Why We Are Lonely
...intolerance and become isolated and lonely. Those who are in the
norm are expected to be strong and not show their feelings. In Of Mice And Men, by
John Steinbeck, the social power group is the white, male workers on the farm.
They are younger men, still useful, reasonably intelligent, and average-sized. They
exclude people who do not fit their norm, such as Curley for being short, Lennie for
being retarded, Candy for being old, Crooks for being black, and Curley's wife for
being a woman. Between themselves, they expect strength, distance and
independence, and are uncomfortable with emotions. This intolerance and isolation
cause loneliness for all the characters in this novel.
This social power group oppresses and isolates Curley, Lennie and Candy because
they are different, even though they are white. Lennie is very strong and big but his
mind is like a child's, so the men don't respect him as an equal. For example,
George explains to Slim that he, "Used to play jokes on [Lennie] cause he was too
dumb to take care of 'imself"(p. 40). Lennie does not take part in the activities the
workers do in their spare time. Lennie does not go to town with the men. In Weed,
Lennie gets in trouble because the people don't understand his problem. They react
with anger instead of understanding. George explains to Slim, "Cause he ain't
mean....like what happened in Weed-"(p. 40). Candy is afraid that he will have
nowhere to go soon because he is old: "I won't have no place to go, an' I can't get
no jobs." (p. 60) Candy knows that society doesn't value or care about people who
can't work. Society ejects them because they are no longer useful. Carlson shows
this when he says about Candy's dog, " He ain't no good to you, Candy. An' he ain't
no good himself. Why'n't you shoot him, Candy? (p. 44). Candy knows he is like...
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