The Role Of Isolation In Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Soledad. Not only is this the name of the town in which the ranch is located on, but it means solitude; the state or situation of being alone. Two main themes proposed In Of Mice and Men written by George Steinbeck are social discrimination and isolation. Setting new standards, George and Lennie make quite the aberrant pair considering they travel together and pay no mind to the ideas of discrimination. You see, most ranch hands wouldn’t travel together. George claims "I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin' to fight all the time," so he promised to take care of Lennie and look after him on behalf of his mental disabilities. From the moment the boys step foot on the ranch their relationship is thought peculiar. The Boss even says to George "What stake you got in this guy? You takin' his pay away from him? I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy." Isolation is a routine feeling for everyone on the ranch and to see a pair of guys come together is astonishing, but to others they find it admiring. Loneliness can be a treacherous journey for …show more content…
Her husband gets jealous easy and forbids of the guys from talking to her, regardless the bunkhouse is a male world where women are not to be trusted. Being the only woman on the ranch, staying in her big house with no one to talk to got very lonesome. She remembered the days where she had the chance to run off and be in the movies but chose a different life for herself instead. This turned into a dark path of self pity and moping. I see Steinbeck using Curley’s wife as a symbol of temptation. She had no one to talk to and went running to Lennie for a companion. Granted he meant no harm, but her treacherous journey ended at the end of this finger tips trying to hush her