Of Mice and Men Themes: Depression Essay

A central accent in the raw Of Mice and Men is the idea of inherent human loneliness. This manifests itself in many contrastive ways for each(prenominal) lineament, exactly is collectively uttered as an unshakeable grief or worry. Crooks states early on in the story I seen hunderds of men come by on the road an on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an that same damn thing in their heads. Hunderds of them. They come, an they abdicate an go on an e very damn one of ems got a little piece of land in his head. An never a God damn one of em ever gets it. Just exchangeable heaven.Everybody wants a little piece of land. I read toilet of books appear here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. Its near in their head. Theyre all the time talkin nigh it, but its jus in their head This is an accurate representation of the general popular opinion of immortal sadness expressed by the functions in this tonic. Steinbecks approach to this feeling ventures outside the realm of notwithstanding a plot device, because he uses it as a way to enable the reader to better understand each characters self discovery and viewpoints on the world they lead in.One of the most intriguing characters in the novel is Curleys wife, who is never given a name, as to represent the treatment of women during the era. She is introduced as a character you are meant to dislike, promiscuous and seemingly out for trouble. Throughout the novel in the time leading up to her murder, we learn that she is not operative to harm the people well-nigh her, but rather working to pander the sadness that stems from her lowly place in the world.She expresses this feeling when she states Seems like they personalt none of them cares how I gotta live. Explaining how her promiscuity is actually just a cry for attention, showing that she isnt the happy flirty woman she is do out to be, rather a fairly blue and worried woman who wants to bob up ways to lift herself up. Mo reover, it is hard for some people reading the novel to relate to the sadness felt by Curleys wife, because it is seemingly warrantless, but Steinbeck does a commendable job of appealing to a broader audience with the character Crooks, an unhappy Afri push aside American farmhand who feels isolated and melancholy because of his depressed status on the farm due to his race.He finds great felicity in Lennie and Georges dream, and we see it become a savior for him, and mercantile establishment for all the anger and sadness he feels because of his position in the world. His notion is more obvious to the reader and also more relatable to anyone who has felt marginalized in their life. His sadness is very raw and clear, but he never acts upon his sadness. This shows a level of self control that isnt seen in the other characters, and it very clearly differentiates his role within the world he lives in.In argumentation to the reserved nature of Crooks, Curleys sadness is expressed in hi s antagonism that is rooted in his deep insecurities about himself. He acts out of impatience and to assert his dominance to the characters around him, in an attempt to cure himself about his extreme lack of self confidence. This is proven to be an ineffective mode for him, because no matter what he does he is seen with a bigger ego, but never seen liking himself anymore than before.Steinbeck writes him to be a short and resolute man , which I believe is a representation of how trapped and unhappy he feels on the inside, almost as if he is being so oppressed by himself that it becomes physically manifested. His sadness affects me the most of all the characters in this novel, because it is the most unresolved. You get the sense that he does not even make his own sadness, which is something very tragic. In contrast to most of the characters in this novel, in that location is one that seems to be at peace with himself, and who also seems to recognize everyone elses sadness, and h as no problem accepting it as his own.I believe that slims character was added by Steinbeck to be a sharp contrasts from every other character, as well as a method of giving the reader desire that not all dreams die, and sadness is not permanent. Slims lack of internal or external conflict gives him an interesting perspective on the other characters, and made him my favorite character in the book. He handles the depression and the loneliness around him so effectively that it almost makes him appear to be superhuman. He is an pedagog to the others in the book, as well as an educator to the reader.He teaches everyone that our insecurities and our lugubriousness doesnt have to last forever and doesnt have to localise who we are as people. In conclusion, Steinbeck teaches us through Of Mice and Men that sadness is universal, but it doesnt have to be an end all. It manifests itself in different ways for all of us, but the causes are never very different. We can learn to accept it and grow from it, or we can let it possess us, but either way it will always be there, and we just need to work to find the little things in life to service us persevere.