The Inevitability of Loneliness

Traces the theme that loneliness is an inescapable condition of the itinerant worker's life, affecting every character regardless of age, race, or gender.

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The Loneliness of the Workers

The Isolated Lives The Individual Characters Each character is lonely. George is lonely because he cannot have a normal life. Lennie is lonely because he is different. Candy is lonely because he is old. Crooks is lonely because of his race. Curley's wife is lonely because she is trapped. The Lack of Community The bunkhouse is not a community. The men live together, but they do not connect. They are suspicious of each other, afraid of being vulnerable. The dream is a rare attempt to create community, but it fails. The Inevitable Isolation The novel suggests that loneliness is inevitable. The characters are isolated by their circumstances, their personalities, and the society they live in. There is no escape from the fundamental loneliness of the human condition.

The Loneliness After the Tragedy

The Final Isolation George's Loneliness After killing Lennie, George is more alone than ever. He has lost his only friend. The other men cannot understand his grief. He is isolated in his pain. The Others' Isolation Curley is alone with his wife dead. Candy is alone without his dog or his dream. Crooks is alone in his harness room. The deaths do not bring them together; they reinforce their isolation. The Unbroken Theme The novel ends with the characters still separated. The theme of loneliness is unresolved. It is a permanent condition. The only hope is the brief connections that are always lost.

The first two days at the ranch

The end of the novel