What do you consider to be the main themes in the novel Of Mice and Men? John Steinbeck used various themes in writing the novel Of Mice and Men. However, one theme that played a huge role in the novel was loneliness. Loneliness was a theme, which was experienced by many characters throughout the entire novel. These characters included Curley’s wife, Candy and Crooks. Friendship also was a big theme between the characters, especially between George and Lennie.
This friendship and various other friendships are demonstrated throughout the characters in the novel. George and Lennie shared a very special friendship. They journeyed life together as a pair, feeding each other with support and growing together in love. As the two men worked on the ranch, they were constantly working extremely hard.
However, this was not how they wanted to live. They had a dream that one day they would “have a littler house and a couple acres” (pg 18) where they would “be able to live of the fatta land.” (Pg 18).
George and Lennie wanted nothing more than to just live a simple life were they didn’t have to work, but instead just relax. Whilst reading Of Mice and Men, a character who appeared to be lonely was Candy. Candy was an old swamper who worked on the ranch with George and Lennie. Candy appeared to be an old, lonely man with his only companion being his dog.
The Essay on Of Mice Men Dog Lennie George
Warren French writes, "The world just hasn't been made right, so that dreams are the only things that can keep men going." Agree or disagree with this statement. I remember a time in my life when I would always play with little children. At that point, at the age of six or seven, I decided to become a pediatrician or a kindergarten teacher. When I started high school, I started feeling stressed ...
Candy showed great compassion towards his dog and treated it like it was family. This shows loneliness due to the fact that Candy loved his dog so dearly because he had no other relatives or family members. This was proven in the novel when Candy decided to join his money with George and Lennie and purchase a house with them. He told them that he would leave them all his money and his possessions once he had died, because he didn’t have any family to leave it to. “I’d [he’d] make a will an’ leave my [his] share to you [the] guys… I [he] ain’t got no money” (Pg 56).
Candy is very lonely, as he had nobody who he could leave his possessions to; he has no family or friends apart from his dog. As the novel progresses, we meet Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife was also another character in the novel that demonstrated loneliness. Curley’s wife didn’t have anybody who she could talk to or confide in, as her husband Curley, didn’t show any love or affection towards her. This is why Curley’s wife sought attention from other men, in order to feel worthy and loved. This became evident in the novel when she comforted Lennie one day when she was alone in the barn.
She tried to seduce Lennie with her looks and she also expressed her feelings of loneliness to him. She said, “I get so lonely… how’d you like not to talk to anybody?” (Pg 78).
This suggested that Curley does not provide his wife with any company or love and this is the reason whey she is lonely and always looking to other men for companionship.
Then we came across Crooks. Crooks worked on the ranch as a stable buck. He was forever spoken to poorly and treated disrespectfully all because of the fact that he was a “nigger.” The way he was treated showed that Crooks was also a very lonely character. While all of the other men shared rooms, Crooks was given a room of his own and he was to stay in his room and not communicate to the rest of the workers on the ranch. Crooks was not allowed to participate in any events that the other “white” men participated in or even enter the “white” men’s bedroom. Therefore he had nobody to talk to which made him feel extremely lonely.
This became evident in the novel when Lennie went into Crooks’ bedroom and he was telling Lennie how lonely and sad he was. He said, “Books ain’t no good. A guy needs somebody – to be near him.” (Pg 66).
The Essay on The relationship between Curley and his wife
All the female characters used by Steinbeck are either, prostitutes, a carer or a victim. Their marriage is bizarre because they have only been married for 2 weeks and they don’t like each other. We can tell this because they are never together in the book also she flirts with other men because she is lonely all of the time and Curley goes to the cat house. Curley wears gloves full of Vaseline on ...
Thus Crooks felt lonely and he would love to have a friend to keep him company.
However, this was not possible for Crooks as he was a “nigger” and nobody accepted him for he was. Overall, I believe that nobody should feel lonely. However this can be unpreventable, especially if it is hard to find acceptance from other people. For example, Crooks and Lennie were not accepted into society.
Crooks was not accepted because he was a “nigger” and nobody wanted anything to do with him and Lennie was also not accepted because he had a mental disability. Loneliness is something that makes you feel sad and very miserable. Maybe if Curley’s wife, Crooks and Candy had someone to love and care about them, then maybe they would be accepted into society and eventually find friendship in someone. Word count – 800.
