Explore the methods Steinbeck uses to demonstrate the effects of isolation on people in “Of Mice and Men” GCSE Assessment DAY 3

Explore the methods Steinbeck uses to demonstrate the effects of isolation on people in “Of Mice and Men”
Isolation: a person, often shy or lacking in social skills, who either avoids the company of others or has no friends in a group.
In “Of Mice and Men”, there is an immense concept of isolation and loneliness that to effects all the characters and events in the story. The Story starts off with a very fitting and supporting quote; “A few miles south of Soledad…” this opening quote is a very movie like scenario but announces one of the major themes of the novella, loneliness. Soledad is the direct translation of solitude in Spanish and if you replace Soledad with its translation the quote says, a few miles south of solitude which furthermore implies that the location of the novella is just away from complete loneliness. This metaphor is also talking about the setting of the book, the 1930’s depression was a time where there was a large amount of people all alone, wandering around the country looking for employment. Finally the quote is Steinbeck’s first use of foreshadow in the novella which is becomes to play an important role of forecasting most events in the book, that Steinbeck subtly sets into motion.
There are a number of ways that isolation is demonstrated in the book and the most common way is the colloquial speech of the characters themselves. However it’s not just the language used, but the themes that envelope isolation. Prejudice for example was a common aspect of everyday life in the Great Depression, so if you were racist, sexist or ageist it was considered alright.
Steinbeck implicates through Curley’s wife that prejudice isolates people and how isolation can become the cause of fragility and depression. Primarily Curley’s wife is isolated because she is the only female character in the whole novella therefore isolating her from all the members of the ranch. Secondarily Steinbeck’s seems to describe her appearance in a sexual light;
“She had full, rouged kips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up.”
This sexual description fits hand in hand with the fact that she isn’t actually given a name so therefore it could be suggested that Steinbeck is describing her as a sexual object, which is owned by Curley. This then gives an atmosphere of fear and anxiety around her, causing all characters with the exception of Curley to keep their distance from her, isolating her because she is owned by another man.
This isolation of both prejudice and fear is the whole reason why she says “You seen Curley?” The quote is evidence that she is lonely and looking for company, but she is oblivious to the fear that she creates, so therefore she starts to flirt with people to attract them to talk to her which only amplifies the fear of Curley, who’s hot tempered and violent nature is a large aspect of danger for the ranch members not to cross, Not to forget that he is the bosses son and could get them fired.
“Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am anyways? You’re a nice guy. I don’t know why I can’t talk to you. I ain’t doin’ no harm to you”
This quote implies that Curley’s wife is fragile because she is asking a repetition of rhetorical questions that are focused around her solitude. She is stating that she has the right for people to talk to her, that she isn’t doing any harm and that she is so lonely that she will do anything for company, even if she is addressing someone who is incapable of responding, Lennie. This fragility is the cause of her death. Which leads the reader to question, was it really her fault?
In the novella there are a series of recurring themes that are the cause of a number of the events of the book, this is because of Steinbeck’s writing style of realism that every action has a consequence and every comment has an effect. So, for example the time of the Great depression was the cause of unemployed men wandering around, even the most desolate parts of America looking for employment. This isolation of financial difficulties is the very cause of everybody’s employment on the ranch. “Aint many guys travel around together” he mused.” I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other” This quote is brought up by Slim, the character who Steinbeck has created to become the vision of the American role model, the ranch’s own mega star that can do no wrong. So the fact that Slim has brought this up means that Steinbeck is implying that there is an important note to be made here about the people in the world at that time. Saying everybody in the world is scared of each other, brings the reader to think on the lines of the cause of this fear, why is everybody scared of each other? The answer is weakness; everybody has a weakness that they try to hide for example Curly resents being a small man, George can’t fight for his dream and Lennie is incapable. All of this fear of revelation of weaknesses is the exact reason why people are traveling in solitude and the fact that there is no trust between anyone, because in the end, for ranch members, it is the survival of the fittest. The quote in the end foreshadows Lennie’s death.
Dreams, in “Of Mice and Men” the story is built on top of dreams and these dreams are the exact reason of what drives the two main characters, Lennie and George, to keep on going. However dreams are hard to achieve because the closer you get to dreams the harder they become to achieve and the loss of them can cause depression and turmoil inside one’s life. “Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land”, this quote is a comparison between dreams and heaven, that in the end they are the same thing. Getting your own plot of land in the Great depression is a common dream shared by most sober ranch members but the chances of you achieving it is nil. The destruction of dreams inside the book is a method that Steinbeck uses to emphasise loneliness as it is what causes Curley’s wife’s death and Lennie’s.