Loneliness is a significant theme in today’s society, the period of Native Americans and the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. These three topics come from all different time periods, but the emotions and thoughts of loneliness are similar in each topic. Today, most teenagers face being alone whether it’s not having any friends or being bullied by classmates. Native Americans had to deal with being alone and face the reality of racism. John Steinbeck focuses how migrant workers and others work on the fields during the 1930’s and how people have no freedom to chase the American Dream. This important theme runs through these topics to show how loneliness occurs in all different kinds of people and how some can’t make it through the thought of being alone.

Teenagers feel lonely everyday when they walk through the halls at school or not being accepted by their fellow classmates. Feeling rejected or unpopular can cause depression for some and could lead to deeper problems like suicide or to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. These certain groups of people have a higher level of loneliness because of the pressures brought on by school, sports and friends. With these different pressures, it makes trying to fit in high school immensely harder. This topic has been a concern in high schools for years, and the urgency to “fit in” to social cliques is one of the main problems in teenagers. This relates to Native Americans and how race is significant in different schools. Teens could be judged for their skin color while Native Americans had a certain look to their group. In Steinbeck’s novel, he relates loneliness of working alone and trying to find freedom in one’s self. Teen’s search for their own independence, but if their different they won’t get respect of everyone around them.

The Native Americans, also known as American Indians, searched for new land for themselves and were quickly formed into new tribes or nations. They had new natural resources and jobs to learn on their own like hunting and fishing. They wanted to be part of the country but still keep to their own ideas and their own tribes. They were alone for the fights and attacks that went on with the Europeans. They didn’t have the strongest weapons and the Europeans were considered stronger than the tribes. Being alone in a place where they were trying to find freedom and individualism was harder for them because of their race and different looks. Race has been a significant problem in World History and it makes the different races feel lonely and think that they don’t belong. The Native Americans had a difficult time trying to adjust to their new land and not being accepted and these occurrences happen in high school and in the 1930’s from George and Lennie, the two main characters in Of Mice and Men.

John Steinbeck portrays George and Lennie has two completely different characters but they both had the same goal; to find freedom for themselves. They have been alone on a journey to find work and earn enough money for them to survive. This novel is set in the 1930’s during the Great Depression, so society has a huge cloud hanging over them thinking that there is no way out. During this time, people felt alone every day with no money or job. The migrant workers work all day in the fields to receive minimum wage. They feel like their lives consist of working all day and never finding a way out. This relates to the teenagers perspective that the kids won’t find friends and be alone for the rest of their lives, not knowing that high school is just the first of many steps to achieve. In the Native American era, they also worked all day and tried to find a way to find the freedom of being accepted by other people in the country.

In the end, these three topics show how loneliness affects people and how it holds back the search of one’s self and freedom. Teenagers and Native Americans felt like they never belonged in their outside society or cliques and George and Lennie were just two young men who were in the search for freedom even though they knew working in the fields wouldn’t get them very far. Loneliness is a key theme in Of Mice and Men, but it’s also a theme that runs through different parts of history and today’s society to be a main concern for everyone.