John Steinbeck depicts isolation very well in his book “Of Mice and Men”. He portrays the need for companionship as well. John Steinbeck shows isolation and the need for companionship through setting, relationships, and characterization in his book, “Of Mice and Men”.
Isolation and the need for companionship are some of the major themes Steinbeck portrays through the setting in his classic novella, "Of Mice and Men". Fittingly, he uses the decade of the great depression as the backdrop for his story. During this era, society’s views isolated certain groups of people. Accordingly, Steinbeck demonstrates several examples of isolation. The first comes from a stable hand named Crooks when he says, "Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black." (Steinbeck 68). Interestingly, Crooks faced two forms of isolation, from being a migrant worker, and from being black. Even worse, he was the only black ranch hand. Isolation was a common way of life for workers in the time period of the great depression.elaborated George , “Guys like us, that
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He shows the need for companionship through the characterization of Candy. Candy explained, “ ‘cause I ain’t got no relatives nor nothing.” (Steinbeck 59-60). This quote tells us that Candy is alone and wants friends. He demonstrates the need for companionship through the characterization of Crooks. “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. I tell you a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick”. said Crooks (Steinbeck 72-73). One thing this quote shows us is that Crooks feel as if he is going mad because of his loneliness. He shows the need for companionship through the characterization of Lennie “If you don’ want me, I can go off in the hills an’ find a cave.” (Steinbeck 12). This quote explains that Lennie does not feel loved. To recap Steinbeck shows, through the characterization of Candy, Crooks, and Lennie, the need for
This suffering of loneliness has a great effect on his life, as shown later in Steinbeck’s writing. After his conversation about George, Lennie’s guardian and companion, Crooks tells Lennie, “‘S’pose you didn’t have nobody…I tell ya a guy gets too lonely and he gets sick’” (73). This demonstrates the suffering behind Crooks’ loneliness because he’s experienced the “sickness” of being segregated. The result of his treatment by the men leads to a poor, unhealthy lifestyle; physically and mentally. Crooks endures the pains of desolation, which builds up the effects of being separated.
Yet Lennie does not understand the difference in how he makes friends and how Crooks makes friends. Steinbeck expresses Crook’s indifference by stating, “Lennie smiled helplessly in attempt to make friends. Crooks said sharply, ‘You ain’t got no right
While sitting with both Lennie and George, Crooks quote, “a guy gets too lonely, an’ he gets sick” (Steinbeck). The readers gains the knowledge that no one at the ranch talks or interact with Crooks. He has been isolated his entire life. And after the arrival of Lennie and George, he realizes that two men who are different can be close friends. The dream of Lennie and George is to buy their own ranch, live together and have their own
When the word friendship pops in your head what do you think? You probably think of a person or a pet. In the novel, “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, many of the characters are isolated from the real world and are lonely. Crooks, who is an African American stable buck, is discriminated because of the color of his skin. Crooks isn’t allowed to go into the bunkhouse with the other guys, he isn’t allowed to play cards with them either.
This quote shows that he will keep telling Lennie even though he has already told him. Also, the companionship between them stays unbreakable throughout the book.
Secondly, Candy was looking for Lennie to tell him about what he thinks about the ranch, he entered the Barn and found Lennie in Crook's room. Candy says, "Must be nice to have a room all to yourself this way. Sure, said Crooks. And a manure pile under my window. Sure, it's swell."(Steinbeck
Steinbeck portrays the intense loneliness through his character Crooks who was shunned because of his skin color and had to avoid the others on the ranch because of how they treated him. Not only was he loathed for his skin color, but he also had to deal with disability so his life was very difficult from the start. “if Crooks is not essential to the story's plot, he is crucial for elaborating the story's theme” (Johnson). This clarifies the fact the Crooks did not place a huge part to the story but he is crucial to understanding the time period this story takes place in. John Steinbeck uses Crooks to display the racism that an African American would have to cope with.
Statics say that about one third of Americans feel lonely or isolated. There are more than 3 million people across The United States. Sometimes people feel like they are connected to each other in some way through social media. However, the sad truth is that social isolation is deadlier than ever. Everyone goes through this sad feeling at some point in his or her life, including characters from the award-winning novel written by John Steinbeck.
Steinbeck displays through the dialogue and characterizations that these characters experience isolation because of both social barriers and personal choice. Crooks being an African-American on the ranch, full of whites, struggles racially which causes his withdrawal from the society. Crooks explains to Lennie his when he’s accompanied by him “ A guy goes nuts if he ain 't got nobody. Don 't make no difference who the guy is long’s
Throughout the story, Steinbeck’s use of character development and dialogue of Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife reveals that loneliness and isolation are caused by both social barriers and sometimes personal choice. During the start of the novella, Candy, an old swamper, is revealed to be lonely and distant from the other men due to his disability. Compared to everyone else, he is the oldest one, and to further isolate himself, he only has one hand. This prevents him from working as much as the others, which, in turn, causes him to distance himself from the other workers. In the beginning, when George in hesitant in staying in the bunks, Candy was persistent in keeping him there by saying, “Tell you what…last guy that had the bed was a blacksmith…clean a guy as you want to meet.
Crooks is isolated because of his skin color. As the only black man on the ranch, he is not allowed into the bunkhouse with the others, and he does not associate with them. He combats his loneliness with books and his work. Candy is isolated because of his age and disability, making him less useful on the ranch and therefore insignificant. The lack of reaction to Candy's pleading look when Carlson wants to kill his dog represents the lack of empathy that the other men feel for those in pain.
In ‘Of Mice and Men’, written by John Steinbeck, friendship is portrayed as one of the main themes in this novella and a very important part of people’s lives. Steinbeck also portrays friendship by highlighting the importance of friendship and showing how its presence and absence can trigger many positive and negative emotions. Its presence creates hope, feeling of companionship and a sense of responsibility. In spite of friendship’s presence creating positive feelings, its absence does the complete opposite. It generates a feeling of loneliness and isolation.
In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the era of the Great Depression in the 1930’s is revealed through a simple story of ranch workers who hope to improve their lives. Migrant workers, George and Lennie, have a friendship that is based on trust and protection. The other workers lack the companionship and bond that these two men have. In the novel, the absence and presence of friendship is the motivation for the characters’ actions.
In Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men the main theme is Loneliness and Isolation. Steinbeck really creates an image in your head of the life of the migrated ranch men. He hides the fact the characters are isolated in the language he uses. The town that the ranch is close to is called “Soledad” which means loneliness in spanish. In latin “Solitaire” (the card game the men play) means alone and isolated.
Lastly Crooks goes through this theme because he has to stay in a room next to the barn and is isolated from the others because he is black. Steinbeck uses different factors to portray the loneliness and isolation within characters such as physical or mental, which then deliver various messages to readers. Curley’s wife struggles through loneliness and isolation because she is the only woman on the ranch. Curley’s wife is