Loneliness is a basic part of human life. In his novel, Of Mice and
Men, John Steinbeck illustrates the loneliness of California ranch life
in the early 1930's and shows how people are driven to find
George and Lennie would truly be lonely if they did not have each
other. They consider each other family, even though they are so
different. To George, Lennie is like a pet or a little brother, because
George turns to him for friendship and someone to talk to. George's
frequently shares his philosophy about guys that work on ranches.
"Guys like us, that live on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the
world." He means that if not for each other, then they would be all
Curly's wife is lonely because of someone else, Curly. Everybody is
afraid to talk to her because Curly is extremely jealous and would
start a fight. She is always flirting with the workers, because she
does not like Curly and is looking for companionship. She even talks
to Crooks, Candy and Lennie in the barn, when nobody else would.
Then, when she spots Lennie in the barn alone, she tries to get him to
listen to her, even when he does not want to talk. She is obviously
very desperate if she wants to talk to someone as dumb as Lennie.
Candy also has his one friend in the world, his dog, whom he can not
even talk to him. However, when his dog dies, he has to look
elsewhere for friendship. He hopes that these friends can be George
and Lennie. He asks George if he can join them in their quest to own
a piece of land and live off it. Candy also needs to share his thoughts
with them. Candy is obviously lonely, because people then did not
travel together, and those that did grew up together.
The absence of character names in the novel shows how people do
not care about others, leading to loneliness. Even though Curly's
wife is mentioned frequently, nobody asks what her
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