OF MICE AND MEN ESSAY
Loneliness is a tough, sad feeling for many people and can definitely have affects on how they act and/or feel. Within Of Mice and Men the constant topic loneliness is talked about. Of Mice and Men is a novel written by John Steinbeck and is a realistic fiction novel that takes place in California during the Dust Bowl Era. Just about every character talks about their loneliness, some more that others. All the characters say at one point that they feel lonely and it affects their acts. Between Candy, Lennie, George, Crooks, and Curley’s wife all their traits of loneliness affect the way they act.
Curley 's wife is an alone character throughout the story and it affects her choice to go to everyone and talk to them and “ask”
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Crooks is an all alone, isolated character in Of Mice and Men, he is so isolated that he isn 't allowed in the bunkhouse because of his skin color and this loneliness and isolation affects him. When Lennie comes into Crooks ' room Crooks says "You got no right to come in my room. This here 's my room. Nobody got any right in here but me." Loneliness affects him here because he isn 't allowed in the bunkhouse so he has his own cabin and when Lennie comes in he isn 't used to people and he gets frustrated with Lennie. The first quote shows that Crooks doesn 't typically like people in his room because he isn 't used to it. This affects him because when Lennie comes into his room Crooks begin to snap at him and saying that he doesn 't have the right to be in there. Crooks ' is also affected because it causes him to be frustrated and it seems that his loneliness makes him uncomfortable around the others. Everyone doesn’t allow him because of his skin color, they think he is different from the others because at the time skin color was a big difference. Crooks gives Lennie a little talk to help Lennie understand what he is feeling. He says "S 'pose you didn 't have nobody. S 'pose you couldn 't go in the bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was black." Crooks is explaining to Lennie that unlike him he doesn 't have someone to be there for him like George. He is also saying that he feels lonely that he isn 't allowed in the bunkhouse with the others. The second quote
Although at first when Lennie barges into Crooks’ room he seems annoyed, he secretly enjoys the company. Crooks says to Lennie after scolding him about coming into his room, “‘Long as you won’t get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down’” (69). With this dialogue from Crooks, readers can infer that he doesn’t get any company, and he invites Lennie to stay. Additionally, both Crooks and Lennie were not invited to go into town with the rest of the workers. He is racially divided and excluded from the rest of the ranchmen’s entertainment, which results in his confinement.
We all may have had the feeling of loneliness and isolation, wanting companionship feeling abandonment. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, there are men living on a ranch having their own reasons for loneliness or being isolated. The three characters Crooks, George, and Lennie crusade dealing with own ways of loneliness and isolation. Crooks has no one that likes him because he’s black, Lennie struggles mentally and George struggles with always having to care for him. They all can’t decide whether it is that they want to be alone or not.
Crooks telling Lennie to leave his room demonstrates him being marginalized makes him push other people away from him because he doesn’t want other people to be around him even if they want to be around him. When Candy comes into the barn looking for Lennie and finds Lennie in Crooks’ room, Crooks tells Candy to come inside in an annoyed way, but in reality, “It was difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger” (73). When Candy also shows up at Crooks’ room, Crooks tries to make it seem like he is angry that Candy is coming into his room, but he isn’t angry at all and has a hard time hiding it. Crooks is glad that
Crooks is very lonely and solitude for being alone every day. As a result, he wants to have friends who he can communicate with. No one has come into his room except for Slim and the boss, so when Lennie and Candy come, it is difficult for Crooks to “conceal his pleasure with anger” (75). Although he wants to express anger about people coming into his room, inside he is happy about it and enjoys it. This instability and loneliness that he has leads him to say how he could work for George, Lennie, and Candy on their farm.
Loneliness is a very common In Of Mice and Men, loneliness is a very common thing, the men who work on the farms travel from farm to farm usually alone, "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don 't belong no place. They come to a ranch an ' work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they 're poundin ' their tail on some other ranch.
(Steinbeck 80). Crooks is talking to Lennie about if George were to never comeback and support Lennie. He says this because then he would be like Crooks as he does not have anybody to interact with socially. Another example of Crooks being lonely is in the same conversation with Lennie, “ S 'pose you had to sit out here an ' read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books.
Throughout Crooks’ life, he is forced to deal with racial segregation ever since he was young. After a long day of work on the ranch, Lennie sees the light in Crooks’ room and goes inside. Crooks explains to Lennie racial segregation and how he has had to deal with this issue in his life. He explains, “‘S’pose you didn’t have nobody.
Crooks (named crooks after being kicked in the back by a horse) is a very controversial character as he is the only black member of the farm and doesn’t actually feature to much in the book. When he is in it though most of what we find out is when Lenny walks into his room. From the start its clear that crooks is a very abused and defensive because he says “You got no right to come in my room” as soon as he notices Lennie stood in his room even though Lennie doesn’t really see any difference between skin colour and doesn’t understand why this is happening. Most of what can be known about Crooks is from the items in his room. His room is actually connected to the barn showing they do not value him as a person but only as a stable buck.
They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black"(Steinbeck 68). Here Crooks describes to Lennie how he is not allowed to play cards and enjoy life. Which causes him to feel great misery, as he is not treated similarly to others. Surely, these are many features that show how lonely Crooks is compared to the other
Some of the characters in the book have been described as more isolated and lonely than the other character, with the ones in particular ; Crooks, Candy and Curley’s Wife. Crooks is lonely because he is black and has a crooked back which is physically isolating him, Candy is lonely because he is old and only has one hand, Curley’s Wife is lonely because she is the only woman on the ranch. All the people living on the ranch are lonely to some extent. This is proven when Steinbeck describes the bunkhouse where all the workers sleep. " Over each bunk there was nailed an apple box with the opening forward so that it made two shelves for personal belongings of the occupant of the bunk."
Loneliness and isolation is an ongoing theme throughout the novel Of Mice and Men, experienced by several characters to different degrees. Some characters are more isolated and lonely than others, yet every character in the story goes through this theme during one point in the story. There are various reasons why each character is lonely or isolated. In general, all the ranch workers feel some sort of loneliness because they move alone from ranch to ranch and do not have real connections with others, Curley’s wife experiences this theme because she is the only woman on the ranch and nobody wants to interact with her because Curley is very protective and hostile of her. Thirdly, Candy struggles through being lonely and isolated after Carlson shot his dog and because Candy does not work with the others since he is a swamper.
Lonely Characters in Of Mice And Men Imagine a world where people didn’t really care what one said to another, and neither cared enough to ask each other questions. A place where everyone existed in silence, but were together at the same time. As portrayed in the novel, Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, in which Steinbeck’s idea of loneliness is isolation in silences. The author teaches the reader that friendship is mostly about conversation, and magnifies the effects of isolation through the eyes of Crooks, Curley’s wife and Candy.
Crooks feels discriminated against and is defensive and angry with the other men for not including him. Another quote which displays Crooks's loneliness is, "S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black. How'd you like that? Spose You had to sit out here an read books.
Of Mice and Men was published in 1937 during a time of bi-racism between the caucasians and the african americans, and the apathetic Great Depression, which may have served as inspiration. In the novel two opposites attract, a gargantuan but mentally challenged man by the name of Lennie, and a small, nimble, and intelligent man named George. Suffering from a mental illness Lennie gets into trouble when he 's alone, but George always saves him, George knows Lennie doesn 't do anything, “out of meanness” as he says. Undoubtedly the reader assimilates that Lennie kills a young lady, said to have done so accidentally. Furthermore without any control George was forced to kill Lennie.
Crooks is a black man who isn’t allowed to be in the house with all the men. The men won’t allow him to come in because of his color. Crooks is lonely and he doesn’t bother the men. One night Lennie came in and was talking to Crooks and telling them about the farm that they were going to get. For once Crooks thought well maybe I won’t be lonely I could go with them and don’t have worry about none of them.