Of Mice And Men
...of this essay was to write about what I thought was the most important idea in the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck and explain what I thought about the theme. Throughout the novel, I believed that the most important theme was Loneliness. This essay will explain why I thought Loneliness was the main idea in this novel.
In my opinion, “The Great Depression” in the 1930s (although not directly mentioned in the novel) was the cause of Loneliness. Farmers were forced to sell whatever they owned to pay off their debts. Many migrant farm workers headed west; in hopes for some spare land. The migrant workers worked in ranches where they hoped that in return, they would get a roof over their heads, food to eat and little money to spend. The Great Depression caused people to become solitude and independent. Men at that time were very lonely because they had no family; they could not stay at each ranch for very long, which discouraged them from bonding with other men. Like what George had said, “Guys like us are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong to no place… aint got nothing to look ahead to.” Steinbeck explained that Time and Era could lead up to Loneliness.
Loneliness was shown at the start of the novel when Lennie and George first visited the ranch. They were told to walk “Jes, a little stretch down the highway”, a little stretch that turned out to be more than four miles. This showed that the setting of the novel was already lonely, found in an isolated part of Soledad. This setting implied that the farm workers at the ranch would be quite lonely and unfriendly because it would take them a lot of time and effort (due to their isolated position) to socialise with the outside world. The start of Steinbeck’s novel showed that the Environment we are in can contribute to Loneliness.
Loneliness was then shown throughout...
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