Profundo En El Corazon De La Soledad Essay, Research Paper

Profundo En El Coraz?n de la Soledad

by Daniel S. Peters

John Steinbeck?s novel Of Mice and Men exudes loneliness to such a degree that

it nearly overwhelms the reader. The environment and the characters work together to

inextricably pull the reader into this lonely world and never truly releases its melancholy

grip.

?A few miles south of Soledad…..? (Steinbeck, pg. 1) With this opening phrase

Steinbeck prepares the reader for the ever constant feeling of loneliness which flows

effortlessly through every chapter of the story. Soledad is Spanish for loneliness and all

the characters in the story are already a few miles past Soledad. Steinbeck goes on in the

opening pages to describe the emptiness of the glade wherein Lennie and George are

introduced. This glade is also the final scene of the story where Lennie is killed and the

reader is left alone as the characters walk away.

Crooks distracts himself from his loneliness with books. He also puts on a bit of

a show how he doesn?t want anything to do with any of the other workers because they

don?t want anything to do with him. When Lennie forces his way into Crooks? room

however, Crooks whines, ?Books ain?t no good. A guy needs somebody — to be near

him? (80). And when it appears to Crooks that George, Lennie, and Candy might

actually be able to get their own farm he jumps on the opportunity to change his lot in

life (that of a lonely, segregated, Negro farmhand). He goes so far as to say, ?If you…..

guys would want a hand to work for nothing — just his keep, why, I?d come an? lend a

hand? (84). He?s willing to give up his monthly pay and work for food and lodging just

to be able to speak to other people.

Candy is a stereotypical lonely old man. He has his lonely old dog that is killed

early on in the story which makes him an even more pathetic character. On the very

night he loses his dog he overhears George and Lennie discussing the plans for their

dream-farm. Without hesitation he offers to put up more than half the money if only

they?ll take him with them. He?s even willing to ?make a will an? leave my share to you

guys in case I kick off, ?cause I ain?t got no relatives nor nothing? (65). He?s not trying to

generously assist two other guys in getting their own farm with this offer, he?s attempting

to buy two friends who will take care of him when he?s too old to work.

Curley deals with his loneliness a bit differently than the others. He seems

ashamed of his loneliness. He?s always coming around the bunkhouse with the excuse

that he?s searching for his wife when the farm is not so big that he could be losing track

of his wife that often. He craves male companionship. He wants to be around the other

guys doing guy things, but he?s ashamed of this feeling and his shame manifests in the

form of violent aggression. On pages 84 and 85 it is written that Curley was at the

whorehouse with the other guys. His loneliness drives him to go out with the other guys

even after they humiliated him and forced him to lie about how his hand was broken.

Curley?s wife is the most obvious, straightforward, and vocal of all the lonely

characters. Like Curley, her loneliness also drives her to seek the company of the men in

the bunkhouse. She?s always showing up looking for her husband when she knows

exactly where he is. The scene in Crooks? quarters she voices her loneliness twice. First

she says, ?Think I don? a like to talk to somebody ever? once in a while? Think I like to

stick in that house alla time? (85)? She goes on to talk about how the three of them

(Crooks, Candy, and Lennie) are the losers of the bunch, but she enjoys talking to them

despite that ?because they ain?t nobody else? (86). Eventually the intensity of her

loneliness and her inability to find decent company leads her to her own death.

On the surface, Lennie doesn?t seem to be lonely at all, but he fears loneliness

(even if he can?t comprehend quite what that fear is). He has George to watch after him

and at times it doesn?t appear as if he even needs George. Give him a puppy, some

rabbits, or even a dead mouse to pet and he?s content. However when Crooks hints (on

page 78) at the possibility of George not returning, Lennie becomes physically

threatening at the very idea of being left alone. But George does return and Lennie need

not deal with loneliness until perhaps after his death when he must make that journey

alone.

George is the most lonely character of all. The writer Ambrose Bierce in his

book, The Devil?s Dictionary, defines alone as: In bad company (Bierce, pg. 7). George

is in about as bad company as one can be. George is an intelligent human being without

any equals with whom to converse. Lennie seems a decent enough fellow, but his

inability to maintain a constant train of thought causes much of George?s loneliness.

Plus, Lennie?s ability to find trouble has made George a fugitive — one of the loneliest

stations in life. At the end of the story George inadvertently dispels his loneliness by

killing his charge. Then George and Slim walk together away from the other characters,

away from the story, and away from the reader.

Now imagine Steinbeck writing this novel. Picture him sitting — alone — in a

room, his face lit up by a single lamp. He sits at an oaken desk ?tap-tapping? at his

Remington typewriter, but suddenly he pauses….. places his left hand upon his chin, and

smiles mischievously to himself. He smiles because he is thinking of the reader sitting –

alone — enjoying this lonely story. He ends his story by having the characters walk away

from the reader, leaving the reader all the more alone.

From the first word to the last word, Of Mice and Men is a story about loneliness.

The environment, the characters, the writer himself, and even the audience all play an

important part in this ambiance. Even this paper was written alone.

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