Controlled Assessment 3
Of Mice And Men- How Does Steinbeck Show Loneliness In ‘Of Mice And Men’
John Steinbeck shows loneliness in ‘of Mice and Men’ because in 1929, there was an event called the Great Depression which was set in America, when the dollars lost its value. Many people lost their jobs and people were unemployed.
In addition to this, Farm workers had to travel around the country combing the countryside for a job. People were not able to make steady friends/no jobs were safe. Also, coloured people were treated badly and unfairly because in the early times, they were either killed, for example; hung or made them do slavery where they had to labour for nothing.
George is a sympathetic, companionable and a very supportive man who had promised Lennie’s aunt Clara that he would look after Lennie before she died.
George’s loneliness is quite apparent because he cannot get a girlfriend. Another reason is that George gets quite angry at Lennie but he doesn’t tell him that because Lennie will never comprehend, for example; George always loses his job because Lennie always conducts himself by doing bad things e.g.-when Lennie had seen this girl wearing a red dress, he touched it and wouldn’t let go because it was so velvety- Lennie loves soft things, but eventually, the girl started screaming and ran away from him, but of course Lennie had been accused of rape. Lennie and George left Weed and went to find a job in Soledad.
George is forced to move from town to town to protect Lennie but he never gets a chance to make good friends.
Also, George says ‘Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world, they have got no family and they don’t belong no place.’ This shows that George cannot live his life, George had killed Lennie because he did not want Lennie to have a slow and painful death.
Lennie is a disabled and unsophisticated towering man