The book ‘Of Mice and Men’, written by John Steinbeck is set in the 1930’s America. This was the time of the great depression, segregation, racism and sexism. In the 1930’s unemployment was high and a lot of men had hardly any money, so they moved from town to town to find new places to work. The men never stayed in one place to form any relationships or had much financial support to have a family of their own; hence the loneliness existence. Steinbeck shaped the ranch where George and Lennie worked as an isolated and empty place.
In the first line of the novel Steinbeck wrote, “A few miles south of Soledad.This was a very clever sentence to add since ‘Soledad’ means loneliness in Spanish. Steinbeck also characterises his characters into different themes (Sexism, racism, ageism) to represent why they are lonely. The theme loneliness is carried on throughout the book. It is incorporated in all the pages.
.. When George meets Candy, he tells him about the "black" man called Crooks, "Give the Stable Buck hell. Ya see the stable buck's a nigger". This was typical of 1930's America as black people were thought of as a lower class to white people.
It also was suggested that Crooks was friendless as he was isolated from the others and worked alone.He has his "own bunk in a separate nigger room" and "he scattered personal possessions around the floor; for being alone he could leave things about". Crooks suffered from racial discrimination, which makes him feel lower that the rest on the ranch. Crooks also doesn’t get the same human rights as the white people.
During the book, Crooks is always very distant and suspicious throughput the book. When Lennie enters Crooks room, Crooks immediately becomes rude and cold towards him. “Well, I got a right to have a light. You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room.Crooks also taunts Lennie, saying that George will never come back, get severely hurt and that Lennie will become a lonesome man.
Crooks does this because of how he was treated. He is obviously angry at how he is treated so he may have wanted to get revenge and put his pain and loneliness onto someone else. Crooks may have also taunted Lennie because of his ‘lower status’. He may have looked down upon Lennie because he is a ‘retard’ like everyone else looks down upon Crooks because of his colour and by doing that he may have felt better and felt as if someone else joined his loneliness.Crooks's emotions are displayed to the reader when he talks to Lennie in his room about having no one to relate to and communicate with.
He states: "Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he's goin' to come back. S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy `cause you was black..
. A guy needs somebody--to be near him. ” Obviously having someone there for you in the 1930’s was a comfort and wealth for any person at that time. Crooks does not have any of these attributes. Crooks being treated unfairly has affected him greatly.He has become bitter and has obtained a great despise toward everyone, which makes him even more lonely.
Steinbeck also includes sexism in the novel. In the 1930’s, sexism was highly popular amongst the women. Most of them suffered from it which would have made them feel inferior to men. Curley’s wife was a victim of sexism.
In the book Steinbeck never gave Curley’s wife a name. She was always reffered as ‘Curley’s wife’ this reflects her lack of individual identity. In the 1930’s women were always the property of the men and they would always take the name of the man when married.In the novel, there is a point where she says 'They left the weak behind. ' She was talking about Crooks, Lennie, and Candy, who were all 'weak' in their respective ways.
The irony of her comment was that she wasn't even considered a real person; but as a possession so she was too included in the ‘weak group’. She’s also stereotyped by everyone else as a sexual predator and can’t justify herself or her behaviour due to the fact she’s a woman and no one can see past this. When Curley’s wife disrupts Crooks, Lennie’s and Candy’s conversation she asks for Curley.All 3 boys turn cold towards her. Instead of heeding the boys asking her to leave; she reveals that she feels lonely.
“Think I don’t like to talk to someone ever? Think I like to stick in the house alla time? ” This shows that she is always forces to remain to herself and that she has no one to talk to which contributes towards her loneliness. She also talks about Curley saying that he’s a great husband, but sarcastically. “Sure I gotta husban’. You all seen him.
Swell guy ain’t he…” By saying this she is rying to say that she isn’t happy with Curley and he doesn’t care for her as he always goes to the whorehouse with the other guys and sleeps with other women; it’s as if Curley’s wife doesn’t make Curley feel satisfied with just her which makes her feel unwanted and abandoned. She also mentions that he “spends all his time sayin’ what he’d do to other guys he don’t like…” In the novel Steinbeck seems to describe Curley as a self-centred man who cares a lot about his reputation and makes himself seem as a bigger man by picking fights and targeting Lennie. Curley’s wife doesn’t seem to enjoy his company because of his big ego.Curley’s wife appears to feel lonelier in his presence, mainly because he doesn’t give her any attention. Curley’s wife is the only female on the ranch, which might of made her feel lonely in a way that she never had another women to confide with or talk to. Curley’s wife always walks around the ranch heavily made up to attract the attention of the men on the ranch “Can’t blame no one for looking.
” Curley’s wife notices the way people stare at her but she doesn’t stop them because she’s almost desperate for some attention and affection. She flirts deliberately with the ranch men and causes them to suffer Curley’s anger.Furthermore, she does little to hide that she has been flirting with other men from her husband; this infuriates him and makes him feel smaller which is most likely why she does it. In the novel Steinbeck describes Candy as an old ranch worker ("swamper") who has lost one of his hands in a farm accident.
Candy and his relationship with his old, reeking dog are important in the book as markers for exactly who you don’t want to be in that time. Curley suffers from ageism. Candy and his old dog grew up together in the ranch. His dog was his only comfort and friend he had. The dog seemed to reduce the loneliness of working at the ranch.
But at one point of the book, when the other men are playing cards Carlson, a ranchworker persuades Candy to let him shoot the old dog. Candy realises that he should have taken responsibility for his friend and made the gesture to shoot the dog himself. He regrets the fact that the dog's last moments were with Carlson, who wasn’t close to his dog. He regretted that his best friend’s life was ended apart and not together.
He felt as if he let down his only friend down and that perhaps he should have made the decision of him putting his dog down himself earlier. Also the ilence after his dog dies shows he is enclosed in his own loneliness after losing his dog. Candy represents how old people were treated in the 1930’s. When they got old and handicapped, they became useless and weak to the ranch and were easily replaced by newer, younger versions.
At one point Candy states “I ain’t much good with only one hand. ” Candy himself recognizes his uselessness and his one hand shows that he’s one man on his own. During the aftermath of the shooting of Candy’s dog, Candy overhears George’s and Lennie’s conversation about their dream farm. “You an’ me can go back an’ live nice can’t we George, can’t we? This shows how desperate and dependent Candy is on the idea of the dream farm to escape his loneliness and the dream farm was all he had to look forward to. One of the very last lines Steinbeck wrote in ‘Of Mice and Men’ was Curly saying, “Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys? ” This suggest that most of the ranchmen and especially Curly have never been with or had the company of a person for so long to develop a real relationship with them to feel love or care for them; hence they are lonely.
Steinbeck has expertly shown the loneliness in each character (whether the main or minor characters) in a very intriguing manner.
