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Simile
Explanation and Analysis—Men and Loneliness:
The particular brand of loneliness that Charles experiences is deeply intertwined with the way he views and treats women. Steinbeck demonstrates this in Chapter 6, using metaphor to describe the women Charles kept company with while Adam was away:
Charles began to keep one slovenly woman after another. When they got on his nerves he threw them out the way he would sell a pig. He didn't like them and had no interest in whether or not they liked him.
In this metaphor, Steinbeck compares Charles's views on the "slovenly women" he "keeps" to his views on pigs. In Charles's mind, women are commodities, intended to be bought and sold and traded in for a new model when they break. He doesn't enjoy their companionship, not really—to him, these women are not really human beings, but simply other living things to keep in his general vicinity. Charles's relationships with women, in other words, are shadowy facades of real companionship.
It is Charles's mindset, then, first and foremost, that forces him to remain mired in loneliness. He considers women beneath him, no better than pigs. This patriarchal, misogynistic worldview prevents Charles from forming deeper, more emotionally fulfilling connections with those around him.
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