OMAM - loneliness Flashcards
(10 cards)
intro
- a debilitating and cruel fate that most of the characters in the novel struggle within some way
- the most significant social impact of the economic hardship of the 1930s, was on the connections people forge with others
- Loneliness is the inevitable result of a fractured and vulnerable migrant population.
topic 1
Through the character of Crooks, Steinbeck powerfully explores the deep loneliness and isolation experienced by Black men in 1930s America, using his physical separation and emotional bitterness to reflect the brutal impact of racial prejudice.
topic 1 quotes
‘a little shed’ - limited space represents his limited hope in life, his room isn’t designed for human accommodation = dehumanizing, he is the only worker who lives alone
‘you got no right to come into my room’ - aggressive hostile tone relays the protective shell crooks has instinctively built around himself after years of deep discrimination
topic 1 context
Jim Crow laws mandated racial segregation under the ethos ‘separate but equal’ however in practice this was not the case as facilities for black people were much worse than for white people - this breeds loneliness
he represents negative effects of loneliness stemmed from the prejudices of the time, St wished to combat this - he said in his Nobel prize speech ‘courage, compassion and love’
Crooks has his own chapter where St can fully depict the hardships he faces; his chapter is disconnected from the rest of the novel to symbolise the isolation black Americans faced from the rest of society
topic 2
Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife as a deeply lonely figure, whose isolation as the only woman on the ranch reflects the gender inequality and lack of identity faced by many women in 1930s America.
topic 2 quotes
‘I get lonely … you can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley’ - they have a deeply domineering relationship based on the patriarchal norms of the time in which there is no trust, she fears the repercussions from talking to others which makes her life even more lonely and isolated
‘heavily made up’ - deliberately flirtatious and provocative, she hides behind her makeup like a mask, trapped in a cycle of loneliness
topic 2 context
she is connected to Eve in the garden of Eden as she brings evil into the men’s lives by tempting them in a way they cannot resist - femme fatale archetype -> men fear her, this fear breeds loneliness
women in 1930s were expected to adhere to strict social codes of behavior, particularly when married; any deviation led to ostracization from society, women who didn’t conform to gender roles were marginalized
topic 3
Steinbeck uses George and Lennie’s unique friendship to highlight the rarity of companionship during the Great Depression, but ultimately shows that loneliness is inescapable when George is forced to kill Lennie, leaving him completely alone in a world that punishes connection.
topic 3 quotes
‘I got you to look after me and you got me to look after you’ - reveals the interdependency of their relationship, George also benefits from Lennie
‘you hadda, George. I swear you hadda.’
‘“Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?”’ - Carlson and Curley don’t understand the bond they had
topic 3 context
President Hoover even championed the notion of ‘rugged individualism’ and ‘self reliance’, (The American dream promotes this message, and is what led George down this inevitable path of loneliness) arguing that they protected America -> but Steinbeck didn’t agree as he argued this abandoned the most vulnerable of society = he uses George and Lennie to question our moral duty to one another
Through George having to kill Lennie it shows that because of the Dustbowl and The Great Depression their friendship was always doomed -> Robert Burn’s poem ‘To a mouse’
