Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, explores the theme of loneliness through his characterisation. The novel is set during the 1930s in Soledad, California, highlighting its isolation and overwhelming sense of loneliness. Through the introduction, Steinbeck prepares readers for a novel saturated in loneliness. Virtually every character portrays different causes of loneliness. However, these causes are also observed in contemporary society and relate to personal experience.
Steinbeck explores loneliness through the characterisation of protagonists, George and Lennie. George is lonely because of his obligations and his duty of care towards Lennie. This is shown when George says:
“I could 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.” (Steinbeck, 2000, p.9)
George also states that, as he fantasises about the life he could have, he goes “nuts”. This portrays how strongly George feels obliged to care for Lennie. However, Lennie is lonely as no one can truly understand nor access his simple-mindedness. Steinbeck explores loneliness through Lennie by depicting how lonely Lennie would be without George, his caregiver. This is demonstrated through his outburst:
“‘George gonna come back’, Lennie reassured himself in a frightened voice” (Steinbeck, 2000, p.72)
It is evident that without George, Lennie would face eternal loneliness because George has been the only person who attempts to understand his mental incapacity. Steinbeck also reveals that authorities will “lock him up and strap him down and put him in a cage” (Steinbeck, 2000, p.96) because of his mental disability. Mental disability appears to be a characteristic that has always led to the stigmatization and exclusion of individuals. The stigmatization of mental disability has a number of consequences in contemporary society such as, the refusal to seek treatment, as individuals may feel ashamed, along with the inability to find suitable employment. Steinbeck explores loneliness through mental disability by conveying the fact that there is no place for people like Lennie, because the social stigma of mental disability will always be prevalent.
Steinbeck also explores how loneliness can surface in a marriage through Curley and especially, his wife. Curley is unhappy in his marriage because of his wife’s provocativeness which leads to his possessiveness regarding his wife. He is deemed a man who is “kind of like he is mad that he ain’t a big guy”. (Steinbeck, 2000, p.28) Steinbeck reveals loneliness in Curley through his superior status to the other ranchmen, meaning he is excluded from the group and is obviously resented because of his aggression. Loneliness is explored through Curley’s wife as she, too, is unhappy in her marriage. Steinbeck uses her lack of identity to demonstrate how possessive Curley is towards his wife. Her loneliness is evident when she says:
“You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley…How’d you like to talk to nobody?” (Steinbeck, 2000, p.85)
This depicts how confined and isolated Curley’s wife feels in her emotionally abusive marriage. Steinbeck uses her dialogue to convey how lonesome she is as she spends every opportunity of human interaction talking about herself. Through the characterisation of Curley and his wife, Steinbeck explores loneliness in an abusive and unhappy marriage. Many women similar to Curley’s wife may marry a man based on their fear of loneliness. The underlying cause of the fear of loneliness is ‘self-abandonment’. (Paul, 2011) Women who are in abusive relationships feel lonely as they cannot share a connection with their spouse. In fact, these women will feel lonelier in their marriages than if they were not married. Curley’s wife is a prime example of how confined and isolated women may feel in abusive relationships in contemporary society.
Steinbeck continues to explore loneliness through the eyes of an old man. Candy, a disabled elderly man, feels worthless because of his inability to manage manual work. Candy states:
“When they can me here … I won’t have no place to go,