The novel "Of Mice and Men" was an influential tragedy based on the lives of two different persons dependent upon each other. It boasts the ever so stimulating topic of loneliness throughout the whole novel. George and Lennie have each other but are still portrayed as lonely, wandering individuals with no real purpose in life. Candy is an old, handicapped man who has lost his hand. His only true companion in life was his old, but once great, dog that is blind and is overtaken with arthritis and rheumatism. Crooks, the crooked back "nigger" who is the stablehand has no real purpose in life. Curley punishes him for what others have done, and it seems as if Crooks has built a thick shell around himself to keep from pain. Curley's wife, which has no name or is never mentioned throughout the novel, is almost the loneliest of them all.
Lennie James
Of Mice and Men
The Flood (Of Mice & Men album)She yearns for attention, and regrets her marriage to Curley. All of these figures suffer from some sort of loneliness.
George and Lennie wonder from place to place looking for work, and every time Lennie causes events that force them to run from trouble no matter where they go. George is often seen playing solitaire to pass the time, which stands as a representation of his loneliness. George never asks Lennie to play, for his mind is incapable of handling such a mental task. George's games of solitaire also signify his need to be alone, without Lennie, and sort of foreshadows what was to come at the end of the novel, Lennie's death.
All that Candy had in life was his poor old dog. But even that was taken away from him. His only hope for escape from obscurity is the little farm that he, George, and Lennie had envisioned on buying. But that hope is also shot down when Lennie kills Curley's wife. Candy seems as if he just wanders about life with no purpose. After Lennie killed Curley's wife, Candy seemed hopeless and full of anguish.
Two individuals seem to suffer from loneliness and hatred caused by Curley. Crooks suffers just from the fact of being an African-American on a western white man's ranch. He has a crook in his back, hence the name Crooks. Curley takes out all of his anger on Crooks, beating him and calling him obscenities. Curley's wife was evidently not even worthy of a name. She longs for any type of attention, someone to talk to, a companion. She is the only woman on the ranch and really has no one to turn to. She lost her dream of becoming an actress when she was married to Curley, and she has to live with the regret of that also. When she turns to Lennie for companionship, she loses her life. All the deaths that Lennie has caused, the mice, the puppy, all of them seem to foreshadow something of greater magnitude. They all lead up to the death of Curley's wife.
Loneliness is clearly one of the upstanding themes of the novel "Of Mice and Men". George and Lennie have loneliness, even though they are with each other. Candy only had his old, but once great dog. Crooks and Curley's wife suffer from loneliness and a sense of being. They seem as if their lives serve no purpose. So I fell that loneliness stood out as one of the main themes of the novel "Of Mice and Men".
Of Mice & Men (album)
Of Mice and Men (1939 film)
Home Media Server Mods - Lennie Moore & Jim Wiggin...
Lennie James
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Of Mice and Men