Of Mice and Men Literary Analysis Everyone at some point in their life has been or knows someone who has experienced loneliness. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the author Mr. Steinbeck incorporates many different themes. A major theme is how loneliness affects everyone is some type of way wether it is one of our main characters in George, a female in Curley's wife, or some one of a different race in Crooks. This comes to show loneliness affects everyone regardless of age, sex, and race. From the beginning of the story George has Lennie. George always is faced with the consequences of dealing with Lennie. Although George is not alone until the end of the story, he sticks with Lennie so he is not alone. George knows his life would be so much easier if he did not have Lennie, but fact of the matter is George would rather deal with Lennie's shenanigans than be alone. George looks out for Lennie always because he knows Lennie could not survive on his lonesome either. These two compliment each other so well by making sure they always have someone. When they talk about their dream Lennie says on page 104 “'Because” “Because I got you an'” “An' I got you. We got each other, that's what, that gives a hoot in hell about us.'” Unfortunately for George he has to kill Lennie so Curley does not hurt him first. George has to finally face being alone from his friend he has looked after for so long. Steinbeck gives George and Lennie each other so they are not alone. But in the end George has to witness loneliness in a world without Lennie. Another instance of a character being alone is Curley's wife. Her husband shelters her and will not allow her to communicate with the other men on the ranch. Her flirty attitude from the beginning also puts a target on her back, because the way she acts and talks George knows Lennie and he can not trust her. George forbids Lennie from speaking to her, this makes her want the attention of them even more. Curley's wife seems so flirty but Steinbeck in a way makes the reader feel sorry for her. On page 87 Curley's wife is in the barn with Lennie and he refuses to talk to her she says “'I get lonely. You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How'd you like not to talk to nobody.'” Although she comes off as dangerous and flirty she is just alone. Because her husband puts such strict rules on her she has no choice. The other men at the barn refuse to talk to her so she talks to one person dumb enough to. Unfortunately for her that does not end so well. But the reader still has to feel sorry for her because the circumstances she is under. Loneliness affects both genders