Loneliness is one of the most important and significant themes of the book. The story itself is set in Soledad; which means ‘Loneliness’ in Spanish. This shows that Steinbeck has used this theme to base his entire narrative upon. Loneliness is particularly significant throughout the book because of the fact that as the book comes to an end, loneliness is unavoidable by most of the main characters. The theme of loneliness becomes increasingly significant each time Steinbeck constructs a scene in which Lennie and George respectively interact with the other characters.
A good example of the significance of loneliness in the story is Curley’s wife. A good example of the significance of loneliness in the story is Curley’s wife. She herself mentions the loneliness that she experiences: “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely”. She is married to a man she doesn’t love and who doesn’t love her. There are no other women on the ranch and she has nothing to do, she is one of the loneliest people even though the book may show her to be a troublemaker. She continuously tries to befriend men other than Curley. Her loneliness is particularly significant because as she does try to befriend others on the ranch to end her loneliness, when she tries to become closer to Lennie, it results in her own death. So loneliness has been used by Steinbeck to foreshadow future events; which in this case is the death of Curley’s wife. Another reason for which loneliness is significant is because loneliness creates a devastating impact on everyone’s lives. For example loneliness has an impact on the life of Crooks. When Lennie asks why he isn’t wanted in the bunk house he responds,