Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Although Crook, Curley's Wife, and George are lonely, ultimately you need to have someone in life.

Loneliness can be a very harsh emotion. Some let it take over their whole lookout on life . The way each individual deals with it is different but sometimes it bothers people to the point where they let it affect their dreams and decisions. In the book Of Mice and Men, characters make big decisions that affects their dreams that leave them unhappy.

In John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, he shows us what it is like for

Loneliness is sadness because one has no friends or company. In Of Mice and Men there are tons of lonely characters but, the top three loneliest characters are Crooks, Candy, and Curley's wife. The most lonely character is Crooks because he is black and all the ranch workers stay away from him. The second lonesome character in the novel is Candy because he has no family left and he had a dog but then his dog was killed. Finally, the last character is Curley's wife because she is the only girl near the ranch so she has nobody to talk to.

“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world” (Steinbeck 13). Loneliness affects people in different ways. Some people go out of their way to get attention from others, and others isolate themselves. In the story Of Mice and Men, some of the people living on the ranch are struggling with loneliness themselves. Loneliness affects characters in Of Mice and Men through Crooks isolating himself from others, Curley’s wife flirting with other men for attention, and Lennie worrying about George leaving him to take care of himself alone.

During the height of the American economic collapse many people became depressed during this era which is bound to loneliness. In John Steinbeck’s “of Mice and Men”, two men, George and Lennie are faced with the challenge of finding a job during the Great Depression. George has to look after Lennie due to Lennie’s mental disabilities. Lennie ends up creating many problems throughout the story in which George has to get out of himself. In the novel we run into three immensely different characters plagued by loneliness because of discrimination.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck discusses loneliness not only in the primary characters but in the secondary ones as well. Crooks lives his life in isolation mostly due to racism. After losing his dog, Candy is lonely because he feels as if he has lost his best friend. Curley’s wife does not get the attention that she thinks she deserves so she seeks it out in the other men around the ranch. All three of these characters have their own ways of justifying their alienation.

In the book, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, loneliness is a big part of many characters’ lives. Curley’s wife can’t talk to anyone, George didn’t have anyone to share his troubles with, and Candy doesn’t have anyone either.

Loneliness “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty” (Mother Teresa). In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, many of the characters fight with loneliness. George, Crooks, and Curley's wife deal with loneliness throughout the novel. All they want is to feel wanted, accepted, and to know someone actually cares about them. John Steinbeck uses loneliness as one of his strongest themes in his novel, written during the Great Depression to emphasize the American society.

Loneliness in Of Men and Men. “No man is a failure, who has friends.” stated by Clarence in the famous Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life, John Steinbeck backs this quote very frequently throughout his novella Of Mice and Men. George and Lennie have a unique relationship compared to everyone else because they have each other and their dream of one day being ranch owners.

‘I gotta think about that. We was always gonna do it by ourselves.’ Candy interrupted him, ‘I'd make a will an' leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, 'cause I ain't got no relatives or nothing…” (Steinbeck 59). Candy is so lonely and isolated he has no one to go to.

In society, solitude is an inevitable matter of life that not even the toughest or superior can escape. Many people need loved ones in their life with whom they may relate to and socialize on a daily basis. Without friends or family, people would suffer from seclusion, lack of communication and purpose. Loneliness may result as a cause of negative impacts as well as display the feeling of rejection. In the novel Of Mice and Men, the author John Steinbeck demonstrates how loneliness plays a significant role in the lives of many characters including Curley’s wife and Crooks.

Loneliness can be one of the worst feeling anybody can experience. Being isolated can lead to loneliness. Crooks in the book Of Mice and Men is a perfect example of a person being lonely due to isolation. Candy and Curley’s wife are also lonely but for different reasons. In the book Of Mice and Men Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife all experience loneliness and isolation.

In the book Of Mice and Men there are many character's that are lonely but interesting. The book is about two best friends Lennie and George. The two main characters had the highest dreams. George was gonna buy a house with help from Lennie and a few others. Sadly the story took a terrible turn for the worse. Steinbeck included many different theme's in this book including racism, sexism and loneliness.

Candy is lonely because he lost his hand, and he is also old. He doesn’t have any friends until George and Lennie come. Curley’s wife is lonely because she is the only female on the ranch, and many people are avoiding her to avoid trouble. Crooks is miserably lonely because he is a black, and at this time, there is a large amount of racism and segregation. John Steinbeck includes all of these episodes of loneliness into his novella because it best represents the time period. People that are “different” from others are pushed aside. A person would be disregarded if they were a different race, sex, or if a person had some kind of disability. Also, the author is trying to show that some people had no friends back then, and it was usually everyone to themselves. It is quite strange that George and Lennie would be traveling around. Life is just lonely, and the goal is mostly to survive. A person still needs company though, but company and friendship isn’t found during this time period in which the book takes place in. On the other hand, these ideas are significant in the novel. Since Candy lost his hand and is lonely, he becomes willing to join George and Lennie in their dreams adding to the plot. The fact that Curley’s wife is being avoided by the workers allows us to find out her inner thoughts when she finally does have a conversation. These