1. Loneliness

2. Why is loneliness a strong theme in the novel and who is lonely? • Loneliness is a strong theme because everyone is lonely in their own way. • George and Lennie are so lonely that they are desperate to stay together, because if they didn’t have each other they would have no one, their friendship is the only thing that keeps them going. • Candy has the lowest job so he is always on his own, and his only friend is his dog. He is also very quick to involve himself in George and Lennie’s dream. • Curley and Curley’s wife are both lonely even though they are married. They don’t trust each other and they don’t have a proper relationship. They have no one else.

3. Who is the loneliest character? How does thecontext of the novel link with this theme? Crooks is probably the loneliest because he has absolutely no one. He lives on his own and has no friends and we can assume that no one ever talks to him because when Lennie comes and talks to him he is very supprised and doesn’t know how to act. He is also the only black person on the ranch so no one can connect with him. In the novel crooks says “S'pose you didn't have nobody. 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 …A guy needs somebody-to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no 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“ This is like he is talking about himself. The novel is set in the time of the great depression. People where moving from place to place to find work. People also had work permits. George mentions his and Lennies work permits in the novel so they are obviously workers.

4. Why is loneliness inevitable? Loneliness is inevitable because in that time everyone was going around on their own looking for work. They would spend a while working in one place, where they would be concentrating on work because they need the money, then they would move on to find somewhere else to work so people would not have time to make friends let alone find a wife and family. In the novel everyone is obviously surprised that George and Lennie travel together. The boss is immediately suspicious of them because they travel together, he says “Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what you’re interest is.” Slim is also surprised. He says “Hardly none of the guys ever travel together.”

5. What point was Steinbeck trying to make? The point Steinbeck was trying to make was that during the time of the great depression everyone was lonely and there was not much hope for the men to settle down and find a family. He was probably showing that people had to get what they could and not waste time trying to make their dreams come true, because they never do. George and Lennie’s dream as lost and so was Curley’s wife.