English

UNIT 4

Loneliness of
Characters
in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men

By: Caterina Rende Dominis

Teacher: Sabina Kastelančić

19th February 2011

Loneliness in this novella is very accentuated. It is one of the most important and
hardest problems in the whole story. The feeling of loneliness is making the
characters of the book almost go mad.

The whole story happens in the valley of Soledad, in the USA during the Great
Depression. The name of the valley is stated at the beginning of the book. With
that Steinbeck wanted to really introduce us from the beginning with the real
antagonist of the whole novella, which is of course loneliness, or in Spanish
“Soledad”- the name of the valley where the ranch is situated.

The main characters of the novella are George and Lennie. They are two “best
friends” who travel together and take care of each other. They’re the exact
opposite in everything, which is also showing that loneliness is such a great
enemy in the process of survival that having as a companion someone that isn’t
so compatible is not a big deal.

There are five characters that I’d like to describe and to comment on their
loneliness: Candy, Curley’s wife, Slim, Crooks and George.

Candy is an old swamper. He is the first person that we encounter at the ranch.
He lost his arm in an accident while working. His only real “friend” at the farm is
his old dog who was later shot by Carlson for he was already old and useless. The
old dog actually symbolizes the swamper. They are both old, not capable of
working properly and at the end of their strengths. Candy’s biggest
preoccupation is the fact that he might die in some place in the middle of
nowhere, alone! That’s why he decided to give all his savings to Lennie and
George so they could by a little farm with a bit of land, where they would have
their own harvest. That way, Candy’s fears would be tranquilized and he would
be in the company of two people he doesn’t dislike. His words were: " `S'pose I
went in with you guys. That's three hundred and fifty bucks I'd put in… How'd
that be? " Unfortunately we know it didn’t happen in the story and had no chance
to happen after Lennie’s death.

Curley’s wife and Crooks were probably the loneliest and most discriminated in
the whole novella. Curley’s wife was the only woman at the ranch. She was the
boss’s daughter in law and no one wanted to get in trouble with her. If Curley,
her husband, would find her with a man alone, maybe even just talking, he would
immediately put those men in trouble. Her destiny was a lonely and miserable
life in her house, at Curley’s service. One thing I noticed was that her name
wasn’t ever mentioned in the novella. I think it accentuates how ignored and
discriminated the girl really was, which lead to loneliness. At her end, while she’s
lying dead Steinbeck seems to give us the message that death actually relieved
Curley’s wife from loneliness. His words are: "...the meanness and the plannings
of the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face."

Crooks is the character that is most emphasized in the book as lonely. He’s
discriminated, like Curley’s wife, only not because of his sex, but because of his
skin color and race. He’s excluded from the bunkhouse where all the other
workers hang out and sleep, so the only thing that keeps him company are books.
But that doesn’t really satisfy him that much. We can see it by this quote: “Books
ain't no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't
got nobody.”

Slim is the character that fascinates me most in the novella. Sure, he’s lonely with
no one to talk to about what’s troubling him, but he seems not to care about it
and to successfully put it somewhere deep down where it can’t come up ever
again. I really do admire this kind of people. Being able to be so wise, content,
capable and positive at the same time, in times like the Great Depression is
something that needs strength and a strong character.

George is one of the two main characters in the novel. He’s a very capable and
smart guy, but still he finds himself wrapped in various problems.
At the beginning of the novella he is nothing but lonely. He has Lennie who keeps
him busy enough not to think of how loneliness can really be. At the end when he
loses Lennie he finds himself in the position of all the other guys at the ranch. He
too has to battle the feelings that hurt most: loneliness and loss!