Theme Of Loneliness In John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

Loneliness is a state of sadness caused by a lack of friends or company, it is the quality of being remote and isolated from people whether it was by choice or not. In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are hired at a ranch for a new job. They meet Curley, the boss’ son, who does not like Lennie and always wants to start problems with him. They also meet other interesting people such as Candy, Crooks, and Curley 's wife. They open up and offer their thoughts and feelings to George and Lennie that they have never spoke about before to anyone, which accidently causes Curley’s wife to be killed by Lennie resulting in Lennie being shot by George. 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.

Crooks he is lonely because he is the only black person at the job. “Many people don’t come in the niggers ranch very much”(70) he told Lennie “Growing up I always been the only black family,or black man in a place.”(70) In the book it’s proven that Crooks is lonely because when Lennie came into to his ranch he began to mess with him and act like someone hurt George and he was not coming back he did this because he usually does not get to have fun He stop before Lennie hurts him he does this because he usually never gets to have any fun with anyone because no one is ever around. Crooks has it really hard the boss takes his anger out on Crooks. He is not allowed in the ranch there really one thing he can do if he gets lucky and that is play horseshoes outside the

In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men Steinbeck describes the lonely life of migrant workers going from farm to farm. These workers go from farm to farm surviving with nothing except themselves and their dreams of a better life/ While the protagonists of the novel are close friends, most of these migrant workers are quite lonely and are without a friend to lean on when times get hard. Steinbeck explores this isolation as one of the major themes in Of Mice and Men through two stereotypes that were arguably the most discriminated against during this time: the black male, symbolized by the stable buck, Crooks, and the depression-era female, symbolized by the attention-seeking woman, Curley’s wife.

A key aspect of any novel or story is the way the characters interact and feel towards everything. In John Steinbeck’s, “Of Mice and Men”, the characters tend to give off the effect of loneliness and the feeling of isolation throughout the novel. The main characters that give off the effect of loneliness and the feeling of isolation are Curley’s wife, Crooks, and George. They’ve been truly alone, if not in mind then in body.

He lives alone in the harness room; a little shed that leaned on the side of the barn. He was segregated from all the other men, and he quickly became plagued with loneliness and alienation. Crooks just wanted to be accepted by the other men. In chapter four, Lennie went into Crook’s bunk because the other men went into town. Crooks told Lennie what it is like to be a lone black man and some of his everyday struggles. Lennie asked Crooks “Why Ain’t you wanted?” Crooks replied “Cause I’m black” he also told Lennie, “I tell ya a guy gets lonely and he gets sick.” The explanation supports the fact that Crooks was plagued by loneliness and alienation and he wanted

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

Within the novel Crooks deals with loneliness, because he is segregated by his skin color.

The first way the idea of loneliness is portrayed in the story is Crooks. Crooks is the black guy that can’t go in their bunkhouses. He stays in his room by himself because they don’t like him because he is black. When Lennie went to his room he said “you got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody 's got any right in here but me”. Lennie just went in there because he saw a light. Crooks got offended because why would he let them in his room if he isn’t allowed to be on their bunkhouses. When the men are playing cards in Crooks room he isn’t allowed to play. Crooks told Lennie “cause I’m black. They play cards in here, but I can’t play because I’m black”. They are prejudice against Crooks and the is actually a really nice guy. Lennie and Candy are the only ones who went to talk to him and they made him happy because the never gets to talk to anyone.

It’s hard to imagine going through life without a single friend. Having at least one companion in life is essential to one 's mental well being. Simply having someone to talk to, knowing that there is at least one person in this crazy world that cares. Companions can be quite simple and can also be very complex. The characters in Steinbeck 's novel, Of Mice and Men, portray varying degrees of companionship.

The loneliest person in the story Of Mice and Men by John Stienbeck is Crooks. Since crooks was black all the ranch workers would stay away from him. The men on the ranch were very racist. They don't let him sleep in the bunkhouse or play chards with them because he's a "nigger". Crooks has no friends or family o he reads because he can't really socialize with anyone Crooks suffered because he wasn't allowed to defend himself.

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. However he first tells Lennie about their dream, about tending rabbits, living off the land from the crops, and shoots him. Friendship and Loneliness is shown here where George is Lennie’s best friend, and everyone else stays away leaving Lennie alone. Other times in the novel the reader witnesses many other characters face this same factor of isolation. Some examples are,

In the book Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, he writes about two men one named Lennie and one named George having a dream, but is ruined through the troubles of Lennie 's doings. This book was written in the 1930’s talking about migrant workers and how they survived through that era. In that era all migrant workers preferably work alone, but with George and Lennie they stick together because Lennie is a more challenged person so he doesn 't know his wrong doings which causes lots of trouble for George. On page 94, one of the most significant passages is written on having a dialogue between George and Candy about how they were unable to get the farm because Lennie had ruined their chances of getting it. Steinbeck creates a motif of loneliness through the different characters he writes about, ties in different strands of the story to make one storyline, and foreshadows events to come.

In the novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, there are two men George Milton and Lennie Small who share the same dream of owning their own ranch someday. This novel was written during the Great Depression where many people would go out and find work. Represented by the characters George and Lennie the two men show the hardship of finding work. George and Lennie were two lucky men who had the companionship many others did not. Other men like Carlson, Crooks, Candy, and Slim would go out on their own and would often be very lonely as they didn’t have any family with them. While many men in this age live on their own, they need to find a person or object to take hold of for companionship.

“Loneliness does not come from having no people around you, but being unable to communicate the things that seem important to you.” This quote by carl jung explains why geroge Milton, needs Lennie smalls in his life. At the beginning of the story George named all the things he could do without lennie but throught the story we see that George really does need Lennie. George keeps Lennie around so he wont be like other ranchers and live a lonely life. Not only does Lennie keep George saine, he also gives George hope, and keeps him human.

He was the only African-American on the ranch. He was forced to have his own room due to the color of his skin. He was very lonely but he didn't like to let anyone know, “You got no right to come in my room. This heres my room. Nobody got any right to be in here but me” (Steinbeck 68). This shows that he's been secluded and alone for his whole life that he's gotten so used to it that he started pushing people away. Crooks finally let Lennie in his room and when he did he scared Lennie into thinking George was not coming back. He was talking about himself when he scared Lennie into thinking he would be alone for the rest of his life. Crooks, when talking to Lennie, said, “S’pose you didn't have nobody. S’pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play ‘cause you was black” (Steinbeck 72). This shows how lonely Crooks is because he has no one to turn to because of his skin color. The only person who would go into Crooks’ room was Lennie. Lennie did not care about the color of Crooks skin because all Lennie wanted was a