John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men: Loneliness

The first character that exemplifies loneliness is Crooks. Crooks was always lonely because of his race. Crooks never had a black friend growing up which was no different from the ranch. He stated, “There wasn’t another colored family for miles...now there ain’t a colored man on this ranch.” Crooks felt like all white people didn't want to be around black people which made him isolate himself.He also felt isolated because he was not permitted in the bunkhouse like the other men. Since the guys wouldn’t let him in their area, he felt no one belonged in his, making him isolate himself from everyone else. “They play cards in there, but I can’t play because i'm black. They say I stink. Well,I tell you, all of you stink to me” (75). He also stated, “I tell ya a guy gets too lonely” . This shows you he actually get lonely.

An additional character who portrays loneliness throughout the book is Curley 's Wife. She feels lonely and isolated because nobody wants to be around her in fear of Curley seeing them with her, so she thinks that she has no one to talk to; this leads to a deep, fathomless feeling of loneliness. When she finally does find someone she can talk to, she mainly talks about how she hates the ranch because nobody ever talks to her. Another favorite topic of hers is to talk about how lonely she is all of the time. “—Sat 'day night. Ever 'body out doin ' som 'pin. Ever 'body! An ' what am I doin '? Standin ' here talkin ' to a bunch of bindle stiffs—a nigger an ' a dum-dum and a lousy ol ' sheep—an ' likin ' it because they ain 't nobody else” (Steinbeck 78). This is the part of the novella when the reader stops thinking of Curley 's Wife as a “tart” (Steinbeck 28) who “gives the eye” (Steinbeck 28) to every man she sees; rather,

When Lennie visits the bunkhouse to see his pups, he strikes up a conversation with Crooks and he talks about his history: “There wasn’t another colored family for miles around.” When Crooks was a child, he would play with the white kids. He didn’t feel isolated then. It’s the exact opposite of the current situation - Crooks wasn’t isolated because of his race, nor physically isolated. “...there ain’t a colored man on this ranch” This is Crooks’ current situation. He is isolated because of his race and also physically. He is restricted to the bunkhouse. Crooks tries to substitute his loneliness with his

The character Crooks has shown loneliness throughout the whole story and that drives him to a point where he doesn’t want to be existent to all the other men. In the middle of the book Lennie and Crooks start a conversation and Crooks explains how he’s feeling. Steinbeck writes, “‘They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, all of you stink to me’”(68). Crooks doesn’t get much sympathy from the men because he is black. He is so desperate to play cards with the guys, but all of them leave him out and makes him feel even more lonely. Crooks experiences the most desolation because the men tell him that he “stinks” and can’t play cards because he’s “black. In addition to the last example, the novel also explains in the story how separated Crooks is from everybody else and shows us how alone he actually is. Crooks is the most lonely character in the novel and it shows by his actions and personality. Steinbeck shows, “This room was swept and fairly neat, for Crooks was a proud, aloof man. He kept his distance and demanded that other people keep theirs” (67). He felt desperate enough to tell the men to keep their distance so he

The first example of a character who experiences loneliness is Crooks. Crooks is an African American stable buck. He is the lowest at the ranch because of his race. Crooks lives alone in his own bunkhouse because he is not allowed in the bunkhouse where the white workers live. He has no one to talk to because he is different than the rest of the group. Later in the novela, Crooks confides in Lennie. “A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody” (Steinbeck 72). Lennie is the only person on the ranch willing to listen to Crooks. Crooks is telling Lennie that it drives him mad that he doesn't have anyone to talk to. He sits alone in his bunkhouse reading books.

For example, when Lennie approached Crooks and attempted to befriend him, “Crooks said sharply, You got no right to come in my room. This here's my room. Nobody got any right in here but me” (4.7-8). Crooks has been isolated so long that he isn’t even willing to make a new friend. Although he can’t control his skin color, he can attempt to control his social interactions, but because he has been forced into a constant state of loneliness for the majority of his life, he automatically turns everyone away. Crooks details his childhood by saying, "I was born right here in Southern California. My old man had a chicken ranch, ‘bout ten acres. The white kids come to play at our place, an’ sometimes I went to play with them, and some of them was pretty nice. My ‘ol man didn’t like that. I never knew till long later why he didn’t like that. But I know now." He hesitated, and when he spoke again his voice was softer. "There wasn’t another colored family for miles around. And now there ain’t a colored man on this ranch an’ there’s jus’ one family in Soledad" (4.37). Although he was a social kid, the realization of how his skin color would affect him in ways others don’t even have to worry about, sent him into isolation. The constant fear of racist actions and comments forced Crooks to be extremely lonely, and living in Soledad where only one other black family lived didn’t

Crooks, he dealt with being lonely different than other characters. Crooks was usually in a bad mood and took kindness as sarcasm. Since he was the only black man/worker on the farm, the other workers treated him like any other black man or woman in this time (like he wasn't human). The men made him sleep in his own room outside of the bunkhouse, and this was one of the reasons that the loneliness was driven onto him. He doesn't like anyone in his room because the men don't like him in the bunkhouse, this is noticed when he states "You got no right to come in my room. This here's my room. Nobody got any right in here but me." A way that he copes with the loneliness by reading while he has time. He also gets off on making other people feel like him. An example of this is when he tells Lennie that George might not come back to the ranch. Lennie gets terrified and starts to panic, while Crooks sits back and gets a laugh out of it.

he gets lonely and he gets sick.” This gives the impression of how isolated Crooks’ feels since he is the only black man on the ranch and because for this reason he is humiliated and separated

Born of African-American descent, his isolation is only worsened from his childhood where he was the only black child playing in a group of white children. Crooks’ father didn't like that he hung around a bunch of white children, however Crooks being so young he didn't know about the racism around him. When he is speaking to lennie in the barn, he tells him that,“”A guy needs somebody- to be near him.” he whined,”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. I tell ya,” he cried, “i tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.””(72-73). This quote from Crooks explains how crook feels, and has felt for most of his life. Crook explains that everyone just needs someone to be with throughout their life, growing up with racism in the world has made Crooks believe that he can't make a connection to anyone ultimately leaving him alone at the farm for the rest of his life.

He became lonely because he had a dream that will never happen now; he doesn’t have anyone in his life; and he will waste all the money he gets now.George and Lennie had a dream that one day they were going to have their own little farm with animals and crops. They were going to save up their money so they could buy a farm. Since Lennie died, George could not longer purchase a farm.When George was forced to shoot Lennie, he knew that he was not going to have anyone else in his life. He knew that he was not going to have someone and he was going to be like the rest of the guys on the ranch.George knows that he will go into town once he gets his paycheck and just spend it because that is what every other guy at the ranch does. On Page 104 George mentioned, “An’ when the end of the month comes I could take my fifty bucks an’ go to a ... cat house...”George became lonely when Lennie died because he knew that he was not going to fulfill his

(Steinbeck 13). George talks to Lennie about the dreams they had. They try their hardest to make it come true but, in the end things don’t go as planned and get messed up. Loneliness affects the characters of Of Mice and Men through George shooting Lennie, Crooks being defencive, and Candy losing his dog.

Loneliness is shown through the character Lennie and the mental disability he has because he can’t do anything for himself. Lennie’s very simple mind causes him to rarely think for himself. His best friend George, takes care of him while they work. After they get run out of their old job in Weeds because of lennie, they are sitting by the river just

The reason why Crooks is the most lonely character is because he is black. Since Crooks is black, the men on the ranch are really racist to him. They don't let him sleep in the bunkhouse or play cards with them because he's a "nigger." Crooks has no friends or family, and so he reads because he can't meet and talk with anyone so he has nothing better to do. He is a complete person who is disliked and ignored and is shut out by community of people/all good people in the world.

Another lonely character is Crooks, the African- American stable hand who works on the ranch. Sadly, Crooks is the only black man on the ranch, so he is cast aside for his skin color. One day, Lennie goes into Crook’s little shack, and Crooks gets angry. He knows that he is not welcome in the bunkhouse so he doesn't know why Lennie is aloud in his room. In the end, he is happy for the company, as the none of the other ranch hands talk to him. Knowing Lennie will not pick up on anything he says, Crooks rambles about his plight. Having nobody like you or that you can identify with is extremely isolating and annoying, especially during the Great Depression when black people are not thought of positively. Crooks even admits. Although in vain,

Many of the characters do suffer from loneliness in the novel Of Mice and Men. George lets everybody know early on in the novel that he is lonely. When George reminds Lennie that "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world” (Steinbeck Section 1). Men like George who travel from farm to farm usually never have anyone to look to for companionship and protection. As the story goes on, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife all state their deep loneliness. Crooks says, “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. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick" (80). In a world with no friends to confide in, random people will have to do. Each of the characters search for a friend, someone to confide in and be able to talk to on an everyday basis, as Crooks says. In the end, however, companionship of Curley’s kind seems impossible to find. For George, when Lennie dies, George’s dreams and hopes of finding a companion disappears.