Recently I have read a book called "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. The novella deals with several important issues of the 1930's, for example the Great Depression and Discrimination against coloured people. Also it is involved with the American Dream. Which the two main characters are chasing. I will be discussing and exploring the main theme of the novella, loneliness and I will show how its causes and effects are depicted through different characters.
The novella is set in the 1930's during the Great Depression. This helps the author convey the novellas main theme: loneliness. As a result of the recession many workers became migrant and ended up moving all over America and because they travel alone most of the men become lonely, secluded and isolated.
The novella is about two itinerant workers, George Milton and Lennie Small. George is a short man with a dark complexion and a down-to-earth attitude. Lennie is a huge bear-like man with a mind of a small child. They are forced to travel all over the USA to find work because of Lennie's mistakes and also because of America's Great Depression during the 1930's.
When they move to Soledad (Spanish for "Alone") they encounter more problems due to Lennie's behaviour. The biggest of these being Lennie killing a light-weight boxer's wife. This makes George kill him as her husband who is very resentful looks to exact vengence on him. .
Rather than let the wife's husband (Curley) kill Lennie brutally, George kills him in a more peaceful way. In Soledad George made new friends and has earned a semi-decent life, but due to Lennie's mistake he has to abandon this and start again. The first character I am going to discuss is Candy. Candy is an old, grey-haired man who lost his hand in a machine accident. The only reason that he has not been sacked is because the accident was the ranch's fault. However in the future he will still most-likely get sacked.