Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Crooks is the stable boy, he is neat, likes books and is pretty quiet. He is also black, because of this he is discriminated be the other men at the farm. This prejudice leads Crooks to be extreme isolated, left to tend the horses alone. When Lennie tries to make friends with Crooks he reacts defensively, as the text states, “Crooks scowled, but Lennie's disarming smile defeated him. "Come on in and set a while," Crooks said. "'Long as you won't get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down." His tone was a little more friendly.” This quote shows that since Crooks hasn’t had any friends for so long that he almost can't deal with someone trying to be nice and interact with him.

Curley’s wife is a complex villain whose lack of identity could imply that she is rather a possession of her husband, and not a person. When she is first introduced in the novel, she is presented as “jail bait” (32). The first image of Curley’s wife is a woman whose “face was heavily made up” (31). The men classify her as a “tart” (28). As the only female on the ranch, she inevitably feels lonely and craves attention.

Curley's wife is greatly misunderstood by the ranchers on the ranch. They talk among themselves and call her mean words like a tramp. The guys think because she's a girl and Curley's wife, that she just is trying to get the ranchers to do bad things with her. Mostly they think this because, of the way she walks around the ranch all dressed up and looking pretty. They don't realize that she dresses up for herself to make her feel better not for the pleasure of the men. A girl in they're time is suppose to sit inside all day, make dinner, and watch the children, but she doesn't want to be ordinary she wants to stand out. She is being stereotyped by everyone on the ranch including her own husband Curley. We learned that she could have went to

The character Crooks is not accepted due to the fact that he is an African American male in a white dominated society. The ranch owner has Crooks segregated from the rest of the workers, and in his own separate room. All of the people treat him unfairly by the things they say to him just because of the color of his skin. Referring to Crooks as the n-word quite often, they only see this situation from their point of view. “‘Sure. Ya see the stable buck’s a nigger’” (20). Because of these characteristics of Crooks he is lower than the typical man in society. Crooks also does not fit society’s ideal image of a person because he is also handicap. When Crooks was younger he was kicked in the back by a horse, and now he has a crooked back. “‘Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him’” (20). One night, when George and all the other guys went out to town, they left Lennie behind at the barn with the puppies. Later on, Lennie found his way into Crooks’ bedroom in the back of the barn. Of course it was different at first, and they did not seem

Among many of the characters, Crooks behaves by isolating himself due to loneliness because of his skin color. Although it is not as popular as it was before, racism is still active today and has been going on for generations. The author strongly portrays loneliness within Crooks as many examples are shown throughout the story, one being easily exposed to discrimination because he is the only black person at the ranch. It’s also easy to tell he isn’t welcomed when it comes to socializing with others for many reasons; he lives in a shack where urinating on the floor is the only option, has the job of a stable buck, and is talked by no one. Obviously, Crooks is isolated on purpose and is only kept to do the dirty work. “A guy goes nuts if he

Crook was a different race as all the other men on the ranch, he knew a life of acceptance before the ranch and he doesn't want to be treated that way, because in the book he states that, “ I ain't a southern negro” pg. 70. He is a studious man in contrast to the ranch hands because it states in the book that, “A guy needs somebody to be near him” pg. 72. He is not seen nor treated as a human, they disrespect the man and treat him a bad way as it says in the book, “I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny” pg.

Curley’s wife knows that her beauty is one of her very powerful traits, which she uses to flirt with the boys on the ranch. She has recently got married to Curley; she doesn’t like Curley, and also is the only women on the ranch. She is prohibited from going anywhere on the ranch. She get bored and lonely, but her attempts to engage the attention of the men on the ranch only serve to push them further away from them. She has already given up on her dream of a better life as a movie star and appears to hang her hopes on any man who will listen, as Lennie appears to “ ‘'Nother time I met a guy, an' he was in pitchers. Went out to the Riverside Dance Palace with him. He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soon's he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it’ “(88). Instead she got married to Curley and now she isn’t able to go out and be free instead she stays on the ranch locked up nobody to talk to or anything to do. She is the most isolated because she is the only women on the ranch, she is very lonely, doesn’t have anyone to talk with, and doesn’t really have anything that can help her escape from her

Curley’s wife, who is never given a name, but always called “Curley’s wife”, is shown with a lot of sexual prejudice. She is referred to as a “looloo” (51) with a very flirtatious nature and “she got the eye goin’ all the time on everybody”, and she might “even gives the stable buck they eye” (51). A "ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl, specially like

Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch and is also the only character to never be referred to by her name. Even the narrator doesn’t call her by her name: “He looked helplessly back at Curley’s wife.” (Steinbeck, 95). The lack of name coupled with the fact that Curley’s wife is referred to as Curley’s wife shows the blatant misogyny of the men on the ranch and serves to highlight the opinions of the general public towards women during the Great Depression. Curley’s wife is called that because the “name” dehumanizes her and reduces her to only mattering if she has a man behind her.

Curley’s wife is always alone and has no one to talk to because everyone is at work or busy with other things. She comes into the bunkhouse multiple times to talk with George, Candy, or Lennie. Nonetheless, Curley’s wife is ignored most of the time because the men do not want to get involved with Curley. She often comes to the men when she looks for Curley. On the evening when Curley is in town, Curley’s wife tries to find him on the ranch.

Another character, Crooks, also is left solitary. He is the only black man on the ranch, and therefore considered different. His name is a reflection of he ‘crooked’ back, and unlike the other ranchers, he shares a room with but himself. He is referred to as ‘Nigger’, although the ranchers do not realise it is a derogatory term, which is highly offensive. He is ‘not allowed to play deck hands’ with the rest of the ranchers, and in the end, he resorts to reading the ‘Californian civil rights code’ and a ‘dictionary’, but even these are not replacements for friends – ‘Books ain’t no good- a guy needs somebody to be near him’. Years of solitude have caused Crooks to become a very bitter and cynical individual, which is noticed when he tries to discourage

As Candy, the housekeeper mentions to George, ?Well, I think Curley?s married?a tart.? (p. 14) What the men do not know is that Curley?s wife is just incredibly lonely, once having dreamt to be a star, and marrying Curley after the failure of that dream. She is all alone in the secluded world of the ranch. Having a husband who pays no attention to her, she tries to find someone to talk to among the men in the ranch, dressing provocatively for that reason only. Unfortunately, the combination of misunderstanding and their knowledge of only one type of women ? the kind they encounter at ?cat-houses? ? drives the men away from Curley?s wife.

Another reason Crooks is isolated from the rest is because he is being discriminated against by the rest of the characters who are all white. In Chapter 4 the text says “Negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room; a little shed that leaned off the wall of the

Crooks explains “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 he's with you.” It's seems as if Crooks is worried that he’ll go crazy if he has no one to talk to as a friend. He feels isolated from everyone else and blames it on his race and skin color.

She has no friends and no one takes the time to listen to her. As the only woman on the ranch she has nobody to turn to. Curley doesn’t appreciate her or take the time to talk to her. When she goes to Crook’s stable her emotions overtake her and she admits her loneliness, “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in awhile? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?” (77) She is always stuck in the house either alone or with Curley. Curley just ignores her and doesn't give her the attention that she wants. So she finds it from other men. As the only woman she has only the workers for company. She is isolated and all alone. She only gets attention when she flirts with the men, nobody appreciates her for anything else. They all know she’s unfaithful and flirty, so when alone with her they take advantage of her. The men on the ranch only give her attention if it is to flirt with her,“”If I catch any one man, and he’s alone, I get along fine with him. But just let two of the guys get together an’ you won’t talk...Ever’ one of you’s scared the rest is goin’ to get something on you.”” (77) The guys on the ranch only pay attention to her when they are alone with her. So they can mess around with her without the other workers knowing. They especially don’t want Curley to find out. It’s hard for Curley’s wife to feel at home on the ranch when no one wants to be her friend.