John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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John Steinbeck once said, “We are lonesome animals. We spend all of our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say-and to feel- ‘Yes, that is the way it is, or at least that is the way I feel it.’ You’re not as alone as you thought.” In this quote, Steinbeck is saying that we spend our lives alone, and our main goal is to try to not be alone. We find comfort in those whom we share common feelings with. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays that idea in the stories and dreams of George, Lennie, Candy, and Crooks. George and Lennie are the epitome of friendship as they are opposites yet balance one another out. George is short and fair yet intelligent, whereas Lennie is big and…show more content…
Crooks is an African-American man who is highly prejudiced against. The white men do not speak to him and he has separate sleeping quarters from the other men. When all the other men went out to town, Lennie enters his room and Crooks is harsh and acts rudely to him. But Crooks allows him to stay and talk with him after he realizes that Lennie is not like the other men. Lennie does not have the ability to feel prejudiced against someone. He doesn’t understand the difference between Crooks and the other men. When they are talking, Lennie starts talking about his dream that he will have with George. Crooks obviously has a negative response to the idea, but that is only because he does not want to get his hopes up. This may seem like quite the contradictory idea of friendship, but indeed Steinbeck uses Crooks to portray the idea that one finds comfort in others when they share a common goal. Crooks’ goal is to get out of the ranch and be able to talk to white men and not be prejudiced against. Lennie’s dream is to live in a little house where he will tend to the rabbits. Crooks finds comfort in Lennie because they both have higher aspirations and goals in life. Crooks laughs with Lennie and finally has a friend. He may not act like a friend to Lennie, but the reader understands that Crooks likes Lennie because Lennie does not ignore him like others: He actually treats him
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