Explore the theme of loneliness in Mice and men Essay

Explore the theme of loneliness in Mice and manpower, how does Steinbeck show the loneliness of an itinerant lifestyle through three particular characters.many of the characters in mice and men are lonely and this motivates them to look for an alternative way of life. This is one of the reasons why they are drifters. They are continually searching often with turn up intimate what they are really looking for. Characters are also lonely because of something within themselves. Different characters limitk comfort in different things, for Candy this is his dog, for George and Lenny its apiece other I want you to stay with me Lenny, for Crooks its his pride and skill at pitching horseshoes. These small comforts are the only things that keep these men going. They have no family to feed so the only real motivation they have to work is to keep themselves alive.Right from the beginning of the book Steinbeck emphasizes the loneliness of George and Lenny by putting clean two men in such a b ig and empty space On one side of the river the golden foot-hill slopes wind up up to the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains. Steinbeck uses lexical choice like Strong and rocky to make the description more cinematographic so that you can actually see these two small mean compared to their mountainous surroundings. These two men have travelled together for all of their lives. They were friends as children but now George has had to take a more parental role over Lenny. You know damn well what Lenny, now hand over that mouse. The use of the word damn makes George sound a good deal more authoritative.Lenny being mentally disabled is probably a lot less lonely in his mind compared to the other characters in the novel as his brain seems to be more child like and he is easily occupied Id just love to pet those rabbits George. The primary(prenominal) stopping point in Lennys life is to have his own rabbits. In a way this would be his way of becoming less lonely as he could be an author ity figure over them rather than foreveryone else telling him what to do.George is Lennys best friend and mentor. He is the closest thing to family that Lenny has got from what we can tell in the book and although he gets angry some measures and talks about how he could do so much better without Lenny, When I think of the swell time I could have without you, I go nuts, I never get no peace., he knows deep down that without Lenny he wouldnt be the alike(p) No look I was jus foolin, Lenny cause I want you to stay with me. When Lenny threatens George that he will actually leave George realises the loneliness that they would both face if Lenny carried out the threat and told Lenny to stay.Crooks is the stable-buck on the ranch. Although most of the men are lonely none of them are outcasts. This is an advantage which Crooks doesnt carry. He is a Negro and in the 1930s racial discrimination was an every day practise where the hell is that god damned nigger? Writing about coloured peop le in this context of use in those days wasnt a problem and people wouldnt think twice about using words such as nigger or Negro to a black persons face. Crooks has no friends, he just sits in his own little room in the stables and he had books too a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905.Reading these books has made Crooks intelligent and being so bitter this intelligence makes him artful at times. For example he teases Lenny about George not returning from town Spose George dont come back no more, Spose he just took a powder and just aint coming back. He knows that Lenny is easily fooled and teasing him is a way of gaining a higher social status as he has someone to ridicule. Crooks has no woman in his life and the book doesnt mention that he ever has. The only time Crooks isnt lonely is when the men play the horseshoe tossing game. Crooks in this unique social activity is aloud to take part and choke up that he is a social pariah Outside ca me the clang of horse-shoes on the playing peg as Crooks scored top pointsIn conclusion one of the novels main themes is loneliness. There isnt one character in the whole story who doesnt feel lonely. All the men move to a ranch and just as they make good friends it becomes time to move in to the next ranch and start again. For Crooks he will most likely stay in the same place for all his working life living alone until such time he becomes useless and then he will be thrown out into a world that has no place for him. By the end of the novel the only two people who escape this life coarse loneliness seem to be Lenny and Curlies wife.