How Does Steinbeck Present The Theme Of Friendship In Of Mice And Men

Steinbeck initially presents Crooks in a dialogue between George and Candy though he himself was absent. This signifies that they may not have been friends with Crooks because they were discussing him without his presence. Steinbeck possibly did this to give the audience secondary insight on Crooks’ character before he is

Crooks’ aloof attitude and his own insecurities mask his loneliness. Lennie carelessly approaches Crooks in his room, but Crooks immediately tells him to leave and that he “ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room” (Steinbeck 65). Crooks may not be able to go see the others, but that does not mean he does not want to. Past experience of discrimination about his color and prejudice against him creates trust issues against others who approach him. When Lennie stays, Crooks finally says “Come on in and set a while… Long as you won’t get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down” (Steinbeck 67). Crooks gives Lennie a chance to stay because he realizes Lennie does not understand the discrimination

Crooks thinks Lennie is crazy because it is unlikely they will be able to own land when the economy is so bad. They are talking on a Saturday night in Crooks room in the stable. Crooks is not interested in having a conversation with Lennie, but eventually warms up to his presence and lets him stay. Steinbeck shatters reality over Lennie by having him talk to Crooks who lost all hope in the world. The author’s unique way of saying that nothing good will come hints at Lennie’s fate.

     Crooks is fascinated by the strength of the friendship of Lennie and George especially how close they are. Crooks said, "Well, s’pose, jus’ s’pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then?" (Steinbeck, 79) Crooks asks these questions because he does not have any friends. He was curious about the friendship of Lennie and George. He wants the people to feel the way that he did when he was lonely, having nobody with them. He is striving to achieve sympathy and understanding from others. Crooks would work for

But while Steinbeck details those virtues, he also includes serious defects in personality. Crooks... does not want Lennie... to enter his segregated space, despite his intense hunger for friendship.” Although Crooks desires companionship, he pushes away those who try to talk to him as a result of the isolation. This is shown in the novel when Lennie and Crooks chat in the room, where Crooks expresses how “...a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (Steinbeck, 37). This dialogue emphasizes the loneliness that Crooks is experiencing.

Of Mice and Men is a book by John Steinbeck, which is about two people named George and Lennie and their journey to get to their “American Dream.” The story shows many challenges they face and the other characters they meet. George being a smart controlling friend and Lennie is being childish and uneducated there are many problems they face and many arguments they have. In the book Lennie is sympathetic because of his many traits such as, being childish, having uncontrollable strength, and being unintelligent and uneducated.

Crooks likes the other men to think he is very secure and values about his privacy, but it shows that in he would rather be in the bunkhouse hanging out with all of the other men. Curley’s wife makes it very clear that she doesn’t love Curley and that she regrets their unhealthy marriage, “ ‘I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fellow.’ “(Steinbeck 89). Lennie is always lonely because he likes to pet soft things but pets them too hard and kills them.

While in the barn, Lennie becomes extremely defensive when Crooks confronts him about George forsaking him. Not knowing that Lennie is rather dangerous, Crooks, a black and excluded worker at the ranch, sees that Lennie is vulnerable and interrogates about George leaving him. The response was, “‘He won’t do it,’ Lennie cried. ‘George wouldn’t do nothing like that. I been with George a long time. He’ll come back tonight’” (Steinbeck 71). It can be seen that Lennie is not emotionally wounded by George’s comments, and perceives that they are devoted to looking after each other. Thus, George’s commitment corroborates that they have a strong bond and he does not mean to hurt Lennie, but is simply letting off built up

Loneliness is often revealed by the desire to be superior to others; as Crooks saw weakness in Lennie, Curley’s wife saw weakness in Crooks and both used these weaknesses to feel superior to others. While many characters in the ranch are lonely in their own ways, Crooks’ loneliness is not one that could be solved by leaving the ranch and starting a family. The underlying division between races was not one he could control; his fleeting hope of joining Lennie’s farm in the future was shot down by George’s reaction, and he later reminded Candy “what [he] said about hoein’ and doin’ odd jobs…” and told him to “jus’ forget it,” (Steinbeck 83). Being left out of the daily interactions of other farmers, Crooks did not feel like he had a place in the

Lennie is not able to understand things on his own and he needs George to explain everything to him. When Lennie walks into Crooks’ room, “Lennie smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends” (Steinbeck 68). Even though Lennie travels and works with George, he still feels alone because of the lack of understanding between the two. When he is talking to Crooks, Crooks says, “Sometimes he talks, and you don't know what the hell he's talkin’ about” (Steinbeck 70). Even Crooks realizes how lonely Lennie is because he cannot comprehend what is going on most of the time.

The novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck tells the story of two unexpected friends traveling together in California. The two are quite different from each other, Lennie is brawn but not bright whereas, George is smaller and more of a thinker. Although near opposites of each other, these two have held a strong bond to one another since they were young. Their friendship is seemingly out of place, with no other as strong as theirs mentioned. Throughout the duration of the book, the importance, rarity, as well as benefits of hope and strength of the

Now, one of the major events in the book that falls under the theme of friendship is when George kills Lennie. This may seem seem cruel without context, but George had to kill Lennie after Lennie kills Curley’s wife, as Lennie’s mental state was deteriorating steadily

This gives Crooks a brighter outlook on his future than he would have if he continued to keep to himself and asks to go with them to work for free, “If… you guys would want a hand to work for nothing just his keep, why I’d come an’ lend a hand. I ain’t so crippled I can’t work like a son-of-a-bitch if I want to,” (Steinbeck 76). Although the men never get their land, Crooks would have never had the opportunity to get off the farm if he did not talk to and befriend Lennie. This shows that having friends can open opportunities that may never arise if one keeps to

Throughout the book, Steinbeck uses many characters to show loneliness. One of those characters is Crooks. Crooks suffers from extreme loneliness. Crooks lives in a bunkhouse where he is surrounded by many racist men that spend their time discriminating him just for being black. He lives by himself because the other workers won’t let him be with them. “ I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse,” “ Why ain’t you wanted?” “” Cause I’m black. They play cards in there because I’m black.” (Steinbeck p.g 68) Also, Crooks admitted himself that he’s lonely. “A guy needs somebody -- to be near him.” “ A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. (Steinbeck p.g 72) In this quote, Crooks is telling Lennie that as long as you 're with someone doesn’t matter who it is,

For instance, when Lennie first enters the room, Crooks appears defensive at first. Stating how “[no one has] any right [to be in this room] but him” (68), emphasizing once again the effects of his alienation. But once Candy enters the room, Crooks began to struggle concealing his pleasure with anger (75). Using juxtaposition to illustrate Crooks’ reaction to his visitors, Steinbeck makes it clear that Crooks has become skeptical and vulnerable to how people have treated him. Quickly proving his vulnerability by explaining to Lennie that his race is the reason why he has been so alienated from the rest of the ranchers. With this in mind, one can conclude that because of his maltreatment, Crooks’ has conditioned himself to believe that his dreams are not only unattainable, but unfit for someone so different like him. Making it much more difficult for himself to move on in