The Theme Of Isolation In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck's 1930's novella focused on the reality of how difficult it can be to achieve the American Dream is a landmark piece of literature in American history. It manages to perfectly capture the life and mindset of those migrant workers chasing a dream they could never grab during the Great Depression in less than ninety pages. The various themes in this novel represent issues that had and still have a tight grasp on society, including the trouble marginalized groups of people have being successful, being powerless in a power hungry culture, and the difference between unity and isolation. Steinbeck develops this story by illustrating themes of freedom, unity and isolation, and dreams and reality. The need for freedom from various types of bondage is expressed by all the characters in this story, …show more content…
Lennie and George, two men who are both alone in life except for one another, are essentially ‘free’ but it is a different type of restraint that is holding them captive. George and Lennie “do not even expect the freedom to work under fair treatment for fair compensation, the freedom not to be exploited, or the freedom inherent in any future economic security”(Freedom in Of Mice and Men). They seek the freedom that ironically comes when they will buy a house and become chained down, while having the freedom to work for themselves and be assured in fair treatment, financial security, and fair share of the payoff after the work is done, a want shown when George dreams of enjoying the fruit of his labor, “I’ll have my own little place, an' I'd be bringin' in my own crops," George dreams, "'stead of doin' all the work and not getting what comes up outa the ground"(Steinbeck). George dreaming of being able to work and provide for himself exemplifies the need for release from the ‘slavery’ that is being a migrant
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