Why Is Loneliness Important In The Novel?

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This essay is about why loneliness is important in the novel ‘Of mice and men’. This essay will outline the characters that are lonely and what cause them to feel lonely. Life offers many different paths and down those paths you find obstacles which can take happiness right out of your soul. Finally I will also include how these characters try to cope with the misery and pain of being lonely. Loneliness is one of the many major themes found in the novel and more or less every character is lonely in one way or another. Within the book loneliness is described in many different situations linking to other emotions such as jealousy or anger and also leading to horrendous events such as death. Steinbeck sees loneliness as a part of the human condition, something we are born with and something we either fight or succumb to all our lives. However in the book George and Lennie overcome loneliness with their relationship. George and Lennie need each other to survive and in the novel this is clearly shown to the reader. However with every other working man this is different because everyone travels alone, works alone and lives alone no friends along the way through the challenging journey named life. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world.” However, Lennie broke in and said, “But not us! An’ why? Because ..... Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.” As the novel comes to an end so does this relationship when it is broken as George shoots Lennie in the back of the head to prevent him from being tortured and captured. At this stage George does fall into loneliness because his best mate, his other half has disappeared from his life at the click of a finger and now George has become like everyone else, a lonely ranch worker. Even though George and Lennie have each other George still feels
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