Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is a wonderful novel. The story takes place during the Great Depression and is centered around the lives of men that work on a ranch in California. When protagonists George and Lennie come to the ranch, they realized how lucky they are to have each other. People on the ranch tell George and Lennie that they often feel lonely. Among those who represent loneliness are Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Curley. The reader is introduced to Crooks and his loneliness for the first time when Lennie stumbles into the barn to pet Slim’s newborn puppies. Crooks is the black stable buck who lives in the harness room. Crooks immediately gets mad at Lennie for walking into his room. After talking with Lennie for awhile, Crooks reveals that he is often lonely. As a child, Crooks was part of the only black family for miles, but he still played with the white boys. Now that he is on the farm, the white men feel superior. Apparently, Crooks smells bad and is black, so the men do not allow him in the bunkhouse. Crooks hates the other men, so he gets mad at Lennie for invading his privacy. Crooks tells Lennie that he is very lucky to have George. Crooks believes that “a guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody” (Steinbeck 72). He is usually by himself. Crooks soon realizes Lennie’s mental condition and takes advantage of him by saying that George will not come back from town. Crooks does this because for the first time, he feels power over someone else. Soon