Loneliness is a very sad thing; it is caused back lack of attention from close friends or family. I believe there are different levels of loneliness. Someone can miss their husband and feel lonely, someone can go on without friends for a while and feel lonely or, like in Of Mice and Men a person can have absolutely no one to trust in or to even talk to and feel alone in the world. I believe that a person can be lonely within a society because you can be surrounded by a million people with them only being an acquaintance to you.

The civil war caused many people to feel lonely and to think they had nobody there besides themselves; most women had to turn to God and religion in this time more than ever because that was literally the only thing they had left. A lot of women had to take over their husband’s jobs to be able to support their family. So not only were they lonely they were also put under a lot of pressure. Also dealing with the loss of their husbands can make a women feel like she has nobody left, this is an example of being lonely within a society because she might still have her kids and family , but when the most important person to you leaves your side it seems like the end of the world.

For the men it is said that the level of loneliness is much bigger, in situations like war, people tend to get attached to their peers and partners. They go through watching people die, to actually killing the people on the opposite side. And the sad thing is when all of those experiences have brought 2 men close together when those 2 men have confided in each other and helped each other throughout the whole thing , one of the men has to watch the one be murdered and it hits them like the biggest and loudest thunder strike they’ve ever heard or seen and their whole world comes crashing down on them because they have realized that not only are they completely alone, but they are completely alone fighting for their life. They live everyday not knowing what the next day has coming for them.

The union confederate armies were haphazardly raised, badly organized and poorly trained barely fed and that just made the stress level even worse. This sort of compares to the depression and the Dust Bowl, people were not only lonely and mourning for the deaths of their loved ones but they were starved and forced to be put through harsh situations. For the soldiers that were put through war their leading ideals were going through starvation, murder, and having to be strong throughout the whole experience. For the women and children it was independence and having to take on major responsibilities.


A lot of important events that happened during the civil war including Lincoln’s inauguration, the attack on fort Sumter, The fact the West Virginia is born as a state and how 4 more states join the confederacy, While all of this physical change was happening , a lot of people when through emotional distress and this was a huge cause of loneliness to both the north and the south.