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Profundo En El Crazy de la Soledad John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men exudes loneliness to such a degree that it nearly overwhelms the reader. The environment and the characters work together to inextricably pull the reader into this lonely world and never truly releases its melancholy A few miles south of Soledad... (Steinbeck, pg. 1) With this opening phrase Steinbeck prepares the reader for the ever constant feeling of loneliness which flows effortlessly through every chapter of the story. Soledad is Spanish for loneliness and all the characters in the story are already a few miles past Soledad. Steinbeck goes on in the opening pages to describe the emptiness of the glade wherein Lennie and George are introduced. This glade is also the final scene of the story where Lennie is killed and the reader is left alone as the characters walk away.
Crooks distracts himself from his loneliness with books. He also puts on a bit of a show how he doesnt want anything to do with any of the other workers because they dont want anything to do with him. When Lennie forces his way into Crooks room however, Crooks whines, Books aint no good. A guy needs somebody -- to be near him (80). And when it appears to Crooks that George, Lennie, and Candy might actually be able to get their own farm he jumps on the opportunity to change his lot in life (that of a lonely, segregated, Negro farmhand). He goes so far as to say, If you...
guys would want a hand to work for nothing -- just his keep, why, Id come an lend a hand (84). Hes willing to give up his monthly pay and work for food and lodging just to be able to speak to other people. Candy is a stereotypical lonely old man. He has his lonely old dog that is killed early on in the story which makes him an even more pathetic character.
On the very night he loses his dog he overhears George and Lennie discussing the plans for their dream-farm. Without hesitation he offers to put up more than half the money if only theyll take him with them. Hes even willing to make a will an leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, cause I aint got no relatives nor nothing (65). Hes not trying to generously assist two other guys in getting their own farm with this offer, hes attempting to buy two friends who will take care of him when hes too old to work. Curley deals with his loneliness a bit differently than the others. He seems ashamed of his loneliness.
Hes always coming around the bunkhouse with the excuse that hes searching for his wife when the farm is not so big that he could be losing track of his wife that often. He craves male companionship. He wants to be around the other guys doing guy things, but hes ashamed of this feeling and his shame manifests in the form of violent aggression. On pages 84 and 85 it is written that Curley was at the whorehouse with the other guys. His loneliness drives him to go out with the other guys even after they humiliated him and forced him to lie about how his hand was broken.
Curley's wife is the most obvious, straightforward, and vocal of all the lonely characters. Like Curley, her loneliness also drives her to seek the company of the men in the bunkhouse. Shes always showing up looking for her husband when she knows exactly where he is. The scene in Crooks quarters she voices her loneliness twice.
First she says, Think I don a like to talk to somebody ever once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time (85)? She goes on to talk about how the three of them (Crooks, Candy, and Lennie) are the losers of the bunch, but she enjoys talking to them despite that because they aint nobody else (86). Eventually the intensity of her loneliness and her inability to find decent company leads her to her own death. On the surface, Lennie doesnt seem to be lonely at all, but he fears loneliness (even if he cant comprehend quite what that fear is).
He has George to watch after him and at times it doesnt appear as if he even needs George. Give him a puppy, some rabbits, or even a dead mouse to pet and hes content. However when Crooks hints (on page 78) at the possibility of George not returning, Lennie becomes physically threatening at the very idea of being left alone. But George does return and Lennie need not deal with loneliness until perhaps after his death when he must make that journey George is the most lonely character of all.
The writer Ambrose Bierce in his book, The Devils Dictionary, defines alone as: In bad company (Bierce, pg. 7). George is in about as bad company as one can be. George is an intelligent human being without any equals with whom to converse. Lennie seems a decent enough fellow, but his inability to maintain a constant train of thought causes much of Georges loneliness. Plus, Lennie's ability to find trouble has made George a fugitive -- one of the loneliest stations in life.
At the end of the story George inadvertently dispels his loneliness by killing his charge. Then George and Slim walk together away from the other characters, away from the story, and away from the reader. Now imagine Steinbeck writing this novel. Picture him sitting -- alone -- in a room, his face lit up by a single lamp.
He sits at an oaken desk tap-tapping at his Remington typewriter, but suddenly he pauses... places his left hand upon his chin, and smiles mischievously to himself. He smiles because he is thinking of the reader sitting -- alone -- enjoying this lonely story. He ends his story by having the characters walk away from the reader, leaving the reader all the more alone. From the first word to the last word, Of Mice and Men is a story about loneliness.
The environment, the characters, the writer himself, and even the audience all play an important part in this ambiance. Even this paper was written alone. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Mice And Men Characters Walk Loneliness
