Loneliness affects people all around the world, from star athletes and celebrities to just your average teen that no one really knows or cares about. In the book, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, loneliness is one of the main themes. I think the reason this book is so popular in teenagers is because they can relate to that same feeling of loneliness that the characters are feeling in the book. The teenage years are said to be some of the greastest times of your life, but they can also be the loneliest times too. Firstly, what cases someone to feel alone? A lot of teens have parents that are in the military and that causes them to move around from state to state or even country to country. This makes them put a wall up and they are afraid to ever get close to anyone because they know that soon it will be time to pack up and leave again. These teens can relate when George tells Lennie about his lonely life because he has to migrate from farm to farm and never gets close to anyone.

Secondly, it is hard for teenagers to find real friends in their high school years. If they don't find a good friend early on, it is hard to make new friends because of all the different cliques. This relates to loneliness because if someone does not have a few close friends that they can really depend on and talk to, then they feel alone. This can often lead to depression and affect their behavior in school.


Last but not least, there is a huge difference between feeling alone, and being alone. A teenager who does have close friends and family that they can talk to might feel alone at time because they haven't found a girlfriend or boyfriend when all of their other friends have one. They just feel lonely at that particular moment in their lives. But being alone can be a totally different experience that could affect a teen for the rest of their lives. Like, if a teen has to go through the loss of their parent(s), they are literally alone in the world and this would have a greater impact on their life. Also, in Of Mice and Men, George experiences being alone in the end of the book when Lennie dies. He then has to go on with his life by himself.

All in all, loneliness is never a good thing to have or feel for anyone, especially teenagers. But it does affect everyone at some point in time. Someone that seems to be the most popular and have the most friends, or the star players of the football team are most likely the loneliest of them all.