ktmeng/mec huggingface dataset:
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Together they both hold the aspiration of attaining the ‘American dream’ common to many men at the time to have a piece of their own land. This dream is what fuels both Lennie and George to go on. Lennie is set on ‘tending rabbits’ while George could have more freedom in general. Steinbeck places importance on these two and dream, while we believe they will be successful as the story develops. ‘With us it ain’t like that. We got a future.’ Steinbeck reveals a timeless definition of friendship. Someone who listens and that cares for you. They are reliant upon each other, as even though George conducts the ‘dream’ speech, Lennie has also memorised this dream, maybe in hope it will bring them closer to it.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Their friendship is natural, for George it had always been a promise to care for Lennie, but they simply bonded over time. George even admits this ‘got kinda used to each other after a little while.’ He doesn’t describe it in abstract terms nor does he give any justifications. It is this simple statement that proves the relationship to a natural course. But we can still agree this is remarkable for them to be so close, in such a world where men do not do this.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The tragedy of Lennie dying highlights the importance of the relationship. George who shot him in an act of compassion showed mercy and care. The tension Steinbeck builds in the last chapter, shows how distraught and vulnerable George become and relieving Lennie of torture and pain to come. ‘George shivered and looked at the gun’ as the tough façade of George breaks we see his emotions and his contemplative actions which suggest he had valued the relationship, also springing to mind the fact that their dream is destroyed and will never be achieved. This is really the climax of the relationship where Steinbeck reveals feelings in the relationship.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Steinbeck uses the thoughts and curiosity of other characters such as Slim and the bitter, avenging side of Curley to portray the relationship between Lennie and George. The support George had given Lennie from the time he was in a fight with Curley to when he kills his wife, shows the dynamics and security of the relationship. George would always look out for Lennie, as Lennie would always be protective over George. Their relationship is pivotal and underlines the main theme of friendship in the novel, which led to Steinbeck focusing so much on the friendship of the two men. The readers are aware from the beginning that this relationship is powerful and meaningful although this is not always depicted.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The word foreshadow is a literary term used to describe how the author discreetly gives clues to the reader of the events later to occur. The touching realistic fiction novelette Of Mice and Men is written by John Steinbeck. George and Lennie, two men who have become close friends over time, travel together to a ranch to pursue their dream as a team. George is considered to be Lennie’s caretaker, for Lennie is mentally challenged. Throughout the novelette Of Mice and Men, foreshadowing takes a considerable role in the most important chapters of George and Lennie’s journey together.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

In the beginning, when George and Lennie are at the river, George tells Lennie to return to that exact location to silently hide in the brush and wait for him if he gets in any trouble. Lennie has done bad things in the past, and George wants to make sure that Lennie has somewhere to go that’s out of harm’s way. “ ‘Lennie – if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush’ ” (15).
Topic: of-mice-and-men

In the past, Lennie has gotten into trouble while working on a ranch, and both George and Lennie didn’t have anywhere to go. George knows that Lennie is bound to have history repeat itself, and make the same mistakes, so he tells Lennie to remember where the river is located. George’s action foreshadows that later on, Lennie will have to return to the river. George makes sure that he can get Lennie away from any danger that can harm him, but would also know where he’d be.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

As the story progresses, Candy tells George that he should have shot his dog himself instead of a stranger, because he knew the dog the best and his moment of lacking authority allowed him to regret his decision. Candy has had his dog since it was just a puppy, so he has a strong connection with his dog. Carlson thinks the dog is smelly, ancient, and becoming more and more useless everyday, so he convinces Candy to allow him to shoot his dog. “ ‘I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t have ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog’ ” (61). When Candy confides in George, he admits that he is in the wrong when he decides to allow a complete stranger kill his dog instead of doing it himself. Candy, wanting to have shot his dog himself, foreshadows how George will feel about how Lennie will be disciplined. Although Candy didn’t have the strength to kill his own dog, George realizes that he’s strong enough to discipline Lennie in a fair and painless way.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Lastly, when Lennie is hiding in the brush at the river, a water snake is killed by a motionless heron off in the distance. The water snake was gliding on the river and is unaware of the heron that was standing still awaiting its arrival. “ A water snake glided smoothly up the pool . . . and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallows. A silent head and beak glanced down and plucked it out by the head . . .” (99). The snake was gracefully moving across the water, and swims to its death, negligent of its future. When Lennie is killed, he is looking at the scenery of the mountains and at the river imaging his and George’s dream, completely unaware of George, standing behind him with a gun. In the end, both Lennie and the snake met their fate of death.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Overall, Steinbeck’s usage of foreshadow is applied to show how life’s events are clues to the future. George wants to protect Lennie, but he also wants to make sure that Lennie has a safe place to run to. Candy fails to accomplish a difficult task and helps George to identify if he’ll have the strength to do what is right or not. Death meets Lennie and the snake face to face unexpectedly. In life, has the reader ever looked at a painting and thought, “What did every brush stroke accomplish?” The creator of a work of art wants the viewer to see their artwork as a whole, but to view the specifics that created the image as desired. Each brush stroke accomplishes forcing mankind to experience various emotions, memories, inspirations, and an understanding of the meaning the piece was supposed to contain. A single brushstroke can foretell what the future may hold, although it’s not always distinct.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Solitude is the feeling of seclusion – Steinbeck accomplishes this theme by portraying efficiently through essential fictional characters in ‘Of Mice and Men’. By living in the town of ‘Soledad’ (Spanish for solitude), the audience gets a frustrating sense of the dismal environment that the migrant workers are enduring by their recurring way of life and the repercussions they face through the Great Depression (1930’s– 1940’s) and the Dustbowl. Even through tough work and success the American dream is unattainable. The 4 loneliest personalities in this novel are Curley’s other half, Crooks, Sweet and George + Lennie.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

He is also housed with the animals treating him like he is one of them. This is shown by Steinbeck’s language of setting as Crooks lives in a ‘little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn’ to suggest that he is weak to survive worldwide. He also has actually ‘a trampled copy of the California civil code for 1905′ which conveys that regardless of Crooks being inspired and strong to attaining a flourishing life, his life will never be the very same.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Although Steinbeck shows that loneliness has made Crooks bitter by putting Candy and Lennie in the same position as he is making Lennie think if ’s’pose you don’t have nobody’ As well as this, his race makes him more vulnerable and exposed to others easily. “S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk house and play rummy ’cause you was black. How’d you like that? S’pose you had to sit out here an’ read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain’t no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick”. Steinbeck says this to show us that race was the main reason why Crooks was lonely and isolated and that he would work for nothing, as long as he could communicate with others.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Curley’s wife is lonely in many ways. She is flirtatious with many of the men on the ranch because she feels trapped in a world of men and a marriage which lacks love and companionship. She was born lonely and women were considered as disability in 1930’s America, which is harsh but Steinbeck shows this very effectively. Curley’s wife`s appearance may make her as an extremely attractive person, having ‘full rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes’ and her American dream makes her all the more vulnerable to her loneliness. “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while? ”Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely” shows us that she would like to talk to someone once in a while and is really lonely in this ranch world where there is no one to support her. What makes her more exposed is the constant red imagery used in her appearance which not only represents a desire for romance in her life (which is failed by Curley for her loneliness has made her disappointingly upset) but also a sign of warning and danger in her life.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Not only this, but Curley’s wife is vulnerable because she has no name which in a sense suggests that she has no strong identity on the ranch and is treated as a social accessory. So similarly to Crooks, her loneliness has made her bitter and more masculine which is shown towards the end of Chapter four and is now treated as ‘ma’am’ by Crooks. Candy is a prime representation of isolation and loneliness. Firstly, it seems his disability has brought him down by the ranchmen because he lost his right hand which shows that he isn’t practical in the ranch. He’s the oldest on the ranch by being a ‘tall, stoop-shouldered old man’ and having the most experience on the ranch. Yet it seems that the depression has hit on the shoulders for his look on life has been brought down knowing it seems that age and disability has made him vulnerable against the harsh reality of isolation in 1930’s America. Secondly, he lost his only trusted companionship because of old age and decay so now he’s really vulnerable and thinks that he is going to die soon as well because of his old age- “You seen what they done to my dog tonight?
Topic: of-mice-and-men

They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me…” “And they give me two hundred and fifty dollars ’cause I lost my hand. An’ I got fifty more saved up right in the bank right now. That’s three hundred…” He is easily willing to give every penny that he is worth to join in George and Lennie’s dream and break his intense loneliness in his life and leave behind his isolated painful ranch life. Contrasting with all these characters, George + Lennie are a strong companionship coming into the ranch with high expectations.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

However George feels like he has a burden on his shoulders and has to take care of someone who doesn’t have the same mental ability like him. So, for him it feels like a job rather than a partner or a friend that will give him courage and hope in the future. His dream about his farm is his attempt to breaking the loneliness in his world. “Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong to no place”, “I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone” by these two quotes Steinbeck suggests that the ranch itself is a lonely place and with that the characters are lonely themselves which builds up the isolation.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Furthermore Lennie’s desire to pet soft things comes from his need to feel safe and secure, to touch something that gives him that feeling of not being alone in the world. For Lennie, the dream of the farm parallels that security. Lennie is not alone, he knows that he has George to take care of him and says that George would never leave him no matter what. He is not as lonely as other characters but is still afraid and sacred of this world which he can’t cope with. Even though George and Lennie are always together they are still lonely because George is like a care taker and for Lennie, George is like a boss and a person to take orders from rather than a companion.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Overall, George + Lennie, Curley’s Wife, Crooks and Candy are affected by the harsh reality of loneliness which Steinbeck presents emotionally through setting and their own disabilities in 1930’s America- whether it’s racism, sexism or not able to perform practical skills. Even with their American Dream, Steinbeck shows that this only makes them the more vulnerable against the wide world ahead of them within a lonely town known as ‘Soledad’. We see this isolation come altogether in Chapter 4 when the ranch hands go into town on Saturday night to ease their loneliness with alcohol and women. Similarly, Lennie and Candy go into Crook’s room to find someone to talk to, and later Curley’s wife comes for the same reason – Loneliness.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Curley is the son of the ranch boss. He is portrayed as a small, semi-privileged man with a very short temper and something of an inferiority complex. He is always itching for a scuffle and is constantly seeking the opportunity to prove himself on the ranch among other bigger, “better” men. From the moment we are introduced to Curley we discover this, due to the way in which he acts when he meets George and Lennie, “His eyes passed over the new men and he stopped.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

He glanced coldly at George and then at Lennie. His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists. He stiffened and went into a slight crouch. ” This illustrates that he is not mentally secure about himself, and quickly goes into a poised posture as if he is willing to lash out on the two new men to prove his manliness and authority. After a deliberately elongated stare down, Curley speaks but in short menacing sentences.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

“You the new guys the old man was waitin’ for? And when George is the only one to reply he quickly retorts in a provocative manner “Let the big guy talk” Once again this justifies the fact that Curley is insecure and is always trying to prove himself as the alpha male on the ranch, so he tries doing so by badmouthing Lennie as he feels that by doing so he will be regarded as strong, manly and valiant. When Lennie refuses to speak the situation hastily increase due to Curley’s short temper.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Unlike most other characters in the story Curley is probably the only one that does not develop much over the course of the book but he stands out as a character with whom the author simply does not sympathize. While everyone else is struggling, Curley’s busy picking fights and trying to throw his weight around his dad’s ranch. He seems outside of the economic struggle and even the personal struggle of the Depression. Curley’s the kind of jerk you need in contrast to the other characters, so he maintains this “bad” reputation with the reader from the beginning right to the end.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The next encounter with Curley is in chapter 3 when all the men are in the bunkhouse. Curley is clearly frustrated and agitated by the fact that he can’t find his wife, a sign of weakness and lack of authority, and when he is told that Slim is at the barn he rushes out and starts interrogating him but when Slim shows that he is in control, Curley’s fake ego is quickly shattered and it is obvious that he is quickly forced back into his place. “Well, I didn’t mean nothing, Slim. I just ast you. ”
Topic: of-mice-and-men

But Curley being the short fused jerk hat he is could not just leave it there and in a matter of seconds he is all up on Lennie punching him in the face. He did this because he evidently lost the argument with Slim and knowing Lennie’s friendly, unaggressive nature finds him the best solution to blow of some steam, as well as prove his dominance by overpowering a huge, defenseless man. But once Lennie retaliates and breaks Curley’s puny hand he finally realizes that he has lost twice and he should just leave it there. Our final encounter with Curley is when his wife is killed by Lennie.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

It is apparent that he does not care about the death of his wife and is simply too absorbed into his own world were only he and his reputation matter. “Curley- maybe you better stay here with your wife” “I’m goin, I’m gonna shoot the guts out of the big bastard myself” This shows that the death of his wife is not very significant, but gaining fame and revenge by shooting the man that killed her would seem far more favorable, it would certainly be more manly than staying back and weeping over a dead female.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

filled with straw’. This quote shows how he is presented as an animal because black people at that time, were treated as slaves. Not only does Steinbeck give him a life and a voice, but he tries to show Crook’s life in the book with how black people were treated in real life. Steinbeck also tries not to represent Crooks as ‘just a slave’. Steinbeck tries to defend Crooks by writing about how he stood up for his rights against Curley’s wife when she entered his private space, “I had enough (… you got no rights comin’ in a coloured man’s room.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

You got no rights messing around in here at all. ” This quote shows how Curley’s wife tries to use her superior social status against Crooks as well as dehumanising him. Another quote shows how not only does he care about himself and how he treats himself, but he also cares for the horses and the other animals in the barn. “Crooks has his apple box over his bunk, and in it a range of medicine bottles, both for himself and for the horses”.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

It also shows that he is well organised and that he cares for the animals like he cares for himself. He also takes pride in what he does. Another quote shows how even though he knows he has rights, they are still worth nothing, “And he had books too; a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California Civil Code for 1900’s”. This quote also shows that he is worried about his education and that he is intelligent even though others on the ranch thought that black people aren’t clever. The books must have been used a lot and so he knows the rights that he should have.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Therefore, Crooks is presented as a dignified human being despite the fact that he is disregarded and mistreated by others on the ranch. Although Crooks is a dignified human being, Steinbeck also presents him as a cruel and unpleasant man at times. This is shown most obviously when Lennie attempts to make friends with him in part four of the novel. At first, when Lennie tries to enter his room, Crooks says, “you got no rights to come in my room. This here’s my room”, and he becomes very defensive. The fact that he repeats the phrase ‘my room’ shows he is feeling vulnerable.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

His room is the only place where he can have some privacy and have a sense of safety and this is important to Crooks because he doesn’t have much and is frequently abused by those around him. Steinbeck also writes, ‘Crooks said sharply’ and the word ‘sharply’ supports this idea because it shows it is an immediate reaction to the intrusion. It is also like a defence mechanism as he feels slightly paranoid about what is about to happen. He lets Lennie in his room eventually but he continues to torment him, ‘his voice grew soft and persuasive’.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Crooks tries to use persuasive language in order to insult Lennie and take advantage of his condition. “Sp’ose George don’t come back no more(… )what’ll you do then? ” Crooks takes the chance to fight back from how he has been tortured in the past. He also wanted to make Lennie feel how he has been feeling for most of his life; lonely and isolated. Yet Lennie tries to fight back and Crooks gets scared and tries to carm him down. Crooks is also presented as powerless, as previously discussed it is perhaps this lack of power that leads to his bitterness.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

One quote shows how Curley’s wife threatens him and Crooks sits down and doesn’t fight back, “Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego-nothing to arouse either like or dislike”. Steinbeck tries to use metaphorical language to show that Crooks doesn’t want to be seen and that he fears for himself. It also shows that he is at the bottom of the social hierarchy mainly because he is the only black person on the ranch. The
Topic: of-mice-and-men

He is also paradoxical because sometimes he insists on himself having some rights yet he is still lonely. This is why when Lennie tries to enter his room, he has a go at him explaining them. It wasn’t until after he spoke that he realised that he could finally have some company. In those days, black people were presented as ‘lower class’ compared to others and Steinbeck embeds this in the novel to make Crooks feel powerless Another quote shows how Crooks does have some rights even though he doesn’t like them, “A coloured man got to have some rights even if he don’t like them.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

It shows how Crooks knows he has rights and that it is a defence mechanism against others being racist towards him. However, when Curley’s wife interrupts them, he tries to defend himself explaining his rights but they were all worth nothing and after she went, when Crooks said do Candy that he was ‘jus’ foolin’ yet on the inside, he knows that he can never get out of the situation others put him in. When Steinbeck presents Crooks as powerless, this also links in with him being lonely and isolated.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

When Crooks is talking to Lennie, he explains how a black person like him has no friends and no company, “Books ain’t no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him,’ he whined, ‘A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody”. This shows how he is a symbol of loneliness and Crooks tries to express his feelings. Out of all the people in the ranch, the only person he could express his feelings to was Lennie, who cannot fully sympathise or understand Crooks’ situation. Not only is Crooks a symbol of loneliness, but so are Candy and Curley’s wife because they are also marginalised in the ranch.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The way Steinbeck doesn’t give Curley’s wife a name dehumanises her and makes her feel lonely. Another quote goes to Crooks’ past and how things in those days were the same, yet he didn’t know. “I ain’t a Southern Negro… I was born right here in California… The white kids come to place at our place, an’ sometimes I went to play with them… My ol’ man didn’t like that. I never knew till long later why he didn’t like that. But I know now. ” Racism was a big issue in those days and that’s why Crook’s dad didn’t like him mixing with the other white kids.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The way he says ‘I ain’t a Southern Negro’ shows that he isn’t the ‘typical slave’ that other black people were in the 1930’s and that most of the black people in America were from the South. He soon became aware of racial prejudice and he doesn’t mix easily with others on the ranch, “He kept his distance and demanded that other people kept theirs”. Crooks is also separated because he can’t sleep in the bunk house with the others mainly because of his race. Crooks is also presented as weak and damaged as he suffers both physical and emotional pain.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

His name represents how he has a crooked back, “His body was bent over to the left by his crooked spine, and his eyes lay deep in his head… And he had thin, pain-tightened lips which were lighter than his face”. Steinbeck tries to emphasise how Crooks is in a lot of pain, yet he is still treated badly by the ranchers. His physical disabilities parallel with other characters including Lennie who is taken advantage of by Crooks because he behaves like a child. Crooks is also the only person in the novel who doesn’t have any hopes or dreams.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

One moment in chapter four shows how Crooks has high hopes when Lennie and Candy talk about the dream but he dismisses it after Curley’s wife destroys him verbally, “I never seen a guy really do it, I seen guys nearly crazy with loneliness for land… If you… guys would want a hand to work for nothing-just his keep, why I’d come an’ lend a hand”. Crooks talks about how he has seen many people who have passed through the ranch with dreams yet most of them have failed. When Candy spreads their dream, he has high hopes, but when Curley’s wife interrupts them, she reminds him that he has no hope of sharing the dream.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

In my opinion, Steinbeck does present Crooks as a victim of racism as he is like an outcast because of his colour and Steinbeck used him to show the hatred of black and white people in the 19th century. He also presents him as a dignified human being because unlike most black people at the time, Crooks did have an education. He likewise presents him as cruel and unpleasant because he enjoys torturing Lennie because he is weakened by his mental illness and he is also powerless because he is treated like all the other black people in America at the time, he has no rights at all.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

He is also presented as lonely and isolated because he is dehumanised and separated from the other ranchers mainly because of his race, and he is also presented as weak and damaged both physically and mentally because of his crooked back and the loneliness that he feels. Ultimately, Crooks is a very complex character, one who has suffered and slightly gained but he is definitely presented as a victim of society. Crooks Crooks is a lively, sharp-witted, black stable-hand, who takes his name from his crooked back. Like most of the characters in the story, he admits that he is extremely lonely.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

When Lennie visits him in his room, his reaction reveals this fact. At first, he turns Lennie away, hoping to prove a point that if he, as a black man, is not allowed in white men’s houses, then whites are not allowed in his, but his desire for company ultimately wins out and he invites Lennie to sit with him. Like Curley’s wife, Crooks is a disempowered character who turns his
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Crooks exhibits the corrosive effects that loneliness can have on a person; his character evokes sympathy as the origins of his cruel behavior are made evident. Perhaps what Crooks wants more than anything else is a sense of belonging—to enjoy simple pleasures such as the right to enter the bunkhouse or to play cards with the other men. This desire would explain why, even though he has reason to doubt George and Lennie’s talk about the farm that they want to own, Crooks cannot help but ask if there might be room for him to come along and hoe in the garden.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Of Mice and Men is a story about the failure of the American dream.The main characters’ troubles can be compared to those of mice, which explains the title. Robert Burns’ poem, “To a Mouse” also can help to clarify the title. It contains the quotation: “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, Gang aft agley” (“often go awry”). In fact, this quote is the reason John Steinbeck chose Of Mice and Men as the title.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The two works both include relationships between humans and animals. In To a Mouse, a field worker upsets a mouse’s nest and then reflects on it. This is similar to Steinbeck’s novel, in which Lennie unintentionally destroys the lives of small, furry animals, one of them actually being a mouse. The most important similarity between the two works though, actually lies in the quote “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, (often go awry)”.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Ever since George and Lennie began working together they had a plan. They were going to save up their money, buy a farm, and “live of the fatta the land”. After a few weeks, they were so close to achieving their goal when Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife. At this point, George realizes that their dream would never really become a reality and he openly admits so: “I think I knowed we’d never do her.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

In the novel, mice and men are both shown to be incredibly fragile and breakable. Lennie loves to pet soft things so his Aunt would give him mice to pet, “An’ she stopped givin’ ’em to ya. You always killed ’em (9)”. Lennie accidentally killed them because he didn’t realize how fragile they were. George and Lennie had a dream that made them both happy but the dream was so fragile that it collapsed immediately when Lennie killed Curley’s wife. The men’s dream and the mouse are similar because they were so fragile that they broke when one thing went wrong.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Of Mice and Men is a story about men whose troubles can be compared to those of mice. This quotation from Robert Burns’ poem, “To a Mouse” : “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, Gang aft agley” (“often go awry”) can be related to Of Mice and Men. This is so because George and Lennie’s plans to have their own farm ends up getting crushed. The fragility of their dream can also be compared to the fragility of a mouse. In conclusion, the significance of the title Of Mice and Men is that the plans of both mice and men usually end up falling through.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Soledad derives from the word Solitude, a state of social isolation. It is the situation/state of being alone. Loneliness is defined as an emotional state in which a person (or animal) experiences an immense feeling of emptiness and isolation. Loneliness and isolation is a theme that is reflected constantly throughout Of Mice and Men such as; the characters, in the minor actions that the characters pursue, in this case, when the men play solitaire, and also the settings which are described to us that give us the idea of loneliness.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The characters in Of Mice and Men experience loneliness in various ways to each other through the story. Many of the men who work at the ranch travel alone besides George and Lennie. This makes the other men curious yet also suspicious of their motives. Many of the workmen and characters at the ranch can be seen as lonely in the way that they are separated from their families and civilisation, however, the characters which are the main victims of loneliness in Of Mice and Men are Curley’s wife, George and Crooks.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

John Steinbeck portrays Curley’s Wife as the only female on the ranch and gives the reader a description to identify her with ‘Full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red’ (Page 32), Steinbeck presents her as a beautiful young woman who is especially appealing to the men at the ranch. As we progress in the book we find that one of the men Whit explains, “I never seen nobody like her.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

It is soon discovered that Curley’s Wife is always looking for Curley and he is always looking for her. However this is just her alibi so that she can go around the ranch trying to talk to all the men and get their attention, which she doesn’t get from Curley. The men however are cautious of her as Curley is very aggressive and uneasy when anyone talks to his wife or when she talks to anyone at the ranch. So what happens when Lennie, who has been told not to talk or say anything to anybody at the ranch, begins to communicate with Curley’s Wife, an attractive, manipulative and lonesome woman. It is obvious that the worst is going to occur when this occurrence takes place (Lennie and Curley’s Wife talking), as Curley is already suspicious of him and George, and George has specifically told Lennie not to communicate with anyone because of recent bad events. Lennie said to Curley’s Wife as they sit alone in the barn, , “No, sir. I ain’t gonna talk to you or nothing” (Page 85), as the conversation goes on Curley’s Wife says, “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.”
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Lennie replies to this situation the only way he knows how, “Well, I ain’t supposed to talk to you or nothing.” “I get lonely” Curley’s Wife said. “You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?” (Page 85). Curley’s Wife being the only female on the ranch and with the restricted communication shared with any other humans on the ranch, was just trying to get the attention she believes she deserved and of course needed, so that she would not feel the loneliest and emptiest she has been ever since she married Curley. Although George travels with Lennie, he is emotionally and socially alone. George’s partner Lennie is mentally slow, meaning that communication between the two men is very frustrating as Lennie does not understand George and George is constantly annoyed at the sheer fact that Lennie isn’t very bright, continuously making mistakes which get them into trouble.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

“An’ whatta I got,” George went on furiously. “I got you! You can’t keep a job and you loose me ever’ job I get. Jus’ keep me shovin’ all over the country all the time. An’ that ain’t the worst. You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out.” His voice rose nearly to a shout. “You crazy son-of-a-bitch. You keep me in hot water all the time.” (Page 13) George is always taking his anger out on Lennie by yelling at him as he believes this is the way it will get through to Lennie but this does not prevail and leaves George angrier than when he began shouting at Lennie. As this reoccurring annoyance towards Lennie happens even at the ranch it is acknowledged by one character; Crooks talks to Lennie in the barn, “Sometimes he talks, and you don’t know what the hell he’s talkin’ about. Ain’t that so?” (Page 69).
Topic: of-mice-and-men

George has no other friendship with anybody else, as he travels alone in life except for one disturbance, Lennie. As ill-fated as it is, Lennie is seen as a disturbance and obstruction to George. Even though Lennie may be very handy, he’s neither bright nor intelligent. In realism, it appears as though George himself is trying to escape the feeling of emptiness and the reality of loneliness. However he just finds himself unable to bond with Lennie in any way, leaving him trying to play his one man game with his unfortunate hindrance partner.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Crooks, the stable barn, who lives in a small shed that leads off from the barn is exposed to loneliness as he keeps to himself in his small and deserted room. ‘Scattered about the floor were a number of personal possessions; for being alone, crooks could leave his things about.’ (Page 66). When first describing Crooks, the author puts and underlying message in our head of loneliness as to show us that this is one of the most important themes which is rampant throughout Of Mice and Men.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Crooks faces loneliness and partly shelters himself to isolation due to prejudice from the people around him. He believes everyone is against him because he is a ‘negro’ however this may not always be the case, he just keeps to himself so that he doesn’t have to deal with getting grief off any of the other men, especially Curley. As a result of this, Crooks, Curley’s Wife and George may all be lonely in different ways to each other, and the other men, however, they all feel emptiness and it appears like they are all playing their own game each as a solitary individual man (or woman).
Topic: of-mice-and-men

A game played regularly by the men, George in particular, is Solitaire. This game is always played by one person which can be very relevant in the story Of Mice and Men when Steinbeck is reflecting to us the idea of loneliness. When George plays the game of solitaire he does this alone like he is playing his own game doing it the way he wants to. But in reality, he is always stuck with Lennie. This is just a way of getting away from the fact that Lennie is bringing him down, so that he can play his own game not constantly having to deal with the obstruction of his partner.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

This game is also the foreshadowing of loneliness, to show us that when George must shoot Lennie, he has been destined to be alone, alike to the other characters. Even when he had Lennie he felt alone, and now without even a companionship he is still alone, playing his own solitary game of life. The game solitaire is a very structured game, ‘George laid out his deliberate solitaire hand – seven cards, and six on top, and five on top of those’ (Page 52). George may relate the game to how he would like his life to be. A structure set out with some outcomes relying on fate, but an independent game played by one individual. On the whole, the game of solitaire foreshadows loneliness mainly through the character of George but also through the minor actions of the other workmen at the ranch.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The ranch is set a few miles from Soledad, California and is geographically isolated from other human contact, except for the workmen and Curley’s wife who also live on the premises of the ranch. The feeling of isolation is immediately set upon us as Steinbeck produces a description to collate a picture and collect evidence that the characters are bound to be lonely at the ranch. On the ranch there are only a few small places where the characters spend their time when they are not working. The bunkhouse is a very plain room where the workmen sleep, this is where George and Lennie have a few private conversations, along with other events such as the argument over candy’s dog, the game of solitaire being played and the deep conversations between George and fellow worker Slim.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Crooks isn’t welcome in the bunkhouse by the other men and this becomes clear when Crooks says to Lennie in his barn, “I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room” (Page 68). Crooks lives in a small room off the barn where he keeps to himself, having little or no communication with anyone unless it is to do his job as the stable buck. When Lennie, and then soon after Candy, enter his room, Crooks is setback but still very suspicious of why they are bothering him, he tries to hide his confusion and maybe even contentment with anger, although Steinbeck says ‘It was difficult for crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger’ (Page 74).
Topic: of-mice-and-men

His room is very isolated from the other people on the ranch which leaves him lonely all the time. Another setting in the story that is mostly remote is the barn. The only people who visit the barn are Lennie, when he is petting his pup, and Curley’s Wife when she takes shade in there as it is cool. The barn is secluded to the other places on the ranch in that when Curley’s Wife screamed for help due to the actions Lennie had taken, her cries were too distant that none of the other men could hear her. This shows us that the author has even included the theme of loneliness and especially isolation when the different settings in Of Mice and Men where analysed.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

To summarise, Steinbeck has incorporated Loneliness as one of the many themes into the story, Of Mice and Men, in many different ways. These are, firstly in the name, as Soledad means Solitude which can also mean Loneliness. Also through the characters, such as their motives, way of life and personalities. The game solitaire is another representation and foreshadow of Loneliness as this is a game that the characters play, especially George, as an individual, solitary, man, which in reality he is not. Lastly, the settings, in and around the ranch such as the bunkhouse, the barn and Crooks’ room all relate to isolation and loneliness as this is where many acts of the idea surrounding loneliness take place and progress through the story. John Steinbeck has sufficiently and broadly shown us how the theme and idea of Loneliness flows throughout his book ‘Of Mice and Men’.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

The Great Depression was a time of hardship for everybody especially ranch workers. It prevented people from living the life they desired. Many people lived in poverty switching between jobs. Eventually people, like Lennie and George, began searching for jobs in California, in fact “thousands flocked to California”. People were in search of jobs as migrant workers for fruit and vegetable fields. When there was an opening for one man, there would be at least ten men competing for it. They were willing to work for extremely low wages, even just for food.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

In a time where so few bonds are honoured because of the desire for something better and something that feeds self interest, Lennie and George demonstrate a bond that is very rare, this almost makes everyone suspicious because so very few would travel with company. African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans and women were bitterly discriminated and the hardest hit during the Great Depression. They were looked at as the groups that could take jobs away from white men. Crooks represents this factor as he himself was a black American who was margined from the rest of the ranch workers because back then discrimination against black people wasn’t abolished yet meaning they were segregated from the white people which meant they couldn’t find work.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

They were treated very poorly and were considered one level up from animals. , The fact that Curley’s wife is able to spit so much of venom at Crooks and Candy in chapter four is representative of the fact that both men especially crooks who was better off than most of his kind needed the work offered by the ranch and couldn’t speak against her, as she is right in that a word to Curley will force them back to unemployment, at best. (ADD QUOTE) The Great Depression also changed the family in several ways. Many couples delayed getting married, and divorce rates and birth rates dropped. Some men also abandoned their families. A 1940 poll revealed that 1.5 million married women had been abandoned by their husbands. We see that most of the time Curley and his wife who have recently been married find it difficult to be together, hardly seeing each other.Curley’s wife is frustrated by this and goes and seeks attention from the other ranch workers causing Curley to become jelous. Besides her husband’s jealously, Curley’s wife’s social status also restricts her freedom.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

In the 1930’s, during the Great Depression, the social status of women was quite low.Men did not take women seriously and the major role of women was to cook, clean, and raise the children. Curley’s wife is a perfect example of how women were viewed in the early 20th century. She was treated like property to Curley and was not given a name being referred to only as ‘Curley’s wife’. To conclude, with women having such low social status during the Great depression Steinbeck’s uses this as a main aspect in Curley’s wife’s character to show us how the great depression can cause a person to become emotionally unstable.( ADD QUOTE) Steinbeck uses sacrifices in the novella to show how the great depression gave no hope for America’s citizens; The fact that George made the decision to shoot Lennie during the Great Depression was symbolic because it was one of many examples of people trying to protect the people they cared about from the effects of the Depression.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

George shooting Lennie was similar to Candy deciding to put his old dog down, or Slim drowning the puppies. All of these decisions were meant to save them from a worse fate. If Candy had not had the dog put down, or Slim had not drowned the puppies, they most likely would have suffered until they eventually passed away. George makes the decision to end Lennie’s life before he has to suffer a miserable death by Curley’s hand. The fact that Lennie is talking about their American Dream is even more symbolic, for the reason that it wouldn’t be reached, just like many people’s American Dream’s during the Depression.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

We can clearly see that although the characters may appear different they, like every other person in American is going through the same thing, . It is only because of the Great Depression and the problems caused within it that everyone, despite differences in background and experience, feels the same pressure bearing down on them. Steinbeck may have chosen to have a circular plot to show that no circle has an ending, in a way the plot is like a representation to show the dead end existence of the Great Depression which was a time of misery, no hope and great sacrifices…
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Curley’s wife is a significant personality in the novel. John Steinbeck presents her in different ways during the novel and uses different methods to influence the reader’s judgement, for instance through her look, as she is a complex character. Significantly Steinbeck makes it clear that nurture turns her into the person she is in the novel, her nature is different. He uses language to show us who she is as revealed by colour and light symbolism; incongruity of her appearance and the setting; simile.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

For the majority of the book she is labelled in a negative way as a treacherous, kittenish character which could be interpreted as a replication of the way civilization observed the character of women in the novel. Sometimes, Steinbeck includes thoughts denouncing Curley’s wife. He also points out some of her good qualities. Due to this, readers can interpret for themselves if Steinbeck thinks highly of her, or if he does not like her.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Although he may go back and forth on Curley’s wife, in the end, Steinbeck is mainly condemning her. Steinbeck explores her as attractive towards man through her beauty and an attention seeker. In the passage the first words that Steinbeck uses are that “Both men glanced up,” and through this we are introduced to Curley’s wife through her effect on men and not through any notion of herself, which Steinbeck does to show us she is only worthy for the use of men.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Not extended moment when Steinbeck exaggerates “the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway way cut off. ” Here, Steinbeck uses the light symbolically to highlight how imposing she is and present the idea that she is the obstacle to a better life. The image of Curley’s wife casting a shadow across the bunkhouse hints at trouble to come later in the novel. It soon becomes apparent that Curley’s wife is an outsider of the group when it states, “A girl was standing there looking in,” hence is a metaphor for the segregation she senses.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

It could be insightful of the gender roles at the time; women were only desired for men’s erotic desires rather than their company. One could also deduce it as how likewise to a ‘girl’, (which she ironically is no longer), she is in search of thoughtfulness and requires all eyes to be on her by standing in the sight of the whole world and might be realised as attempting to listen in on their conversation – both very juvenile schemes.
Topic: of-mice-and-men

Therefore Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife in “Of Mice and Men” as someone who is very eye-catching and courtesy inquirer. On the other hand, he portrays her as isolated and discriminated by men as she is excluded for being female, which sometimes lead to violence. This is illustrated when she is called ‘tart’, ‘jailbait’, and ‘bitch’ by the men on the ranch; henceforth the ranch is a very hostile and misogynistic place. Curley’s Wife is an outsider and seems very out of place.