‘Of Mice and Men’ is a tragic novel set in 1930’s America during time of great Depression and poverty. It portrays the prejudice and clichéd views of a strained American society. Curly’s wife, a character who is detached from the rest of the world, a heart wrenching symbol of the American dream, trying and failing to break down the boundaries of society. This female represents women in the Depression, the lack of freedom and equality that they held, an equality that may still be held from many women to this day . Steinbeck is addressing the struggle for female existence during this period by leaving Curly's wife as the solitary female of the book, unneeded, and unwanted by the other characters.
“We all go through the same things-it’s all just a different kind of the same thing!” (194). Mrs. Hale feels connected to Minnie as an oppressed woman and believes that by helping her, she is helping all women. Mrs. Hale has a lot of guilt for not having been a better friend to Minnie and for not seeing her more often. She continually voices her deep regret for refusing to visit Minnie. “The picture of that girl, the fact that she had lived neighbor to that girl for twenty years, and had let her die for lack of life, was suddenly more than [Mrs. Hale] could bear” (194).
Death is a Moth In the short story “The Moth’s” by Helena Maria Viramontes writes about a girl that is practically forced into taking care of her Grandmother Luna. Viramontes uses a great deal of imagery and symbolism that makes the reader search more in depth of the story. Further into details of what the narrator was really going through she suffered a lot and had to deal with reality that her life was not the same as her sisters that made her an outcast, cold hearted, and a caregiver to her grandmother Luna. Viramontes describes the character as to be different then her sisters, who made her feel like an outcast towards the rest of her family. “I always pricked my fingers or knotted my colored threads time and time again while
She didn’t enjoy her time spent there so why she was so willing to come back. Some people never get enough of the life they live even if it‘s bad . Its just like a women who is in a abusive relationship and we wonder why the never leave. Its because once someone adapted to a certain life style the desire for change is slim to none. The narrative made it clear that she didn’t fit in with the people in her town but feared leaving because that lifestyle was all she ever known.
In his book Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez writes on the feelings of grief, anger, and isolation he felt in his growing up separated from his family by his intellect, elaborating on these emotions and overall inspiring his readers, just as William Faulkner designates as the duty of the writer. In his first essay, William expresses just how alone and lost he felt not knowing anyone, as well as not knowing how to communicate with others, finding his only solace to be at home. He changes up the feel of the book in his second essay, when he reverses these feeling entirely, now only finding comfort in his schooling. Lastly, in his third essay, he talks about how it feels to become your own person, to completely break away from your old life, which of course brings about many powerful emotions. In his first essay, Richard describes his isolation from the outside world in vivid detail.
The bakery was his place of desolation because he did not like the interaction with people. The narrator in “Cathedral” was not enthused when he learned that a blind friend of his wife named Robert was spending the night with them. His whole concept about a blind person he thought came from the movies. He thought that a blind person would have to solely depend on other people for help. His wife had a very good relationship with Robert and they were able to communicate with each other although he could not see.
In the story of “The Box Man” Barbara Lazear Ascher is a story about a homeless man who Aschers conception is living alone. Does that mean the Box Man is lonely? She shows it through comparing and contrasting the Box Man to characters in the story. Ascher thinks freedom is an important thing. “She states that someone can do worse then collecting box”.(pg21).
This is shown, firstly, by talking to “bindle stiffs”, she really has no one else to go to and so resulted to what comes across to be the lowest people on the ranch. This is another clear sign of her desperation and of “ache for attention” that she feels inside. But the quote also shows her loneliness and defeat when she states that there “ain’t nobody else”, seemingly illustrating that there really is no one else that will listen to her talk. Curley’s wife can also be compared to Crooks because both characters suffer a great deal of prejudice from the other people on the ranch. Crooks often talks about his loneliness and how that the more lonely people get the more “mean” and “sick” they become.
Crooks character shows the importance of companionship by depicting how people with companions act compared to people without. Crooks didn’t have any companions so he was independent, somewhat reserved, and petulant towards the other workers on the ranch. When Lennie entered his room, he said: “You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room.” It shows that Crooks desired to have a companion but he wanted Lennie to leave because he wanted Lennie to feel the way he did. The importance of companionship is shown by different characters in Of Mice and Men.
Loneliness means being isolated or on your own. In this novel many of the characters are lonely. Steinbeck was born in Soledad so he decided to make this the area in which to place his novel. In this story, the characters are lonely because although they are all together they all feel very much on their own. For example, Lennie is with George all the time but Lennie always feels on his own and is scared that George will leave him and is always seeking his approval as a child would seek the approval of a parent.