The Role Of Isolation In Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Words: 708

Pages: 3

Open Document

Soledad. Not only is this the name of the town in which the ranch is located on, but it means solitude; the state or situation of being alone. Two main themes proposed In Of Mice and Men written by George Steinbeck are social discrimination and isolation. Setting new standards, George and Lennie make quite the aberrant pair considering they travel together and pay no mind to the ideas of discrimination. You see, most ranch hands wouldn’t travel together. George claims "I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin' to fight all the time," so he promised to take care of Lennie and look after him on behalf of his mental disabilities. From the moment the boys step foot on the ranch their relationship is thought peculiar. The Boss even says to George "What stake you got in this guy? You takin' his pay away from him? I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy." Isolation is a routine feeling for everyone on the ranch and to see a pair of guys come together is astonishing, but to others they find it admiring. Loneliness can be a treacherous journey for …show more content…
Her husband gets jealous easy and forbids of the guys from talking to her, regardless the bunkhouse is a male world where women are not to be trusted. Being the only woman on the ranch, staying in her big house with no one to talk to got very lonesome. She remembered the days where she had the chance to run off and be in the movies but chose a different life for herself instead. This turned into a dark path of self pity and moping. I see Steinbeck using Curley’s wife as a symbol of temptation. She had no one to talk to and went running to Lennie for a companion. Granted he meant no harm, but her treacherous journey ended at the end of this finger tips trying to hush her

The Role Of Isolation In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, set in California around the 1930’s follows two men, George and Lennie, who struggle to fit into the world. The duo travel to a ranch in mid California in search of a job. The isolation that surrounds the people of the ranch in Of Mice and Men is the root of all their personal problems. Possibly the most obvious example of isolation in Of Mice and Men is Crooks. As a black man living during segregation, he faces both physical as well as emotional separation…

Words 704 - Pages 3

Loneliness And Alienation In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

and Alienation in “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men explores many recurring ideas and themes, one of the most prominent of which is alienation. Steinbeck’s characters live in a world plagued by loneliness and isolation. In the story of two migrant workers struggling to get by during the Great Depression, isolation has become the norm. Distrust is the quality of the modern world that causes people choose to live in isolation from each other. (“Of Mice and Men,” 246) racism and prejudice…

Words 1017 - Pages 5

Thematic Analysis: Of Mice And Men

Research Paper Prejudice is displayed throughout John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, through racism, sexism, and injustice towards the mentally handicapped. The prejudice towards African Americans on the ranch causes Crooks to experience loneliness and heartache. Sexist attitudes regarding beauty as a person’s most important quality causes Curley’s wife to believe attractiveness is her only asset and she needs the attention of all the men on the ranch. Lennie feels like an outcast because George…

Words 1027 - Pages 5

Character Analysis Of Crooks In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

john Steinbeck’s classic novel “Of Mice And Men,” tells a realistic story of the Great Depression, as all the characters have a deep symbol of how life was like during the great depression. Throughout the novel, these rich characters show the fractured truth of the American dream. Crooks is one of these characters who struggles with simply finding someone to sympathize with. Crooks is a perfect symbol of isolation, the truth of the American Dream, and roles of society within the Steinbeck’s novel…

Words 424 - Pages 2

Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Essay

Steinbeck told a story that startled bookshops. “Of Mice and Men” starkly reveals – with dexterity and integrity- the anxieties and depredations of the Depression Era in Western America. Steinbeck’s divine ability to intimately describe the plight of dispirited bindle stiffs stems from his own experience in the transient workforce. In his novella, Steinbeck addresses perennial issues of the unattainability of the American Dream, human isolation and loneliness. While these issues are all extremely…

Words 878 - Pages 4

Crooks Loneliness

Loneliness In Of Mice And Men Loneliness is a fact of life that not even the strongest can avoid. In Of Mice And Men by Steinbeck, Crooks is isolated because of his race, he always felt like he was getting treated differently. Candy is isolated because he lost his hand, so he’s unfit to work with other workers, and it decrease the role of being a swamper. Curley’s wife is isolated because she is the only female on the ranch, and always having to bring attention to the farmer’s because she is lonely…

Words 584 - Pages 3

True Friendship In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

good in life, and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island... To find one real friend in a lifetime, to keep them is a fortune.”-Baltasar Gracian. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men the importance of friendship plays a key role throughout the book. The main protagonists, Lennie and George have a mutual bond that keeps them together, no matter what happens to them. Lennie has made many decisions over the course of the book that have had…

Words 431 - Pages 2

Of Mice and Men essay

‘Of Mice and Men’ is a short novella written by John Steinbeck during the 1930’s Great Depression in America. This cataclysmic, tragic novella tells the story of two protagonist workers George Milton, A quick-witted man who is guardian and feels bounden duty to care for Lennie Small; a huge, lumbering, innocent and mentally handicapped with no ability to understand abstract concepts like death. His relationship with other characters on the ranch are therefore wrecked as our only lone female on the…

Words 1097 - Pages 5

Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

however, in Steinbeck's story "Of Mice and Men", he illustrates the loneliness of ranch life in the early 1930's and shows how people are driven to try and find friendship in order to run from the loneliness. Steinbeck creates a lonely and blue atmosphere at many times in the book. He uses different names and words such as the town near the ranch called "Soledad", which means loneliness, and the card game "Solitaire" Which means by one’s self. He also makes it clear that all the men on the ranch…

Words 1228 - Pages 5

Migrant Farm Workers

exposition of the itinerant laborer's lonely life of moving and working, Steinbeck counterposes the dream that George and Lennie share. As mentioned above, it is not just any dream, or even simply the dream of a better life” (Attell). As reflected in Of Mice and Men, farm hands had dreams of having a better life. The characters in the book’s dream, along with their real-life counterparts, are not merely a fleeting aspiration or a simple desire for material wealth, but a coping mechanism to justify their lonely…

Words 2655 - Pages 11