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Of Mice and Men Isolation Quotes Page 1
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph) Though Steinbeck did not originally include chapter numbers with the text, most editions are broken into six sections, based on day and time of day: Thursday evening = Chapter 1; Friday day = Chapter 2; Friday evening = Chapter 3; Saturday night = Chapter 4; Sunday afternoon = Chapter 5; Sunday evening = Chapter 6.
| Quote #1 "Well, we ain’t got any," George exploded. "Whatever we ain’t got, that’s what you want. God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want. Why, I could stay in a cathouse all night. I could eat any place I want, hotel or any place, and order any damn thing I could think of. An’ I could do all that every damn month. Get a gallon of whisky, or set in a pool room and play cards or shoot pool." Lennie knelt and looked over the fire at the angry George. And Lennie’s face was drawn in with terror. "An’ whatta I got," George went on furiously. "I got you! You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get. Jus’ keep me shovin’ all over the country all the time." (1.89) |
What George envisions as freedom (freedom from Lennie, to do whatever he wants, to hang out in whorehouses and pool halls) is exactly what some people might describe as utter isolation. It’s interesting that even as George is outlining this low-budget "playboy" lifestyle, he’s soon to run into guys who live just this way yet find it unfulfilling.
| Quote #2 LENNIE "If you don’ want me I can g off in the hills an’ find a cave. I can go away any time." GEORGE "No—look! I was jus’ foolin’, Lennie. ’Cause I want you to stay with me." (1.103-104) |
Once Lennie seems ready to leave George alone (whether he actually is or not), George finally comes around to admitting that he needs Lennie. It seems he has realized that isolation simply isn’t worth it.
| Quote #3 BOSS "I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin’ his pay away from him?" |
The boss immediately suspects George is taking advantage of Lennie. In this transient worker culture, with men wandering around and generally suffering under the Depression, the boss can’t imagine a situation where two guys would stick together, just because. Though it’s a bit preposterous, to the boss it’s more believable that this tiny guy would be taking advantage of this much bigger guy than that the two could really just look out for each other. The boss, like any one else familiar with ranch work during the Depression, expects isolation as the status quo.
