How is the theme of loneliness explored in Of Mice and Men? Essay

The theme of b arness is one of the key themes throughout the reserve. The record book starts off with a in truth natural feel, On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains. This theme soon changes into the theme of intimacy as we begin to know George and Lennie we foot see they are good friends because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you. However Steinbeck gradu entirelyy changes the theme of companionship to the opposite theme of loneliness Guys like us, that work on counterpanees, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They dont belong to no place.As we visualize more and more of the main characters we begin to see near how alone(p) they are We later bear upon Curley and his wife. Curley is the only person on the cattle ranch to flip a partner, and even then its not a trusting, full relationship If you cant look after you own God maledict wife, what do you expect me to do about it Slim tells Curley. Curleys wife says to Lennie I dont like Curley. He aint a prudish fella.. This is Steinbeck underlining how even the characters who are married are lonely and regretful. If this is the case then what about the eternal rest of the workers who have no wife at all? George mentions his desire for a partner in the first chapter I could live easy and maybe get a girl.Most of the ranch workers go to a Cat house when they get their stake, and blow it all there, showing just how much they want to be around women they receive a piteous amount of money every month and instead of saving it to get themselves out of their hole, they spend it in one night at the Cat house. This shows that the loneliness has driven them to the borderline of insanity, A guys goes nuts if he aint got no clay Crooks observes whilst the others are at the Cat house.I have talked about how lonely the ranch workers in general are, but Steinbeck focuses in particular on three characters C andy, Crooks and Curleys wife he may do this to try to present across a message to the reader, speaking out against Ageism, Racism and Sexism respectively. I will talk about Candy firstCandy is the oldest employee at the ranch and he knows it. His best friend was his dog, which has now been killed by Carlson. In the scene in which Carlson is persuading Candy to let him shoot the dog, Carlson gives a logical argument he jus suffers hisself all the time, Candy however just says that hes had im so long had him from a pup. This is Candy trying to hold onto his companion, who hes become attached to and doesnt want him dead. Carlson however, persists and the dog is killed. Candy now has no real companions on the ranch and is worried about his proximo Theyll can me purty soon., he explains to George and Lennie how he has no place to go, and cant get no more jobs.In Chapter 3 Candys glimpses expect as he offers to put in some money to help George and Lennie buy their dream house spose I went in with you guys?. As he does so he again underlines his loneliness I aint got no relatives nor nothing. With his dog dead Candy is desperately hold for some sort of companionship and for a while it looks as if their dream may be realised. Unfortunately though, Lennie kills Curleys wife and their dream is shattered.Crooks is the only non-white man on the ranch, the book was written in 1937 where racism and pitch-black/white segregation was still commonplace. Crooks is deliberately written as being black as a method for Steinbeck to speak out against the evils of racism Crooks is clearly very lonely, even by ranch workers standards. Because he is black he must(prenominal) sleep in his own little shed and isnt allowed in the bunkhouse with all the other workers I aint wanted in the bunkhouse. In Chapter 4, the reason for this ostracising is made clear cause Im black, they play cards in there, but I cant play because Im black. The other ranch workers may think that they hav e no close friends, but Crooks isnt even allowed to be around them (except while working(a) or playing horseshoes), which is something the rest of the characters take for granted- he explains to Lennie You got George. You know hes coming back.Spose you couldnt go into the bunkhouse? Suppose you had to put up out here and read books. Howd you like that? Books aint no good. A guy needs somebody to be near him. fagt make no difference who the guy is, longs hes with you. You know hes coming back. This is Crooks most wound up outburst and is used effectively to really show through the loneliness that he in particular is feeling the other workers have other guys just to be near them, which many of them take for granted. Steinbeck uses Crooks for other plot devices as well such as giving a small insight into how the book finishes. Nobody never gets to Heaven and nobody gets no land.Curleys wife. Curleys wife is given no name. Curleys wife is continually referred to throughout the boo k as Curleys wife. This is completely intentional and is used to show womens insignificance at the time. Like Candy is the only old person on the ranch and Crooks is the only black person on the ranch, Curleys wife is the only woman on the ranch. As the only woman on the ranch she has no girly friends to talk to and is thus very lonely. Her only real contact is Curley, who she doesnt even like, describing him as he aint a nice fella. Curley doesnt help the situation by continually keeping her under check and stopping her from talking to the other ranch workers I cant talk to nobody but Curley.Else he gets mad The ranch workers are scared of Curley so they dont like to talk to his wife, George describes her as jailbait. When she tries to talk to Crooks, Lennie and Candy, Crooks tells her Maybe you better go along to your house now, we dont want no trouble. Curleys wife often uses Im looking for Curley as an excuse to talk to the other guys at the ranch. When Steinbeck first introduce s Curleys wife she is portrayed through the ranch workers eyes Bet shed clear out for twenty bucks. Not until the ending of the book do we see why she acts so flirtatiously she just wants someone to talk to and she uses her body as a way of getting a guys attention. I never get to talk to nobody, I get awful lonely, howd you like not to talk to anybody? She tells Lennie.It is interesting how, in chapter 4, when all the other ranch workers are at the Cat house, that Crooks, Curleys wife, Lennie and Candy all meet in Crooks house. Lennie is the only one who has a real companion (George) yet he doesnt appreciate it until he sees how lonely the others are and empathises with them You got George Having them meet is Steinbecks way of showing the reader how lonely they are the people who would normally have ostracised them arent in the ranch at the time, and so Crooks, Candy and Curleys wife, the three most lonely people, all feeling left out and lonely meet and talk to each other.Though it would look that they would enjoy talking to one another, they are all so used to being wrapped up on their own, that, particularly Crooks and Curleys wife, are not at all friendly to each other Curleys wife tells Crooks how she could get him strung up on a tree so debased it aint even funny. This is a reference to the lynchings of black men, which were common at the time. This, again, is Steinbeck speaking out against racism and implying that many blacks were framed for their crimes.In conclusion all of the ranch workers are lonely all except Curley have no wife, few have close friends or companions and they live very lonely existences. There are a few however, namely Candy, Crooks, and Curleys wife who are especially lonely because they have been cut off from the rest of the characters Steinbeck uses his book to speak out against sexism, racism and ageism.