Soledad means loneliness. Discuss why this is relevant in Of Mice and Men.

Soledad meaning loneliness is relevant in ‘Of Mice and Men’ for three main reasons These reasons are the fact that the characters George and Lennie are travelling together in Soledad and they are often shown as lonely, the erratic portrayal of the character Curley’s Wife, and the shown emotions of the character Crooks.

The characters George and Lennie in ‘Of Mice and Men’ are shown at the beginning of the book travelling together in Soledad. Although they are travelling together, George really feels alone. You know George really is feeling alone when he says "I ain't got no people. I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. . . 'Course Lennie's a God damn nuisance most of the time, but you get used to goin' around with a guy an' you can't get rid of him” (45). This proves that even though George and Lennie travel together, the fact of the matter is, George is essentially still as lonely as if he was alone anyway.

In addition to what was said above regarding George and Lennie, an equally important character to this subject is Curley’s Wife. This character was truly a complex one, and John Steinbeck managed to show her both as a flirtatious woman who wasn’t satisfied, but also in a deeper context as a very lonely woman, who needs comfort and companionship. The loneliness and resentment in her is shown well when she says “Wha’s the matter with me...Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?” (86). Conversely, the flirtatiousness in her is shown equally as well when Candy says, “Well she got the eye” (29), saying that Curley’s Wife is always giving other men flirtatious looks. As shown above, Curley’s Wife is not only flirtatious as she is so forwardly portrayed, but also very lonely.

Finally, the character Crooks is shown as extremely lonely throughout the parts of the book that he is included. Crooks is excluded from all of the other characters for one reason, because he is black. The characters in the book really show the epitome of racism, and this is exemplified through the emotions of Crooks. He is shown so obviously