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Red Scarf Girl

Decent Essays

RTL: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Society isolates individuals from others because they fear the reactions they will evoke from others. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck displays isolation through Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife. Candy is isolated because of his disability and his and the death of his dog. Crook is isolated mainly due to his race. Curley’s wife suffers from solitude because she is the only women. The pervasive emotion experienced by all of the characters in Of Mice and Men is loneliness. The loneliness is also, though, profoundly existential and symbolic. The men do not want to be isolated and they do not want to be left behind by society. Candy is one protagonist who suffers from isolation. Candy is …show more content…

S 'pose you couldn 't go into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black. How 'd you like that? S 'pose you had to sit out here an ' read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain 't any good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain 't got anybody. Don 't make any difference who the guy is, long 's he 's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an ' he gets sick" (p. 80). The Great Depression reflected through Crook because slavery ended but there was still racism against any black. For example, Crook got even with Lennie to show all his anger of isolation and racism.
Curley’s wife is isolated because she is not wanted by society as she is a woman. The fact that she doesn’t have her own name explains that she is property of Curley. Curley’s wife is also isolated because she needs to find consolation in Lennie telling him about her being a star if her mom had let her. She is craving for so much attention. This forces Lennie to end up killing her. Curley’s wife is not a typical character meaning she does not appear in many stories. No men want to talk to her as they consider her a flirtatious and trouble maker. For example, Curley’s wife states that she is lonely: "I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely." Curley’s wife tries to gain attention from the men with her famine charm only to find she will be

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