th at? At this point Candy reveals that he has quite a bit of money saved up which he could invest into the farm if he was allowed to. He asks George if he can come with them. After some careful thinking George agrees. Candy explains to George why he call for a place like theirs You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasnt no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebodyd shoot me. But they wont do nothing like that. I wont have no place to go, an I cant get no more jobs.In chapter 4 Candy is searching for Lennie one night while all the others have gone into town. He finds him in Crookss room and he is invited in to join them. He and Lennie start a conversation about the farm. Candy is so stimulated that he cant stop himself telling others. When Curleys wife tries to strike up a conversation with them, Candy reveals to her the dream of owning a farm. This only annoys George. When he returns, he tells them to leave immediately. In Chapter 5 the dream goes sour when Candy reveals the dead body of Curleys wife.He goes and gets George and returns to the body with him. George knows it was Lennie, as he had always feared this would happen. Candy cautiously asks George if they can still get their farm. George is silent, then says I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed wed never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would. All their dreams disappeared the moment Lennie killed Curleys wife. Georges only hope now is that maybe the other workers wont want to hurt Lennie. When George leaves, Candy speaks angrily to the corpse and his eyes are blind with tears. He is left only with the reality of his lonely and isolated existence on the ranch.Crooks is another character who gets easily sucked into Georges and Lennies dream of owning their own farm. When Lennie appears in the doorway of his room, Crooks turns him away, hoping to prove a point that if he, as a black man, is not allo wed in white mens houses, then whites are not allowed in his, I aint wanted in the bunk-house and you aint wanted in my room, but his desire for company ultimately wins out and he invites Lennie to sit with him. Once inside, Lennie and Crooks have a conversation in which both men seem to be talking to themselves rather than to each other. Lennie begins to talk about the rabbits but Crooks just thinks he is crazy and as Lennies dream unfolds Crooks is doubtful about it because he has seen this so many times I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an that same damn thing in their heads every damn one of ems got a little piece of land in his head. An never a God damn one of em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Everbody wants a little piece of lan. I read plenty of books out here.Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. When Candy inscribes the room and he and Lennie have a conversation about the rabbits and the farm, it is revealed to Crooks that they already have much of the money needed to buy it. He tells them that he will work for them without pay if they let him live there. Perhaps what Crooks wants more than anything is a sense of belonging, to enjoy simple pleasures such as the right to enter the bunkhouse or to play cards with other men. This desire would explain why, even though he has a reason to doubt George and Lennies talk about the farm that they want to own, Crooks cannot help but ask if there might be room for him to come along and hoe in the garden. Companionship and lavish food are both parts of Crookss dream. However his dream comes to nothing and when Curleys wife puts him in his place as a Negro, he knows nothing will change.Another character who turns out to be very lonely is Curleys wife. In the beginning of the book her purpose is to be the tramp steamertartbitch that threatens to destroy male happiness and longevity. But later in the novel her complex and interesting cha racter is revealed. When she confronts Lennie, Crooks and Candy in the stable, she admits to feeling a kind of shameless dissatisfaction with her life. Her vulnerability at this moment and later when she admits to Lennie about her dream of becoming a movie star I met a guy an he was in pitchers. Went out to the Riverside Dance Palace with him.He says he was gonna put me in the movies. makes her much more interesting than the uninventive tart that flirted with all the other men. However it also reinforces the novels grim view of the world. In her moment of greatest vulnerability, Curleys wife seeks out even greater weaknesses in others and directs her anger towards Lennies mental disability, Candys old age and the colour of Crooks skin standin here talking to a bunch of bindle stiffs- a nigger an a dum dum and a lousy old sheep. As a result of this constant onslaught of insults it causes Crooks to see his dream of going with the others and instead live out the rest of his miserabl e life at this ranch where he will be tormented by many, right up until he dies.In the next chapter when Lennie is in the barn on his own and Curleys wife enters he tries to ignore her. All Curleys wife wants to do is strike up a conversation. She confesses how lonely she is because she intimidates all the other men, Why cant I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awfully lonely. Eventually a conversation begins and she really opens up to Lennie telling him things she hasnt even told Curley Well I aint told nobody before. Maybe I oughtn to. I don like Curley. He aint a nice fella Coulda been in the movies, an had nice clothes all of them nice clothes like they wear.. An I coulda sat in them big hotels, an had pictures took of me. When they had them previews I coulda went to them, an spoke in the radio, an iut wouldnt comprise me a cent because I was in the picture. An all them nice clothes like they wear. Because this guy says I was a natural. In the end her dream is shatter at the same point George and Lennies dream is shattered when Lennie accidentally kills her.Most of the characters in Of mice and Men admit, at one point to dreaming of a different and much better life. Candy confessing that he would like to grow old not alone and owning his own farm, Curleys wife wanting to become a movie star and Crooks to be accepted in the social ladder that is life. What makes all of these dreams typically American is that they wish for flawless happiness. Georges and Lennies dream of owning a farm is the perfect example of a typical American bringing close togetherl the dream offers them protection from the cruel and ruthless world and enables them to put up themselves. But the journey they take awakens George and introduces to him the harsh reality he actually has.The story proves that the paradise, which the characters dream of, cannot be found on this earth. George and Lennie desperately cling to the concept that they are different from other wor kers who drift from ranch to ranch because, unlike others, they have a future and each other. But characters like Crooks and Curleys wife serve as cruel reminders that George and Lennie are no different from anyone who wants something of his or her own. Their perfect world is one of independence. Workers like George and Lennie have no family, no home, and very little control over their lives. This is exactly the opposite of what they want.They have to do what the boss tells them and they have little to show for it. They only own what they can carry. Therefore, this idea of having such power over their lives is a salubrious motivation. The connection between the characters dreams and loneliness is very strong. All Curleys wife wanted to be was an actress, she mazed her chance and married, as a result she became very lonely. Crooks being Negro was always condemned to a life of loneliness but he still had a dream of what his life used to be like compared to the reality of what it was today. And Candy loosing his only true friend and companion his dog meant that if he didnt linkup himself to a dream he would lead a life of loneliness. As it happened his dream like everyone elses was shattered by one fatal accident.When George tells Lennie to look across the river and imagine their farm, he lets Lennie die with the hope that they will attain their dream, and attain it soon. George, who must kill Lennie, is not allowed such comfort. He must go on living knowing the failure of their dream, as well as the sadness and guiltiness of knowing that he killed his best and only true friend. George lets Lennie die with the image of their farm in his mind and in a state of complete mental happiness and calmness. But George himself must continue through life knowing that they will never reach it I think I knowed wed never do her.He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would. The other men who come on the scene only see the half-wit who killed a woman and deserved to die. Only Slim understands Georges tragic loss. Carlson and Curley watch Slim lead George away from the riverbank their complete state of puzzlement is rooted more in ignorance than in heartlessness. Carlson and Curley represent the harsh conditions of a distinctly real world, a world in which the weak will always be vanquished by the strong and in which the rare, delicate bond between friends is not appropriately mourned because it is not understood.