Of Mice and Men Loneliness Essay Example

In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the author illustrates the hardships faced by migrant workers during the Great Depression, to support the idea that companionship is only valued once one experiences loneliness. Steinbeck shows the difficulty faced by migrant workers through the actions and emotions of the characters: George, Lennie, Candy, Crooks, and Slim. He emphasizes the large volume of manual labor required and small amounts of rest given. The segregation of different races further exhibited the poor living conditions at the ranch. But despite these hardships, George and Lennie have each other to help. The idea of migrant workers facing suffering in the novel is very clear, not when they are engaged in labor-intensive work, but when George kills Lenny to show personal difficulties. In the text, it states “And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again” (Steinbeck 106). It was a true test of companionship and due to Lennie killing Curley's wife he had to be killed and so George killed him in good faith. The fact it was in good faith had to lighten the blow for George because he had lost his true friend and his companion since childhood. The blood spilled on George's hand shows his actions in killing Lennie as a true friend along with his transition from companionship to loneliness. 

On most occasions, migrant workers who move from place to place have no one and often experience loneliness, so the idea of companionship shines through when feelings of true isolation come into play. Characters such as Crooks amplify the idea that migrant workers are lonely with their everlasting material possessions to make up for his lack of friends. Crooks states, “‘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. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya," he cried, "I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick"’ (Steinbeck 72). Crooks is not allowed to interact with anyone causing him to get somber and bitter, but when Lennie and Candy come to talk to him, he opens up. Another character hurt by loneliness is Candy. Candy was a longtime resident of the ranch, constantly seeing new people arrive and old ones leave. During the period, he couldn’t befriend anyone but a dog. He was content until Carlson killed the dog, leaving Candy to spiral into the sorrow that comes from loneliness. He valued the companionship of his dog to a great extent. But, after finding companionship between George and Lennie, he becomes energetic and beaming. Through the hardships of migrant workers, companionship is only valued when there is a loss of companionship.