Why We Are Lonely Essay Example For Students

Why We Are Lonely Essay Intolerance is human nature; people who are different from or weaker than the normare victims of intolerance and become isolated and lonely. Those who are in thenorm are expected to be strong and not show their feelings. In Of Mice And Men, byJohn Steinbeck, the social power group is the white, male workers on the farm. They are younger men, still useful, reasonably intelligent, and average-sized. Theyexclude people who do not fit their norm, such as Curley for being short, Lennie forbeing retarded, Candy for being old, Crooks for being black, and Curleys wife forbeing a woman. Between themselves, they expect strength, distance andindependence, and are uncomfortable with emotions. This intolerance and isolationcause loneliness for all the characters in this novel. This social power group oppresses and isolates Curley, Lennie and Candy becausethey are different, even though they are white. Lennie is very strong and big but hismind is like a childs, so the men dont respect him as an equal. For example,George explains to Slim that he, Used to play jokes on Lennie cause he was toodumb to take care of imself(p. 40). Lennie does not take part in the activities theworkers do in their spare time. Lennie does not go to town with the men. In Weed,Lennie gets in trouble because the people dont understand his problem. They reactwith anger instead of understanding. George explains to Slim, Cause he aintmean.like what happened in Weed-(p. 40). Candy is afraid that he will havenowhere to go soon because he is old: I wont have no place to go, an I cant getno jobs. (p. 60) Candy knows that society doesnt value or care about people whocant work. Society ejects them because they are no longer useful. Carlson showsthis when he says about Candys dog, He aint no g ood to you, Candy. An he aintno good himself. Whynt you shoot him, Candy? (p. 44). Candy knows he is likehis dog; an old man is almost useless. He knows how they will discard them hes nolonger useful: They says he wasnt no good to himself nor nobody else. When theycan me here I wisht somebody shoot me. (p. 60) Curley feels excluded fromsociety because he is too short. He hates big men because big men automatically getinto the social power group. Candy comments to George that Curleys like a lot oflittle guys. He hates big guys. Hes alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind oflike hes mad at them because he aint a big guy (p. 26). Curley shows this abouthimself when he is hostile and angry when he meets Lennie for the first time. Curleyshows his extreme insecurity in the bunkhouse as Slim and Carlson are not afraid ofhim. Curley is afraid losing his power of intimidation. He notices that Lennie is weakand afraid, and turns his anger on Lennie. The reader sees Curley is insecurebeca use Curley continues to attack Lennie even though Lennie doesnt even protecthimself or fight back. Each man is rejected by the norm, and is lonely. White menare not the only people who are victims of intolerance and the loneliness it causes. We will write a custom essay on Why We Are Lonely specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The social power group oppresses Crooks because he is black. The boss gets angryat Crooks anytime the boss is upset. Candy explains, The boss gives him hell whenhes mad. (p.20) Only at Christmas is Crooks allowed into the bunkhouse. Whenhe is, Smitty starts a fight with him, even though Crooks is crippled. Crooks knowshe is not important in society because he is black. He explains this to Lennie: This isjust a nigger talkin, an a busted-back nigger. So it dont mean nothing, see? Crookspromises if he had a chance to work for something, he would, such as sharing thelittle farm with George, Lennie, and Candy: I aint so cripped I cant work like ason-of-a-bitch if I want to (p.76). Crooks remembers how little power he has whenCurleys wife warns him, Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get youstrung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny (p.81). As a black man, Crooks hasno chance against the social power group. The white men would kill Crooksbecause he is black. The reader sees this as, Crooks had reduced himself tonothing (p.81). Because the white people require Crooks to stay in his own group,he is lonely. Women are also victim of intolerance and loneliness. .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069 , .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069 .postImageUrl , .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069 , .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069:hover , .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069:visited , .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069:active { border:0!important; } .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069:active , .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069 .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3f2922bcb9dd4d21fbf535879592f069:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: A Good Man Is Hard To Find(And Write About=) EssayWomen are also victims of intolerance, which leads to loneliness. Curleys wifedreamed of being a movie star, but the man who promised he would help her neverwrote to her . As a woman, during the depression, she has no choice but to marrysomeone who can support her. Society gives jobs and independence to men, andwomen have no power. She is on the bottom of society. Her marriage to Curley is adisaster because he only cares about himself. He isnt interested in her at all, Swellguy, aint he? Spends all his time saying what hes gonna to guys he dont like, and hedont like nobody (p.78). Curleys wife understands that all men think she is anobject. She uses her beauty to attract men so they will talk to her: She put herhands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that body was thrownforward (p.31). Curleys wife needs friends and people to talk to. She tries to findfriends, but everyone turns her away. Curley is jealous and treats he like apossession to be guarded, but his wife is frustrated: Whats the matter with me?she cried. Aint I got right to talk to nobody?' (p.31). Curleys wife is isolatedbecause she is the only woman on the farm, and is kept out of the social powergroup, so she is terribly lonely. Even the normal white workers on the farm are lonely because they isolatethemselves from each other. Slim explains that all the men are afraid to show theirfeelings and be close to others: Aint many guys travel around together. I dontknow why. Maybe everbody in the whole damn would is scared of each other(p.35). Slim describes how the workers choose to he lonely: I hardly never seentwo guys together. You know how the hands are, they just come in and get theirbunk and work a month, and then they quit and go out alone. Never seem to give adamn about nobody (p.39). George and Lennie know that they are lonely like mostworkers: Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They dont belong no place . they aint got nothing to lookahead to (p .13,14). At the end of the novel, Carlson shows how men shutthemselves off and hide their feelings, when he doesnt even know George is sad:Now, what the hell you suppose is eatin them two guys? (p.107) The white men inthe society power group choose loneliness because they are afraid of showing theirfeeling and fears. Intolerance and fear exist everywhere in humanity, which leads to loneliness in OfMice and Men. Loneliness has many causes. The workers fear showing their feelingsto each other. They cast out people who are different or weak, such as Curley,Candy Lennie, Crooks and Curleys wife. The author shows the reader thateveryone causes loneliness in society. Maybe when people understand this aboutreal life , they will be able to end loneliness. Words/ Pages : 1,204 / 24