Of Mice and Men - Loneliness

Of Mice and Men - Loneliness

  • Submitted By: arctic1234
  • Date Submitted: 11/10/2008 11:46 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 825
  • Page: 4
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OF MICE AND MEN

4) This novel is about loneliness. Discuss.

"To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than their own hearts in their closet..." -- Charles Caleb Colton.

No one would choose a friendless existence on condition of having a majority of all they desire in this world, and George did exactly that in the novel "Of Mice and Men". In the novel, George Milton, is a migrant worker who travels from farm to work during the Depression. George cares for Lennie, his childhood friend, who is mentally disabled, since the death of Lennie's Aunt Clara. The two dream of earning enough money to buy a small farm where Lennie can tend rabbits. By being Lennie's mental superiority, George takes on the more dominant role with Lennie acting as an overworked and over-tired parent. Despite the many problems that Lennie causes George, he stays with his simple-minded friend as a wall against loneliness and believes in hope that one day the two will leave the aimless life as migrant workers, and move onto a more normal life. "I ain't got no people. 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. . . 'Course Lennie's a God damn nuisance most of the time, but you get used to goin' around with a guy an' you can't get rid of him." - George.

Curley's wife is trapped in a marriage to a man that she despises. She is so overwhelmed by her loneliness, that she seeks friendship with other men which she is seen as a 'tart'. She confides in a friendship with Lennie for all the others fear Curley and will have nothing to do with her. "Think I don't like to talk to somebody ever' once in a while?" - Curley's Wife. Although Lennie is quite innocent, he is still capable of great violence, as he lacks the capacity to physically control himself. This resulted in the ending of...

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