Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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John Steinbeck not only portrays the theme of loneliness through his main characters, but by his secondary characters in his novella Of Mice and Men. In society, women are not wanted and that is how Curley’s wife feels. Similar to her, is Crooks for being a negro. Candy, besides being old and crippled, gets the impression he is no longer of use. The novella follows two unlikely friends, George and Lennie who travels through California looking for new jobs after Lennie ruins the previous. They encounter some friends on the way and in the end, George ends up killing Lennie for the better. The three may have companions all around, but they always feel isolated. Curley’s wife despite being married, does not believe she has the love she deserves.…show more content…
Due to his ethnicity, he is segregated from the rest of the ranchers. He lives out in the barn by himself and when Lennie comes and stumbles into his living space, he is not very welcoming at first. “S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk house…’cause you was black. How’d you like that?” (Steinbeck 72) Crooks keeps tormenting Lennie about George being hurt and not being able to return home. He just decides to do this to Lennie because Crooks knows they have each other while he has no one. All Crooks wanted to do was for Lennie to feel what he is feeling now, alone. Candy and Curley’s wife make an appearance, and one person in particular is automatically not welcome. She makes several racial slurs towards Crooks until he bursts. “You got no rights comin’ in a colored man’s room” (Steinbeck 80). Just like how the rest of the guys do not allow him in the bunkhouse, he does the same where he sleeps. Originally there was no one allowed in his little area until Lennie. Though he had no one to talk to, he was a bit more happier without anyone bothering him. Crooks wants nothing more than to feel like he did growing up among families of African Americans around and be…show more content…
Unlike Curley’s wife and Crooks being outsiders, he is a physically disabled. When Lennie and George are discussing their American Dream, Candy could not help but interrupt and suggest, “S’pose I went in with you guys” (Steinbeck 59). He knows he is starting to become worthless to his job. If he can secure a place on the little ranch, then he will not have to worry what will happen if and when the boss will choose to sack him. From his accident with machinery years before and the lost of his hand, he is assigned a separate job. All he does is clean the bunk house, for that reason he earned the nickname the Swamper. “They’ll can me purty soon” (Steinbeck 60). With one of the simplest and easiest jobs on the ranch, he is beginning to have a harder time and is deteriorating. Candy and his dog are alike, having each other and being of old age. Once his dog was shot involuntarily, he fears he will end up like that, off the safety and security of the ranch. Considering the death of his long time man’s best friend and his declining heath, his spot on the ranch is getting thinner by the
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