Women and Crime in the 18th Century

Women and Crime in the 18th Century When women commit crimes, they do so in a manner appropriate to their sex. (Carol Smart) Discuss the accuracy of this statement with reference to the Eighteenth Century period. Criminologists agree that the gender gap in crime is universal: Women are always and everywhere less likely  than men to commit criminal acts. Throughout the ages and with very few exceptions, crime, and especially the more unspeakably vicious and violent acts, have always been seen to be, in the most part, the domain of the male. Rapes, murders and brutal assault were seen as masculine misdemeanours, and much evidence is available to show that the more serious crimes were mainly undertaken by males, The majority of British convicts marked for transportation were native Englishmen sentenced in English courts, and women only really topped crime figures when it came to prostitution. Women as a gender were widely considered not to be capable of the ferocity or deep-seated evil of men. After all, in eighteenth century patriarchal society, they were widely seen as demure, submissive creatures. True, some had fallen on the wrong side of the tracks and had become petty thieves or whores, but a common contemporary conception seemed to exist that women were pretty much incapable of malice. Indeed, there is a strong argument to suggest such views were based on classical ideologies. Men and women were perceived to have totally different physical make-ups and possess fundamentally different positive and negative qualities, and in general have a more direct and physical outlook on life. Men were prone to violence, obstinacy, and selfishness, while womens sins were viewed as the result of their tendency to be ruled by their bodies and their emotions, notably lust. This was also perceived when it came to women within crime. Female deviance was seen as primarily one of sexual immorality and as such, a blight on the moral fabric of society rather than direct malice against one individual. They were sent to be involved in shameful, dirty pursuits rather than direct violent crimes, and so the statistics seemed to prove. Women accounted for only 27% of the defendants tried between 1674 and 1834. Indeed, they were generally seen by society as by far the less threatening of the sex es. However, it is not really surprising that this is the case, and in my view, reflected on the actual position of women in eighteenth century society as well as the perceptions that went with them. After all, women were much less likely to be involved in manual labour, and so generally were not involved with the testosterone fuelled atmosphere of workplaces and alehouses, and had no easy access to blunt weapons such as axes, spades and picks which could be escalated to a fatal purpose very easily if a spontaneous fight or argument was to break out amongst the labourers. Coupled with this, the female sphere of society, as the section of society statistically involved in less serious crimes, were only rarely dragged through the court as at this time as only a small fraction of crimes were actually prosecuted. In fact, court proceedings in the eighteenth century were somewhat biased towards females, in that juries may have been more reluctant to convict women since female crime was perceived as less threatening than that committed by men. Indeed, instances of courts going to great lengths to try to and cover up the fact that women could also be morally abhorrent, seem to be in evidence. For example, during the trial of Mary Price in 1718, although the woman in question pleaded guilty to strangling a young girl with a leather strap, a surprised court advised her that it would permit her to withdraw her Plea but she still persisted to plead Guilty. The Court then told her she would do well to consider what she did, for perhaps if she pleaded Not Guilty, [the crime] might not be provd upon her. As it turned out, she stuck with her initial answer, kept her plea guilty and eventually received sentence of death, but this case seems to show a clear attitude of a court who found it extremely difficult to see the viability of violent women. Despite her plea of guilt, frankly terrible crime of strangling a girl and willingness to pay the price of it, it almost seems that she was attempted to be talked round a hanging. Indeed, as well as this, there was even a legal principle called feme covert, which, although historically not called upon particularly often, was sometimes used to exonerate married women who committed crimes in the presence of their husbands, the rationale being that the ladies were presumed to be following their superior spouses commands However, whatever the statistics may say, the notion that women were guilty only of petty theft and prostitution suffers not only with some particularly bloodthirsty anomalies, but also a number of instances of infanticide and total neglect of young children that goes someway to prove the eighteenth century view of non malicious women as quite outdated. Infanticide was seen as the most common form of murder early in the seventeenth century and even upto the early nineteenth century, writers continued to believe that it was a common occurrence and there seems little doubt of its prevalence in the Eighteenth Century. For example, the following case of incredible cruelty took place, and despite the fact that the record seems to suggest guilt, the defendant was exonerated. Mary Tudor, of the Parish of Saint Andrews Holborn, was indicted for the Murther of her Female Infant Bastard, on the 18th of January last, by throwing the same into a House of Office, whereby it was choaked and strangled. She called a Witness to prove that she was Married, and that the Child was no Bastard. Indeed, infanticide coroners tended only to reach a guilty verdict only in the most obvious cases of infanticide and overlaying (the smothering of children), poisoning and general fatal neglect rarely led to a conviction, being very hard to prove. For example, another case in point, that of Elizabeth Cole, displayed an extremely heartless destruction of a child but, due to extenuating circumstances (including the fact that she danced about the room!) led to her being pronounced not guilty. Indicted for the Murder of her Female Infant aged 3 Years, by throwing of her into the River of Thames, on the 9th of January last. It was provd plainly that the Prisoner had such a Child but in her Defence it appeard plain that she had for a considerable time been under a great trouble of Mind, and particularly when she lay In three Months ago, would rise out of her Bed and Dance about the Room Of course, it must be considered that these women may have been under tremendous social, financial or peer group pressure to somehow dispose of these children, but despite the 18th Century Not Guilty verdict, it is hard, despite the hugely different social contexts of contemporary morals and those of the 1700s, to find these acts anything other than terrible admissions of cold blooded human murder. Indeed, although these are merely two examples, it seems that many other such acts did take place, and really must encourage the Historian to question the idea that women were as innocent of violent crimes as popular belief and statistics of the time suggested them to be. Hundreds of surviving records of infanticide are testament to some of the outrageous cruelty that took place the hands of eighteenth century women who slaughtered their own flesh and blood. However, infanticide was not the only form of cruelty that took place, and as well as the rather shocking examples of murdering ones own children that perpetuated the legal catalogue of the eighteenth century, other direct murderous crimes were also attached to certain infamous women of crime in this period, proving them to be very much as vicious and bloodthirsty as their men folk. One such example was the case of Catherine Hayes who, in 1726, was reported to have orchestrated the gruesome murder of her husband through two accomplices. Billins broke his scull as he lay on the bed with an ax, and knockd out his brains, which causing a great effusion of blood, the good woman advisd to cut the head off, which was done accordingly; she afterwards brought them a box to put the body in. She was later hung and burnt and caused somewhat of an uproar, one newspaper interestingly describing the incident as an unheard-of murder of her husband, suggestingthat the presence of a woman in such an incident really was a distinct shock to English society of the time. Indeed, no one can dispute that murders by women were distinctly less than those of males, as this shock would suggest, but records of malicious ladies seem to be easy to find. Indeed, Catherine Hayess misadventure was certainly not an isolated incident. Another case talks of a Mistress severely whipping, burning (with a red-hot poker) and beating her maidservant with a hammer for allegedly stealing a shilling, while another lady was burnt at the stake for stabbing her husband in the groin with a particularly large carving knife. Still worse was the case of the two Sarah Metyards (mother and daughter) who beat, locked away and eventually starved to death a thirteen year old girl, seemingly through nothing more than sadistic reasoning, as the following testament from another girl in the mothers service seems to testify. The mother was present, and she held the girl by the head while the daughter beat her; the mother was in bed, and the girl upon it: then she was carried up stairs, and tied to a two pair of stairs back room door, by the daughter, the string went round her waist, and her hands were tied behind her; she could neither sit nor lie down. But despite all these obvious cases, and indeed, there are many more, why was such a popular view of woman as occasional sexual/petty thief criminals but nothing more, held as such a society definite? Rates of murderous infanticide seemed be relatively high and although criminals seem to have been in the majority male, how can Carol Smarts statement at all be credited when it seems to be flying in the face of such compelling evidence, as even in this brief essay cases of violence, torture, and outlandish cruelty have been discussed. Perhaps these really are isolated cases, but the answer I find more satisfactory is that, especially in the eighteenth century, society demanded that its gender roles dictated that women could be guilty of sexual disgraces and often petty theft (with which to pay for their childrens upkeep or fashions) and that nasty, violent acts were either covered up, treated as madness, or perceived by society as very much a freak case. Of course, coupled with this, the Eighteenth Centuries most famous female criminals were involved in prostitution; Moll Harvey, Moll Freeman and the notorious Mother Needham all received reasonable press coverage and mild infamy when they were caught and presumably set the acceptable tone for the extent of female crime in the age. The house lately inhabited by Elizabeth Needham, commony calld Mother Needham, a notorious lewd prostitute and procuress. Although, the fact that these women dominated popular concept of womens crime cannot justify the short-sighted view that when women commit crimes they do so in a manner to their sex. Indeed, in conclusion, I would state that Carol Smarts statement, while containing a modicum of truth and having statistic advantage on its side, is however hopelessly over generalized and cannot be credited in terms of true historic accuracy. Yes, in terms of eighteenth centurys general moral conciseness, women were far more likely to commit crimes like prostitution and petty theft, but I would argue that this was down primarily to their social position and role in society rather than any particular difference in character as she seems to suggest. As the many cases of infanticide and the chilling acts of murder and torture in this essay suggest, women were certainly capable of anger, cruelty and malice and the eighteenth century view of the female gender as a somehow weaker, submissive sex who could not rise to murderous anger is simply outmoded and very much a product of the time that could not be justified by the actual evidence. Of course, as my initial quote shows, males statistically are involved in more crime than females. But this does not mean that the female gender is without malice. BIBLIOGRAPHY Darrell Steffensmeier; Emilie Allan Gender and Crime: Toward a GenderedTheory of Female Offending (Annual Review of Sociology : 1996)

Humans and Animals Difference Essay

More than 100 million animals every year suffer and die in cruel chemical, drug, food and cosmetic tests, biology lessons, medical training exercises, and curiosity-driven medical experiments Define and explain animal testing. Is there a need for medical research to be carried out using animal experimentation or are there alternatives to using animals in medical research? What is Animal Testing? Animal testing can also known as animal experimentation or it is also known animal research. Animal research is a fundamental part of scientist and medical process. Animal research has had a vital role in many scientific and medical advance. It is also continue to aid our understanding of various diseases. Animal research is where animals are being used in research projects, and they are also being used as a part of a range of scientific techniques. All these have stated above have included in human trials, cell culture, computer modeling and others. Besides that, animal testing also known as in vivo testing. In vivo testing, they use the non-human animals to experiment. On the other hand, it is also can explain as experimentation that using living organism as opposed to a dead organism. Having animal research are necessary in many areas. Consideration about medical research on animals, it is an important aspect or a key to discovering and develop new treatments in the medical field. Besides that, by doing animal testing, we also can find out the lasts solution in medical research. It is necessary to have animal testing because some of the animals have the certain characteristic that have similarity to human beings. And only by doing medical research on animal we can find out the way to make a better improvement on human’s health. Animal studies are highly informative part of biomedical research. And animal research might be one of the important ways to answer the question that further our understanding of biology. Thus, they consider that using animals is the only way we can test the effect of a genetic mutation, or cancerous cell on the whole body. However, they believe that doing animal research will always help to discover ways to help people and perhaps on others animal in the future. Some of the animal that can immune to diseases which humans can contract and when an efficient amount of testing is done, they will apply all those traits on humans. To determine which preventive solution to be use on human, there is necessary to have research on animals. Humans and animals have more in common than the differences of both of humans and animals have. Like mice, mice share over 90% of their genes with humans. They have the same organs like humans, they doing the same things in the same places. Besides mice, fish and tadpoles also share enough of characteristic with human beings. Even flies and worms also been used in doing research and have come out with a breakthrough. And since animals have an extraordinary of complex systems that have a huge amount of similarities with human beings, and a computer hasn’t been invented to have a power to reproduce all the complex interaction. Thus, we cannot reproduce a beating heart in a test tube or stroke on a computer. Hence, to have animal testing is necessary in order them to discover safe drugs or to achieve in medical progress that can save human lives or perhaps to improve millions of lives throughout this experimentation on animals. As the Department of Health has stated, animal research has contributed to almost every medical advance for the last century. Without animal testing, medical that we know it nowadays wouldn’t be existing. Animal research has help us find different treatments for different kind of cancer, illness, surgery for injuries, antibiotics and vaccines to prevent those most deadly and debilitating viruses. In the other hand, The Federal Law also did requires as long as the test are to be tested on human beings, it will be necessary all the procedures and test will be tested on animals at the first place for scientific advancement and for human well beings. Besides that, it also mentioned that, animals can be used in doing research where there is no better or suitable alternatives methods are available. Of course, some animal research really have a great breakthrough in medical science, but it does not mean that all the animals research have, some of those breakthrough might also have been carried out through non animal experimentation if they had been equally well funded. However, animal testing or animal research is sometimes unreliable as a guide for human biology. It is because different kind of species animals might have different reaction towards the drug that had been testing on them. There’s also a problem on information they have gleaned from animals in the labs. Like what have applied to the dogs, mice or monkeys, there might not necessarily applied on human beings. For example, HIV, is deadly to human beings but it is not for the most laboratory animals. So by searching for the cures of HIV on different species of animals may not produce the result that is applicable on humans. Anyhow, still human-center research invariably gets more accurate, effective and safe results. Like what had Andre Menache from Animal Aid said, â€Å"An animals provide data, yes of course they do provide data; but it might be the wrong data. This is also what she means by, the experimentation results maybe it can applies to monkey, but that does not mean it can also apply on human beings. So which means by the end of result, whatever that you have discover on animals, you will have to discover it again by testing it on humans. Hence, not only the animals do suffer in these experiments but the first few patients whom use these treatments will suffer too. In fact, there are 700 treatments for stroke that had worked in laboratory animals but only have one that works in humans. And even the one treatment is controversial. Scientist and government state that animal testing should cause as little suffering to animals as possible, and since that animal testing should only be performed where there are no others alternatives. An alternative technique is a type of testing method that without using on animals. There are viable alternative that can be used instead of vertebrate animals. And here is one of the alternative called In vitro alternatives. In vitro alternatives are some of the most common types of tests that are being used nowadays. These tests require the use of isolate tissue and cell cultures, and this is which can be harmless and easy to obtain. Besides of vitro alternative, there is also other alternative called micro dosing, in which the basic reaction of drugs are assessed by using human volunteers to receiving well dose below those expected to produce whole body effects. In addition, another alternative that exists to prove the viability of non-animal testing methods and to improve the treatments of using animals testing, and the alternative are known as the three R’s. By using the three R’s, that animals live can be spared. The three R’s stand for: Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement. Firstly, Replacement refers to avoid the using of animals in animal research. Which is possible to replace the living animals to others non-animals method such as tissue culture and computer simulation, where it is possible to achieve the same scientific aim. Secondly, Reduction refers to reduce the number of using animals in medical research. Researchers should use as less animals in an experiment as they can. But of course, that should also have to obtain the same levels of information from among the fewer animals. Anyhow, they also have to be sure if it is necessary to have animals testing. Lastly, Refinement refers to decrease the suffering and distress on animals. Which also mean by making improvement on animal lives that being used in medical research. In addition, if the researchers want to do an experiment using animals, then they must improve the living condition of the animals they used in doing research. However, animals testing have led to remarkable breakthroughs in medical field. Hence, using the alternative method does not really work well as using animal testing. Therefore, some of the times we have to agree the use of animals in medical research to get the best available model for the solution. And the scientist can also choose which animals experiment should be carried out or should not be carried out. In conclusion, using animals in medical research are remains essential. However, animals testing in medical are unpleasant and no one will never really like to do it. But as a part of the safety tests for new medicines in futures, of course they are requiring to have animals testing before they are tested in humans. Thus, at the end, they believe that using animals in medical research will reduce massive human suffering.

How Do Psychologists Research Being in Love?

How have social psychologists researched ‘being in love'? What is love? According to McClelland (1986) â€Å"the mainstream view of love is that it is a state that arises from people mutually reinforcing each other or providing benefits to each other†. This is just one view and love is not that easy to define in one statement. The meaning of love is vast and there are a number of psychological theories that try to define and establish what this concept is. Being in love implies sexual desire and excitement, â€Å" the common expression that people use to describe their passionate desires for one another† (Martin, Carlson & Buskist, p 758). In order to examine the question as to how have social psychologist researched ‘being in love’, it will be necessary to discuss some of the theories that have been put forward, and look at their interpretation of the concept of ‘love’. The works of Robert Sternberg (1986,), John Lee (1973) Carlos Yela (1996) and Hatfield & Walster (1978) will be referred to in exploring the question of being in love Psychologist and Social Scientist Robert Sternberg (1986) proposed his triangular theory which categorised love relationships into three â€Å"orthogonal dimensions† which are intimacy, passion and commitment/decision commitment. Sternberg (1986) argues that without these three dimensions, you don’t have love. â€Å"Each dimension contributes to the quality of love in a relationship. The quality of a relationship is represented by the relative magnitude of each component† (Hassebrauck & Buhl, 1996). The first component, intimacy, refers to the feeling of warmth, closeness, of bonding and of connectedness with someone in a loving relationship. Intimacy comes about when information or secrets are shared between two people and no one else. The second element is passion. Passion leads to romance, which is an essential element, according to Sternberg, in a love relationship. Passion involves sexual consummation and physical attraction. The third element, commitment/decision commitment is a choice that is made by an individual to remain committed in a relationship. Although Sternberg theorized that the three elements are necessary to have love, he also went on to show that when one or more elements are missing, many variations of love are derived. Sternberg came up with seven different kinds of love that are liking, nfatuation, empty love, romantic love, compassionate love, fatuous love and consummate love. These seven variations form his triangle. One is able to easily identify the kind of love that is being expressed by looking at the mixture of elements that it is made up of. Carlos Yela (1996) proposed a structural theoretical model of love, which introduces some variations of Sternberg’s Triangular Theory model (1986). This was done to veri fy the usefulness of Sternberg’s theory to try to prove his four components: Erotic Passion, Romantic Passion, Intimacy and Commitment. The dynamic side of the model was tested and the results conclude that Sternberg’s model can be used as an explanation for love. Some weaknesses of Sternberg’s theory (1986) are that outside of the western world, it is invalid, as a different value system exists in non-western societies where the components of love are not emphasized by intimacy, passion and commitment. Thus this theory cannot be applied across cultures. Also, according to Acker and Davis (1992), there were many gaps in his research in that firstly, the population was not widely represented, as these were graduates and under graduates with ages ranging from 18 – 28 years. Also, the time frames on which this theory is based, where Sternberg states that as commitment speeds up, intimacy grows and where intimacy declines over time, is not mentioned. John Lee’s (1973) book ‘The Colors of Love’ used an analogy of colour wheel as a â€Å"conceptual scaffold† to compare his Love Styles. He went on to state that just as there are three primary colours on the wheel, so too there are three primary Love Styles. They are Eros, Ludus and Storge. Also, he went on to say that just as we can combine the primary colours on the colour wheel to produce secondary colours, so too can this be done with Love styles. Many combinations can be derived from this, but focus was placed on the three secondary love styles, which are Mania (Eros + Ludos), Pragma (Ludos+ Storge), and Agape (Eros + Storge). Eros is a passionate, physical love based on physical appearance and beauty. It entails a deep physical attraction, based primarily on sexual pleasure. Ludus love is classes as ‘game-playing’ where love is treated as a contest or sport. There is almost no commitment as when the relationship becomes too boring, they move on to their next conquest. Storge love is an affectionate love that slowly develops and is based on friendship or companionate love, and is considered to be honest, loyal, and mature. Mania is possessive love that is highly emotional where there is jealousy, obsession and conflict. Pragma love is pragmatic or logical love where individuals take a practical or rational approach in selecting their partner with the view that both parties benefit from the relationship and that they are compatible for each other. Agape love is selfless where there is unconditional caring, forgiving, and giving. Sacrifices are made for love and the happiness of the partner is put above their own. Hendrick and Hendrick (1988) stated that within a relationship, men and women use more than one love style and over time, the styles may vary. Hatfield & Walster’s (1978) book ‘A New Look at Love’, separates passionate love from companionate love. Hatfield et al (1978) describes passionate love as a state of intense physiological desire/longing to be with the other person, and companionate love as the feeling of affection, mutual understanding and respect for the people in our lives that we have deep feelings for. Hatfield spent a great deal of her professional career investigating passionate love (Livermore, 1993) and what was proposed to explain this were three factors: – physiological arousal, appropriate love object and cultural exposure. Passionate love occurs when physiological arousal is experienced in the presence of someone that the love label has been placed on and we term this as being in love as our culture teaches us this Passionate love is seen to be transitory, only lasting a short time, which then leads on to companionate love or friendship. Hatfield (1978) believed that the existence of both companionate and passionate love at the same time in a relationship to be rare to almost impossible, even though this combination is seen to be the ideal balance where there is security and stability of companionate love with the intensity of passionate love. There is evidence in support of this theory by Dutton & Aron (1974) Love on a suspension bridge wherby men were interviewed by an attractive woman whilst standing on a low and high suspension bridge. The results supported the hypothesis that the men on the high suspension bridge would feel more attracted to the woman than those on the low suspension bridge. This was assumed to be the case as because of their height there was an increase in their physiological arousal and as a result they mistook this for sexual attraction in the presence of the attractive woman. In conclusion, we have seen that there is no single definition of love and the each psychological view is different from the other. There is no hard and fast definition of love and what being in love is. We have also see how useful the different interpretations and viewpoints are. The psychological theories of love provide partial explanations for this most intense of human emotion. In summary, after examining the various theories, we can conclude that love is a complex subject of which there will always be new theories evolving as human life progresses and no one answer REFERENCES Acker, M. , & Davis, M. H. (1992). Intimacy, passion, and commitment in adult relationship: A test of the Triangular Theory of Love. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 9, 21-50. Dutton, D. G. and Aron, A. P. (1974). Some Evidence for Heightened Sexual Attraction Under Conditions of High Anxiety. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30, 510-517. Hatfield, E. , & Walster, G. W. (1978). A new look at love. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. Hendrick, C. , and Hendrick, S. S. (1988). Lovers wear rose coloured glasses. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 5, 161-183 Hassebrauck, M. , Buhl, T. (1996). The Journal of Social Psychology, 136, 1, 121-122 Lee, J. (1973). The color wheel model of love. Chicago: Addison. Livermore, B. (1993). Lessons of love. Psychology Today, Mar/Apr 93 Martin, G. N. , Carlson, N. R. and Buskist, W. (2007). Psychology. 3rd edn. Essex: Pearsons Education Ltd. McClelland, D. (1986). Journal of Personality, 54, 2 , 334 – 353, Duke University. Press Sternberg, R. J. (1986). A triangular theory of love. Psychological Review, 93, 119-135. Yela, C. (1996). Componentes basicos del amor: Algunas matizaciones al modelo de R. J. Sternberg [Basic components of love: some refinements to the model of R. J. Sternberg]. Re-vista de Psicologia Social, 11(2), 185-201.

Of Mice and Men - Theme of Loneliness - 1641 Words

OF Mice and Men - Theme of Loneliness Controlled Assessment - Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men’ is written by John Steinbeck. The novel is set in the 1930s during the great depression in California, America. Loneliness is the consistent theme running through the novel, relating as it does to the other themes namely: broken dreams and prejudice. Steinbeck illustrates through Curleys wife, Candy, and Crooks, three main characters of the novel the great negative effect of loneliness on humans. All the characters encounter and face problems and negative feelings due to their deep loneliness and isolation. This is counterbalanced very cleverly through the friendships between George and Lennie, two main characters in the novel.†¦show more content†¦It becomes apparent that the treatment Crooks received thought out his life made him very cynical. Whenever the dream, the hope of all ranchers that one day they will own a ranch is mentioned he dismisses it. He says I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an on the ranches with their bindles on their ba cks an that same damn thing in their heads. Hundreds of them. They come, an they quit an go on......An never a god-damn one of em gets it. Crooks may be pessimistic, marginalised, fearful, resentful, alone nigger but he still has a dream, the hope that one day he will experience again the joys of his childhood again. Candy is another very lonely character in the novel. The old handyman with only one hand as the result of an accident worries that the boss will soon declare him useless and demand him to leave the ranch. A very important aspect about Candy is his relationship with his ancient dog. The dog, as well as Candy himself, represent the future for people that will not achieve their dreams. Candy has spent the best years of his life working for someone else’s ranch, only to lose his hand and have little money. He is very lonely as he declares â€Å"I ain’t no relatives, nor nothing.â€Å" Furthermore his loneliness is shown by his desire to talk to George, the intelligent guy that still has hope for a better future, and shares his dream by promising him money to buyShow MoreRelatedTheme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men998 Words   |  4 Pages In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck utilizes loneliness as an overarching theme, there is however one character that is noticeably longer than the others in Steinbecks novella. This character is Crooks, a bitter and aloof man, he used to have a family with brothers and a 10 acre chicken ranch. Now he lives the life of a stable buck isolated by his race (he is the only African American on the ranch) among other things (Steinbeck,2002). This loneliness truly characterises him and causes no end toRead MoreTheme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men1368 Words   |  6 PagesOf Mice, Men and Loneliness John Steinbeck is the author of the story Of Mice and Men. He grew up in the Salinas River Valley in California, where Of Mice and Men takes place. Steinbeck grew up in 1929 when the Great Depression was going on. Of Mice and Men also takes place during the Great Depression. There were many migrant workers during the Great Depression. Migrant farm workers are men who move around the country working and earning wages and then moving to the next farm. These migrantRead MoreThe Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men816 Words   |  4 PagesDepression. He dropped out of college to pursue his passion for writing. In 1937, he wrote Of Mice and Men, one of his more serious novellas. In his novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses the characters Crooks, Curleys wife, and Candy to contribute to the overall theme of loneliness. To begin, Steinbeck uses Crooks, the stable hand who is discriminated against, to contribute to the theme of loneliness. Crooks is so highly discriminated against because he is the only black man on the ranch,Read MoreTheme Of Loneliness In Mice Of Men725 Words   |  3 Pagestalk about and no one to talk to.† In the book Mice of Men by John Steinbeck he expresses loneliness through many of his characters in his book. Loneliness is a theme that is throughout the story that so many characters had. Their loneliness can let us see that characters in a different light and Steinbeck wants the reader to see. George, Crooks, and Curley’s Wife are characters that have loneliness that festers inside of them in different ways. Loneliness can come from many different things and takeRead MoreThe Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men1919 Words   |  8 Pageslonely an’ he gets sick†(Steinbeck 72-73). While an African American man named Crooks made this comment in Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, this sentiment can also be applied to anyone who is lonely, especially if they lived through the Great Depression. In the 1930s’, many people experienced awful circumstances that forced them to resort to desperate measures for money. Men often deserted their families and became , migrant workers, travelling from job to job in order to survive. In the novella, CandyRead MoreOf Mice and Men - Theme of Loneliness Essay609 Words   |  3 PagesOf Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is book of many themes; one that is very prominent is loneliness. Loneliness is common in many peoples lives and that is also true for the lives of the characters of the book. Almost all characters in the book are l onely in one way or the other. The main characters of the book are George and Lennie. Even though these two seem to have each other, they are both lonesome in a way. Lennies mental retardation isolates him from many people. George is the only personRead MoreThe Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men By Stienbeck1596 Words   |  7 Pages In the book Of Mice and Men the author Stienbeck captures life,segregation,friendships and rivalries all wrapped in one. For instance when Curley’s wife says â€Å"Listen nigger† she said â€Å"you know what I can do if you open your trap?† (80). That portion of the scene reveals just a slight representation of what life as a black man in the 1930’s was like on the farm. Candy, Curley’s wife and Crooks are three very different people who live on a farm with other workers and acquaintances, yet somehow experienceRead MoreEssay on The Theme of Loneliness in Steinbecks Of Mice and Men691 Words   |  3 Pagesstrong theme held throughout the entire novel Of Mice and Men. Without it, many of the key events that occur in the book would not have happened, for example, the death of Curley’s wife, which eventually lead to the unfortunate death of Lennie. To begin with, the overall atmosphere created by the author implies a sense of loneliness. ‘Soledad’, the setting of the book, means loneliness in Spanish, and many hints, such as the numerous games of ‘solitaire’ played, also refer back to the theme, asRead MoreEssay on Theme of Loneliness in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men1136 Words   |  5 PagesThe Theme of Loneliness in Of Mice and Men      Ã‚  Ã‚   In the novel, Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck used George and Lennies relationship and the theme of hope to point out the loneliness in the novel. The novel starts off and is set in Soledad which means lonely. At the beginning they get a job working on a farm together. Lennie is a little retarded and has great physical strength that isnt too controllable. As they work from ranch to ranch, Lennie relies on George for guidance and help. RatherRead MoreThe Theme of Loneliness in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men Essay870 Words   |  4 PagesThe Theme of Loneliness in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is set in the farmlands of Salinas Valley in California during the 1930’s. At this time there was a world wide depression caused by the Wall Street crash in America. John Steinbeck was born and brought up in Salinas California, he had lived and experienced a life of a migrant worker and that is what inspired him to write this novel (novella?). This meant he could paint a lot