Of Mice and Men – Inquiry

     Humans need companionship, without it, it’s a struggle to live. John Steinbeck portrays a relationship that reinforces this need for connection in the novella, Of Mice and Men. The search for a job and companionship is displayed between the two protagonists of the novella, Lennie and George.

          To begin with, if Lennie had been alone he wouldn’t have survived as he needed someones help, due to his misunderstood developmental delay. George, though he had a parental-child relation with Lennie, strived to work hard to continue to care for Lennie as it was the right, and good thing to do but he felt alone, missing out on the life with “no mess at all” (pg. 11) where he’d have a good job, an easy life; one without Lennie. Their relationship is lacking the same level of understanding and maturity, which can lead to the anger from loneliness George displays to Lennie when he says, “An’ what I got, I got you!” (pg. 11)

       Another example would be Crooks; a black man during the 1930’s who was isolated in his own small room on the ranch where he worked dreadfully. He was alienated because of his race and then isolated himself further because of the paranoia he felt towards anyone who was nice to him without an ulterior movive. Isolation can lead to a simple reflective sadness that Crooks shows when he says, “‘He can’t turn to some other guy and ast him if he sees it too.’” (pg. 73) or anger and crude bitterness that he exhibits when he says, “‘Cause I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me.” (pg. 68)

        Steinbeck shows that suffering yet having the support of another person or sharing some hope leads us to a breakthrough. Isolation and loneliness brings us to unnecessary suffering where we have to overcome our hardships by ourselves with bitterness and frustration but with true companionship we have the ability to better ourselves and survive.

Citations

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin , 1986. Print.

“Photography- Loneliness and Isolation.” Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017.