The Structure Of Solitude : Ontological And Social Constructions of Isolation In Steinbeck's "of Mice And Men"

This paper explores the relationship between existential and social isolation in John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," placing the novella within a theoretical framework that incorporates George Herbert Mead's symbolic interactionist framework, Erving Goffman's dramaturgical sociology, and Martin Heidegger's ontology of "being-with" (Mitsein). In Steinbeck's world, which is emotionally and economically devoid, his characters are not just individuals; they are also products of displaced social roles. Here, the novella—which is frequently interpreted through a sentimental or socio-historical prism—is considered as a phenomenological investigation into the impossibility of genuine coexistence in the context of late-industrial capitalism. The ontological and systemic isolation in "Of Mice and Men" is not coincidental.