Loneliness and Isolation in of Mice and Men
Loneliness In Of Mice And Men
‘Of mice and men’ is a tale of loneliness and hardship felt by the people living in America during the 1930 's. Written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937, it tells the heartbreaking story of two ranch workers during the depression; George Milton and Lennie Small. At the time America was very poor, with a shortage of jobs so people had to travel in search of new jobs. As many people were constantly moving, lasting friendships or relationships were hard to come across. People became scared to have friendships, scared of each other making them lonely and isolated. Most of the characters lived by ‘every man for himself’; only having to care for themselves, not having to worry about others and therefore making it easy to move on when need be.
However, George and Lennie are vastly different; they have each other, they have grown up together, they travel together, they’re best friends and they depend on each other. George and Lennie keep each other going. George depends on Lennie for physical protection, whereas Lennie needs George for mental protection; George is the thinker but Lennie’s the fighter. They rely on each other to balance things out. Lennie is George’s muscle; he is a huge man and as strong as bull. He helps him to get jobs on ranches, as he is a good worker. Also Lennie would rather die than see George hurt, so he would protect him with his life. While George is Lennie’s brains, as Lennie is mentally retarded so incapable of making any decision on his own, but George is quick witted and shrewd, so tries to stop Lennie from making accidental problems for himself, although when things do go wrong George is the one that has to clean up the mess.
When they first arrive at the ranch some of the characters are surprised or confused about the friendship, “Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is”. The ranch owner asks George this as he isn’t used to
‘Of mice and men’ is a tale of loneliness and hardship felt by the people living in America during the 1930 's. Written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937, it tells the heartbreaking story of two ranch workers during the depression; George Milton and Lennie Small. At the time America was very poor, with a shortage of jobs so people had to travel in search of new jobs. As many people were constantly moving, lasting friendships or relationships were hard to come across. People became scared to have friendships, scared of each other making them lonely and isolated. Most of the characters lived by ‘every man for himself’; only having to care for themselves, not having to worry about others and therefore making it easy to move on when need be.
However, George and Lennie are vastly different; they have each other, they have grown up together, they travel together, they’re best friends and they depend on each other. George and Lennie keep each other going. George depends on Lennie for physical protection, whereas Lennie needs George for mental protection; George is the thinker but Lennie’s the fighter. They rely on each other to balance things out. Lennie is George’s muscle; he is a huge man and as strong as bull. He helps him to get jobs on ranches, as he is a good worker. Also Lennie would rather die than see George hurt, so he would protect him with his life. While George is Lennie’s brains, as Lennie is mentally retarded so incapable of making any decision on his own, but George is quick witted and shrewd, so tries to stop Lennie from making accidental problems for himself, although when things do go wrong George is the one that has to clean up the mess.
When they first arrive at the ranch some of the characters are surprised or confused about the friendship, “Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is”. The ranch owner asks George this as he isn’t used to