‘Of Mice and Men’ †Are all the characters in this novel lonely? Essay

‘Of Mice and Men’ is set in California during the mid 1930s. Before 1930 people in California used to live together happily as families and used to lead a relatively normal life, however in 1929 the collapse of the New York stock market meant that one and a half million people became unemployed rising to three million by 1930 – this was called the ‘Wall Street Crash’. This depression made caused families to break up as many people (mainly men) to go elsewhere to find work and earn a living. Consequently there was a breakdown in American society. Steinbeck worked briefly as a ranch worker himself and most of his early books, including ‘Of Mice and Men’, were concerned with social issues of the day. Steinbeck was a realist and in his novels he presents the poor and disadvantaged sympathetically. His work made him unpopular with exploitative employers and landowners whom he held responsible for perpetuating the cycle of poverty and deprivation created by the ‘Depression’. The novel was very successful in explaining the needs of people who are lonely and maybe have no friends or family. It also looks at the need to have a friend or dream to support you through life. The different relationships and characters in the novel represent loneliness and realism with nearly every person holding a dream. The first couple we come across in this novel is George and Lennie; these two friends travel together and are very close, they have each other. Lennie is mentally handicapped and relies very much on George to make decisions for him. George however is stronger mentally and has a lot of power over Lennie although he relies on Lennie to keep him company and safe. â€Å"They had walked in single file down the path, and even in the open one stayed behind the other†, this quotation represents the power within their relationship; George is the leader and has psychological control over Lennie. Their friendship is like a father and son relationship, George dominates Lennie and sometimes teaches him a lesson â€Å"You never oughta drink water when it ain’t running, Lennie†, but is still always nice to him â€Å"Good boy†. George grows close to Lennie despite the trouble Lennie’s innocence and strength brings on them both. George is Lennies defender-protecting him from others and himself. Ironically in the first chapter George explains that he could â€Å"get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl†, he describes the stress and annoyance of having to look after Lennie. Ironically George explains he wants this but when he is forced to shoot Lennie in the final chapter he becomes lonely. George shoots Lennie when they are at their closest time yet, he describes to Lennie their dream that he loves to hear; the dream comforts Lennie like a bedtime story. This dream eventually dies with Lennie and is the biggest sacrifice George has to make – killing his own company and the person he loves most. This shows John Steinbeck’s realistic approach to this novel; people’s lives don’t always live happily ever after and many dreams don’t always become a reality, especially not in the 1930s. Candy is an old disabled â€Å"swamper† on the ranch. He lost his right hand in a farm accident and now is reduced to worst job on the ranch; a cleaner. He has lost control of his life and is devoted to his dog. His dog is his only friend and when this dog dies we see he is human with emotions, and these people are worthy of respect. When Candy’s ancient, ill dog was shot, Candy has nothing left. He delayed killing the dog, even though he knew deep down that it was the best thing, as he dreaded losing his long-time companion. Candy after having nothing in life to live for, decides to join George and Lennie in their dream, his funds would make the dream possible. Candy and his dog’s relationship is parallel to the one with George and Lennie’s; George relies on Lennie, Lennie relies on George and Candy and his dog rely on each other too. Their relationship also foreshadows George and Lennie’s – Candy regrets not shooting his dog himself, â€Å"I ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog†, this is foreshadowing the end of the novel where George knows he had to shoot Lennie. They both lost their loved ones. Curley (the boss’s son) and his wife do not get on very well; Curley only has a wife for power and for him to look successful in life. Curley’s wife is married to a man she doesn’t love and who doesn’t love her. She has very little respect of Curley â€Å"I’d like to bust him up myself†, and only marries him to get back at her mother for not letting her fulfil her dream to become a movie star which someone had promised her in the past â€Å"An’ a guy tol’ me he could put me in pitchers†¦..Says I was a natural†. As soon as the reader meets Curley’s wife they get a very bad impression of her, â€Å"†¦the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off†, this is both literal and metaphorical foreshadowing; she is cutting off the light in the door so all of the men look up to her, it is metaphorical foreshadowing giving the impression that she is trouble. This means that throughout the novel she is disliked by the reader causing her to be even lonelier. By marrying Curley she has become very isolated becoming the only woman on the ranch; she turns to outsiders for attention and tries to befriend the men by hanging round the bunkhouse. Curley’s wife is just like Lennie, Crooks and Candy as they have been left behind on a Saturday night- the rejects on the ranch. Curley’s wife has no friends and even admits to being lonely seeing that she is not really looking for Curley; she just wants to talk with someone â€Å"Think I don’t know where they all went? Even Curley. I know where they all went.† But although being forlorn she still has a lot of power over the other ranch workers being the boss’ son’s wife, we see this power when she reminds Crooks of how much authority she has over him â€Å"I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny†; she exercises her power threatening Crooks with death. Like Candy, being a social outcast, Crooks is the loneliest person on the ranch. Crooks lives in enforced solitude, away from the other men. He is bitter about being a back-busted â€Å"nigger†. He is racially discriminated against being referred to as a â€Å"nigger†; people also have no respect for him because of him being black and consequently lives in the barn by himself. He cannot get away from this prejudice as not other ranch would take him for the reason that he is black, crippled and old. Steinbeck describes his barn (the place where he lives and spends most of his time): â€Å"for being alone, Crooks could leave his things about†. Crooks is extremely lonely, all he has is books and his rights; he believes that every human being should have his rights whichever race they may be. When Lennie joins Crooks in this barn, Crooks starts to tease him, this is the only time he has power over someone and is in control. He can make Lennie afraid as he does not understand, Crooks makes Lennie feel like he does now even though Lennie has done nothing wrong â€Å"S’pose you didn’t have nobody†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦S’pose George don’t come back no more† Lennie is terrified of being alone and is helpless without George. Crooks is very twisted due to his loneliness; â€Å"Books ain’t no good. A guy needs somebody – to be near him†¦A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody†, but is very pleased when Lennie and Candy join him in his barn â€Å"It was difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger†. All through the novel Crooks has a dream of being seen as equal to everyone else. He knows his civil rights and remembers fondly his childhood, when he played with white children who came to his family’s chicken ranch. Crooks longs for a similar relationship with white people again. He dismisses the fact that George, Lennie’s and Candy’s dream will come true â€Å"I see hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches with bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads. Hundreds of them†¦nobody never gets no land. It’s just in their head.’ But when Candy explains that they’ve got the money ready and that they are very enthusiastic about achieving this dream then Crooks gets interested â€Å"If you†¦.guys would want a hand to work for nothing-just his keep, why I’d come an’ lend a hand.† A new friendship is just about to develop but Curley’s wife then enters and diverts all attention to her, putting an end to Crooks’ new friendship and dream. John Steinbeck is a realist and illustrates his views in the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’. The different character’s lifestyles and personalities in this novel represent what existence was like in the 1930s after the Wall Street Crash. Steinbeck supported social justice and equality for the working classes and so uses realism in his writing. He shows ordinary, everyday details, and makes characters speak and behave as they might do in real life. We see this particularly in how his characters are revealed through dialogue â€Å"She had full, rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her finger-nails were red. Her hair hung up in little rolled clusters, like sausages†. In his use of realism he portrays a sense of fate; whatever the characters do they are at the mercy of outside influences beyond their control, so attempts to improve their lives will fail. We see this use of realism in George and Lennie’s dream; the couple have done nothing wrong but the injustice of outside causes prevents them from holding on to this dream. Not all the characters are throughout this novel but all of them come about to be lonely at the end; George and Lennie have each other with the dream of starting a new life in a little cottage of their own, we only know till the very end that this dream can no longer take place with the loss of Lennie and therefore causing George to be lonely. Curley and his wife have each other even though not really speaking to each other much, Curely’s wife could be considered lonely as the reader never sees her with Curley but always hanging around looking to talk to someone. Candy did have his dog to rely on and to trust but when he died then he soon found himself becoming lonely and looking to others for attention and Crooks was also lonely throughout the novel being racially discriminated against by all other ranch workers; he was an outsider. Characters on the ranch in this novel are lonely and hold a dream to keep themselves calm and for something to hold onto, seeing that they have no friends they need to look to something to keep them happy and sane. Steinbeck worked on a ranch within the 1930s and must have seen how ranch workers behaved and how lonely they can feel. He has been in a position of a ranch worker and has expressed his feeling of loneliness and dream worthy within this novel, his realism has caused nearly all characters to be lonely at the end of the novel.