The bracing autumn wind slapped gently against the steel of the car, whistling slightly as it gradually approached the bridge. The grey uniforms of the guards beside the checkpoint flapped in the wind, almost giving him the impression of giant monotonous birds. The mist rolled over the bridge in slow moving tendrils, pulling themselves through the air and wrapping themselves around the looming structure of the power station, which watched over the surrounding city.

In front of the car, two soldiers dressed in grey uniform stood guard sombrely. Behind the traffic light, another soldier looked out into the distance keeping watch. Outside the power station two more guards waited patiently for the new arrivals.

English Controlled Assessment

Question: Explore the methods Steinbeck uses to demonstrate the effects of isolation on people in Of Mice and Men

“You’re all scared of each other that’s what.” This quote is one of the main points of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice And Men, the effect of isolation on human beings, and specifically the culture of our nations that forces people to be isolated. Steinbeck almost immediately sets the course of the book with his setting, the 1930’s depression was an awful time for the world, money was low, work was scarce and throughout all of the major nations there were many people who would have to go hungry and unemployed. America was specifically hit hard by this depression and many workers had to move in-between jobs and travel across country through numerous different states to find work. These workers were known as itinerant labourers and generally travelled alone. This is why it is strange for Lenny and George to be travelling together to find work and makes them stand out from the rest of the workers who “…get their bunk for a month, and then they quit and go out alone.”

Steinbeck also makes the location of the novel very focused around the theme of isolation, for instance it is a ranch miles away from anything with a couple farm hands isolated from the rest of the world, set to a back drop of “the strong and rocky Gabilan Mountains” that cut them off from other human interaction. This is not to mention the fact that the name of the nearby town, Soledad, actually means lonely place when translated from its original Spanish. With the other factors throughout the book about isolation it almost seems fitting for Steinbeck to literally send his main characters into loneliness

There are many other contributing factors to the theme of loneliness, Crooks the stable buck is a good example. From very early on in the book Crooks is considered as nothing more than just a “God damn Nigger” by the other farm hands and is hardly ever called by his real name. In the conversation between Lenny and Crooks in the barn, Crooks sums up the main themes of the book in one quote “A guy needs somebody – to be near him, a guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody…, … I tell ya a guy gets lonely and he gets sick.” This shows how because of the segregation Crooks experiences because of his skin colour he feels so lonely it makes him physically ill. The prejudice of the other characters ensures that Crooks cannot feel wanted or even liked as he is constantly being discriminated against, it is also interesting to note that although he is always being segregated, Crooks appears to be the most learned of the characters, having many books, in particular a book of his civil rights in California.

Curley’s wife is another character that emphasises the theme of isolation in Of Mice And Men, going back to the quote in the first paragraph “You’re all scared of each other that’s what.” This quote makes evident that Curley’s wife thinks that all of the men at the ranch are scared of Curley finding out about them talking to her. Curley’s wife is treated by Curley very much as a possession as he is constantly looking for her when she isn’t in her rightful place at home. Another key feature to Curley’s wife is that throughout the entire book her name is never acknowledged by anyone, as if her name is not nearly as important as her husband’s. She is also regarded as a “tart” and a flirt when she talks to the ranch workers and by all of the workers it is generally accepted that she should only talk to her husband and when he is not at home she should still stay there on her own and wait for him to return. It also a point to note that she has no feelings for Curley and thinks he is a cruel person, this indicates that it was common for people to marry anyone, as this was all that was expected of women back in the 1930’s and again highlights Steinbeck’s key theme of isolation.

Candy the old swamper is a character who retains an interesting role in the book, he holds many of the books crucial themes, and amongst them is the significant theme of isolation. In the scene with Candy’s dog, Candy tries to hold on to one of the few things that can keep him company and does not judge him for being old and disabled, his dog. However the rest of the bunk house, in particular Carlson, thinks that the dog is “… no good to you, Candy.” His reasons are that he is old, got no teeth and is stiff with rheumatism. This appears to be almost like a description of Candy not his dog as Steinbeck has used a clever metaphor where Candy’s dog represents Candy himself. Carlson does not seem to understand that although the dog may be unable to work and is useless to Candy in a physical sense, the dog is still a piece of Candy’s life and can be considered as Candy’s only family as he mentions later in the book that he has no living relatives. This shows that the farm hands’ compassion is severely limited and is incredibly short sighted, only looking for the physical benefits of something without looking at the emotional value. Carlson in the book is Steinbeck’s representation of the common American man in the 1930’s and raises the point that people like Carlson are the types of people keeping the society closed for certain peoples and segregating anything different or materially useless. This is further enforced by the way Carlson reacts to Lenny’s death at the end of the book , “Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?” Carlson doesn’t understand that although Lenny was a person who wasn’t particularly useful to anyone because of his disability, the two characters, George and Slim had an emotional connection with Lenny and therefore it would be understandable for them to be saddened by Lenny’s death. Something else to point out about this scene is the way Lenny is killed, a bullet to the back of the head execution style, exactly the way Carlson had killed Candy’s dog.

Carlson is one of the most important contributing factor to Steinbeck’s theme of isolation as he represents the society at large that forces people to be isolated from one another, and spreads the mistrust of other people that is shown throughout the book, from Curley’s constant searching for his wife, and the reactions of Slim and The Boss to seeing Lenny and George travelling together. “What you trying to put over?” The Boss immediately jumps to the conclusion that George must be trying to get one other on the less mentally able Lenny, demonstrating the great mistrust of people who do not follow the rules set down by the society and choose not to be isolated like other itinerant workers. In conclusion, Steinbeck has employed many clever techniques into working in his theme of isolation, from simple things such as the setting of the ranch, to major ideas put across with no subtlety and just laid before the reader, such as Crook’s conversation with Lenny in his room in the barn. These techniques bring across the theme of isolation with strength and intelligence while not making every idea about isolation obvious to the reader.

English Controlled Assessment

Question: Explore the methods Steinbeck uses to demonstrate the effects of isolation on people in Of Mice and Men

“You’re all scared of each other that’s what.” This quote is one of the main points of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice And Men, the effect of isolation on human beings, and specifically the culture of our nations that forces people to be isolated. Steinbeck almost immediately sets the course of the book with his setting, the 1930’s depression was an awful time for the world, money was low, work was scarce and throughout all of the major nations there were many people who would have to go hungry and unemployed. America was specifically hit hard by this depression and many workers had to move in-between jobs and travel across country through numerous different states to find work. These workers were known as itinerant labourers and generally travelled alone. This is why it is strange for Lenny and George to be travelling together to find work and makes them stand out from the rest of the workers who “…get their bunk for a month, and then they quit and go out alone.”

Steinbeck also makes the location of the novel very focused around the theme of isolation, for instance it is a ranch miles away from anything with a couple farm hands isolated from the rest of the world, set to a back drop of the Gabilan Mountains that cut them off from other human interaction. This is not to mention the fact that the name of the nearby town, Soledad, actually means lonely place when translated from its original Spanish. With the other factors throughout the book about loneliness it almost seems fitting for Steinbeck to literally send his main characters into loneliness

There are many other contributing factors to the theme of loneliness, Crooks the stable buck is a good example. From very early on the book Crooks is considered as nothing more than just a “Nigger” by the other farm hands and is hardly ever called by his real name. In the conversation between Lenny and Crooks in the barn, Crooks sums up the main themes of the book in one quote “A guy needs somebody – to be near him, a guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody…, … I tell ya a guy gets lonely and he gets sick.” This shows how because of the segregation Crooks experiences because of his skin colour he feels so lonely it makes him physically ill. The prejudice of the other characters ensures that Crooks cannot feel wanted or even liked as he is constantly being discriminated against, it is also interesting to note that although he is always being segregated, Crooks appears to be the most learned of the characters, having many books, in particular a book of his civil rights in California.

Curley’s wife is another character that emphasises the theme of isolation in Of Mice And Men, going back to the quote in the first paragraph “You’re all scared of each other that’s what.” This quote makes evident that Curley’s wife thinks that all of the men at the ranch are scared of Curley finding out about them talking to her. Curley’s wife is treated by Curley very much as a possession as he is constantly looking for her when she isn’t in her “rightful” place at home. Another key feature to Curley’s wife is that throughout the entire book her name is never acknowledged by anyone, as if her name is not nearly as important as her husband’s. She is also regarded as a “tart” and a flirt when she talks to the ranch workers and by all of the workers it is generally accepted that she should only talk to her husband and when he is not at home she should still stay there on her own and wait for him to return. It also a point to note that she has no feelings for Curley and thinks he is a cruel person, this indicates that it was common for people to marry anyone, as this was all that was expected of women back in the 1930’s and again highlights Steinbeck’s key theme of isolation.

Candy the old swamper is a character who retains an interesting role in the book, he holds many of the books crucial themes, and amongst them is the significant theme of isolation. In the scene with Candy’s dog, Candy tries to hold on to one of the few things that can keep him company and does not judge him for being old and disabled, his dog. However the rest of the bunk house, in particular Carlson, thinks that the dog is “… no good to you, Candy.” His reasons are that he is old, got no teeth and is stiff with rheumatism. This appears to be almost like a description of Candy not his dog as Steinbeck has used a clever metaphor where Candy’s dog represents Candy himself. Carlson does not seem to understand that although the dog may be unable to work and is useless to Candy in a physical sense, the dog is still a piece of Candy’s life and can be considered as Candy’s only family as he mentions later in the book that he has no living relatives. This shows that the farm hands’ compassion is severely limited and is incredibly short sighted, only looking for the physical benefits of something without looking at the emotional value. Carlson in the book is Steinbeck’s representation of the common American man in the 1930’s and raises the point that people like Carlson are the types of people keeping the society closed for certain peoples and segregating anything different or materially useless. This is further enforced by the way Carlson reacts to Lenny’s death at the end of the book , “Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?” Carlson doesn’t understand that although Lenny was a person who wasn’t particularly useful to anyone because of his disability, the two characters, George and Slim had an emotional connection with Lenny and therefore it would be understandable for them to be saddened by Lenny’s death. Something else to point out about this scene is the way Lenny is killed, a bullet to the back of the head execution style, exactly the way Carlson had killed Candy’s dog.

Carlson is one of the most important contributing factor to Steinbeck’s theme of isolation as he represents the society at large that forces people to be isolated from one another, and spreads the mistrust of other people that is shown throughout the book, from Curley’s constant searching for his wife, and the reactions of Slim and The Boss to seeing Lenny and George travelling together. The Boss immediately jumps to the conclusion that George must be trying to get one other on the less mentally able Lenny, demonstrating the great mistrust of people who do not follow the rules set down by the society and choose not to be isolated like other itinerant workers. In conclusion Steinbeck has employed many clever techniques into working in his theme of isolation, from simple things such as the setting of the ranch, to major ideas put across with no subtlety and just laid before the reader, such as Crook’s conversation with Lenny in his room in the barn. These techniques bring across the theme of isolation with strength and intelligence while not making every idea about isolation obvious to the reader.

Introduction: “Your all scared of each other that’s what” mention loneliness, mention Steinbeck
P1: mention setting and its implications on the theme of loneliness
P2: mention the effect of prejudice on crooks and how that relates to loneliness, find crooks quote on the effect of loneliness of a man
P3: mention the effect of prejudice on curleys wife and find a quote that mentions how she can’t talk to other men. Mention how this behaviour was frequent in the depression
P4: mention prejudice on candy, talk about his dog acting as a metaphor for him, mention the treatment of old and disabled people in the time of Of Mice And Men.
P5: mention the poem To a Mouse by Robert Burns and how it was the name sake of the book, also mention how it is describing broken and forgotten dreams
P6: conclusion, choose biggest point re explain and say why Steinbeck did these things in the book to portray loneliness