Loneliness In Of Mice And Men Essay -- English Literature

Loneliness In Of Mice And MenJohn Steinbecks Of Mice & Men Loneliness==========================================Loneliness is a state of being alone in sadness, resulting from beingisolated or abandoned. As I understand it, aloneness is when a personhas no one to talk to, no one to swear in, nor anyone to keepcompanionship with. Loneliness also makes a person slip into adesolate state, which they try to conceal under a tough image, and isan sense even the strongest cannot avoid. In his novel, Of Mice andMen, John Steinbeck deals with loneliness by looking for comfort in afriend, but settling for the attentive ear of a stranger. Althoughthey come along at ease and friendly on the surface, a deep sense ofloneliness lingers in the hearts of Crooks, George, and Curleys wife,to which they are desperate to find an escape from to spot with theirseclusion from the rest of society.Crooks, a hold outly, sharp-witted, black stablehand, who takes his namefrom his crooked back, leads a lonel y life. He lives according to therule that no black man is allowed to submit a white mans home. Crooksloneliness is a result of rejection from everyone else on the ranch.He is forced to live alone in a barn, where he lives his life inisolation because of his colour, which was an issue in those days.When Lennie visits him in the room, Crooks reactions reveal the factthat he is lonely. As a black man with a physical handicap, Crooks isforced to live on the border of ranch life. He is not even allowed toenter the white mens bunkhouse, or join them in a game of cards. His impudence typically comes out through his bitter, sad, and touchingvulnerability, as he tells Lennie A guy needs somebody to be nea... ...ch seems to disappear when narrating the story of thefarm to Lennie. Curleys wifes loneliness is covered behind the maskof a portrayed prostitute, but the mask falls off during herconversations with strangers, including Lennie. I think JohnSteinbecks message about loneliness and pe oples attempts to overcomeloneliness in the novel is to reveal to us the nature of humans trueexistence. One cannot escape from being lonely, and the charactersattempts to overcome their loneliness is to seek the liking andcomfort of a friend, but settle for the attentive ear of a stranger. Ifeel that Steinbeck is not completely successful in delivering hismessage across because for a full realization, one has to dig deepinto the story, as well as place themselves in the shoes of acharacter to emphasize with, as well as relate to them and perceivetheir misery.