Can loneliness become overwhelming? At what point does a person know they feel to lonely? In John Stienbeck's Of Mice and Men, three of the characters overcome their loneliness. Slim always makes the best of every situation. George does not feel lonely because Lennie needs him much, and Lennie has too high of dreams to feel lonely.
Slim overcomes his loneliness by having close friends by his side. He sees through everyone's imperfections tot heir true personality. When Slim argues with George, Slim offensively defends Lennie by saying, "He ain't mean, I can see Lennie ain't a bit mean"(pg. 41). This goes to show Slim sees right through Lennie's big, strong exterior to his soft, gentle interior. Being well liked, Slim shows everyone this kind of respect.
George on the other hand, feels need because he takes care of Lennie. You see George has Lennie and Lennie has dreams. In the beginning Lennie makes George retell the story about their future together and their dreams, ".we got a future, we got somebody that gives a damn about us." (pg. 14). That must be good enough because George does not have anything else except Lennie and their future together.
Lennie has George, but he also has something else. Lennie has a mind that does not get side tracked. He never lets anything get in his way. Whatever Lennie believes, he believes and nothing will change that. Many of the characters try to convince Lennie that he has nothing, but Lennie just mumbles back miserably, "George wun't go away and leave me. I know George wun't do that!" (pg. 73). Lennie will not allow himself to be lonely as long as George subsist around to keep him company.
Can loneliness be an unavoidable downfall in life? In Of Mice and Men these are some of the characters that overcome their loneliness. Slim overcomes his loneliness by making the best of every position that is put in front of him. George can not be lonely because Lennie needs him for every aspect in his life.