Naiveté and Loneliness in Classic and Modern Literature

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Contrast: Historical setting used to communicate the theme of loneliness

Though[w] the reader is aware that the general setting of Of Mice [x]and Men is the Great Depression, Steinbeck uses it to communicate the theme of loneliness. Considered the worst collapse of the economy the world had seen, the depression left people (mainly men[y]) poor and desperate for work and ultimately cretaed the motto of “every man for himself.” Early on in the story, Steinbeck describes “a path…beaten hard by boys coming down from the ranches to swim in the deep pool, and beaten hard by the tramps that come wearily down from the highway in the evening to jungle-up near water…” [z](Steinbeck 1). Steinbeck references the two different people groups who utilize the pool during the setting of the Great Depression. The “boys” refer to the men who possessed [aa]jobs most likely on ranches to lighten the load of their families economically. On the other hand, the Depression Era affected [ab]those who had [ac]little education and the quote proves [ad]the [ae]existence of “tramps” who were people who constantly traveled in search for work. They worked not necessarily for the money, but for a place to stay and eat. It was a desperate, lonely life. [af]An iconic comment made by Small states, “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then the go into a town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to” (9). In the first chapter, Small [ag]comments on the general scheme of the Great Depression by saying that it’s [ah]a difficult life out there for a ranch hand. He specifically describes the lost souls produced by this era meaning that they worked only to survive, possessed no permanent home and travelled from place to place just to reach a blind dream of being able to call something as their own. [ai]In a way, Steinbeck is trying to say that loneliness might be even worse than the poverty itself[aj].

One of the most recognizable literary choices Savit uses is to convey a message of loneliness through the setting of WW2. “When [ak]Anna Lania woke on the morning of the sixth of November in the year 1939… first to a prison in Krakow, where they lived, and subsequently to a number of other interment facilities across Poland, before finally being transported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany” (Savit 1). From the following passage, one can see that the narrator refers to the general setting of WW2[al] from the allusions to the city of Krakow, Poland and the “Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany” which was a real camp during that time. However, although Lania eventually found was taken under the Swallow Man’s “wing”, Savit clearly communicates a theme of loneliness even through the Swallow’s Man principles of life.[am] He states, “People are dangerous. And the more people there are in one place, the more dangerous the place becomes“ (60). As the primary principle of the Swallow Man’s strategy of living on the “road” which he teaches Lania, many people too lived with this same expression in mind in order to avoid conflict to and survive the war. [an]One could say that the Swallow Man clearly was a little sick in his mind as he promoted the absurd idea of the benefits of isolation and loneliness to a young child who barely understood the war and only desires to be in the comfort of her kidnapped father.[ao] Though the Swallow Man convinces the reader at first that he acts as a guardian and father figure, Savit uses him instead to understand the general time era of the Great Depression enhance[ap] the subject of loneliness[aq].

Although the message of theme [ar]of loneliness through its historical setting may not be as apparent in Of Mice and Men as it is in Anna and the Swallow Man, it is still a present and recurring idea in both novels. While Steinbeck uses only a few brief passages from the setting of Soledad, which means lonely town[as], the reader slowly gains a feeling of loneliness throughout. The reader first expects Of Mice and Men to be a story about a friendship that perseveres [at]during the unlikely time of the Depression. However, the story ends with an unfortunate ending of Milton becoming one of the lost souls of the depression – as he had lost Small who was the one who kept their impossible dream alive[au]. [av]Likewise, Steinbeck only uses a few short scenes to hint his message throughout to create an [aw]unexpected ending[ax]. As WW2 is an odd choice for a magical realism novel, Savit expresses the idea that although Lania possesses [ay]various companions on the journey, people are selfish and eventually abandoned her as “each man is the steward of his own soul…” (Savit 5). Similar to Of Mice and Men, the Swallow Man is first alluded [az]as her next father figure only to end up leaving Lania alone in the conclusion. Yet, both authors pertain the message that loneliness is [ba]sometimes even more difficult to cope with than both miserable historical settings[bb].

Conclusion

After examining both Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Savit’s Anna and the Swallow Man, one could [bc]make the conclusion that the growth of their naïve main characters are very different; both authors choose to project the same theme of loneliness through their historical setting. While the way Lania is [bd]described early on was very similar to Small’s childlike manner, [be]Steinbeck chooses to project a message of empowerment and strength in naiveté while Savit believes that growing out of it makes a person better. At times, the reader may wonder why Savit chose to convey the theme of loneliness while the title of his debut novel was called Anna and the Swallow Man. Similarly, Steinbeck named his novel Of Mice and Men referring to two characters – Small as the mice and Milton as the men.[bf] With an [bg]open ending in both stories, they [bh]each emerge as interesting and unique due to the choices Steinbeck and Savit makes [bi]for their novel’s well-known historical setting and naïve characters[bj].

Word Count (only body paragraphs): 1,770

Works Cited

Burnett, Maria. “Spring 2016 Flying Starts: Gavriel Savit.” Publisher’s Weekly, 1 July 2016, http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/70811-spring-2016-flying-starts-gavriel-savit.html.

The author Maria Burnett is a credible journalist who writes in detail about Savit’s background in more than one paragraph (as seen in