Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In addition, Crooks also does not know how to relate and function normally anymore because of how his loneliness has effected him. Crooks 's animosity was exemplified when Lennie comes into his room unannounced. He greets Lennie with: "Come on in and set a while... 'Long as you won 't get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down." Crooks has been lonely for so long that he expects people not to talk to him. When Lennie comes in and does not have any intention of hurting him, he realizes it and he let 's his guard down. It may seem that he doesn 't desire friendships or affection, but he no longer knows how to deal with his loneliness. It has made him into another person, one that obtains a relentless hostility toward anyone and everyone that gets close to

Lennie disarms Crooks’ initial hostility with his simplicity which results in Crooks becoming softened by Lennie’s smile. Due to the fact he has been discriminated against and been isolated for so long, Crooks torments Lennie by suggesting George may not come back from town. His cynical behaviour isn’t deliberate but I think Crooks feels like Lennie has invaded his personal space to insult or bully him.

Crooks is a minority character introduced in chapter 4. Page 66 reads “negro stable buck.” Crooks’ character is introduced exactly the way he would be seen by other ranch workers. Steinbeck’s intentions of presenting

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

In the middle of the story, Crooks originally came off as rude and intimidating to Lennie, but through mood, we learn that he really is just lonely. This is found when Lennie wanders into Crooks’s room. Crooks doesn’t want Lennie in there, but Lennie stays anyway, and Crooks soon realizes that he really does need someone to talk to so that he isn’t so lonely. Crooks states, “‘You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me,’” (Steinbeck, 68). This quote goes along with the theme because as you can see, Crooks comes off as very negative towards having a friend. He attempts to shut Lennie out, but Lennie insists on staying. Crooks yells at Lennie a second time, but Lennie doesn’t stop. Crooks states, “‘Well go get your pup, then. Don’t come to a place where you’re not wanted.’ Lennie lost his smile. He advanced into the room, then remembered and backed to the door again.” (Steinbeck, 69). By the way Crooks is talking and the mood he has set, it is obvious that he has been plagued by loneliness. Those who desperately need a friend are usually the ones who shut everyone out; and this is exactly what Crooks is doing to Lennie. Although it was probably unintentional due to Lennie's mental stability, Lennie finally “won the battle”, and Crooks allowed him into his room. Steinbeck writes, “Crooks scowled, but Lennie’s disarming smile defeated him.”

Loneliness is the feeling of isolation and no hope or dreams in your life which is what Steinbeck achieves by portraying this theme effectively using key characters and settings in Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck writes about the Great Depression and how two friends, Lennie and George, stay together through this tough time. They go from town to town and work on ranches, always staying together. This new haven in California they stumble upon seems like a good fit, however Lennie creates problems and terminates their chances of survival there.

My other point is that Lennie came to crooks to talk but Crooks didn’t want him there. On page 68 is when Lennie at firsts enters his room and gets scolded. “Crooks said sharply, “You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody get any right in here but me.”

He is treated different because of his color, he is not seen equal. Crooks usually does not have anyone to talk to. Lennie was the only one that was nice to him, and Crooks was not welcoming to him. Even though i feel sympathy for Crooks and Curley’s wife, i feel most sympathy for

This shows that Crooks intimidated Lennie

When Lennie shows up in Crooks’s room Crooks tells him that since “I ain’t wanted in the bunk house” he has to leave Crook’s room

•When Lennie tries to hang out with Crooks, Crooks thinks about how nice is it to talk to someone, but he also remembers how mistreated he’s been and takes this out on Lennie, an easy target

Of Mice And Men “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place.” In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, one of the main themes is loneliness. It’s is shown through the book in many of the characters.

These problems and situations make the characters isolated. The men on the ranch don’t show any empathy towards them. This makes them feel more isolated because the men on the ranch don’t give them the respect they need. As a result, Crooks, Curley's wife, and Candy are lonely because they are all isolated. A character that was lonely throughout the novel was the Crooks.

In John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” loneliness is a prominent theme throughout the entire book. It describes the story of George and Lennie ranch workers who join a new ranch with new people. Many of the main characters in this novel experience and confess to suffering a sense of deep loneliness at one time. Steinbeck uses the setting, plot and the main characters of Crooks, Candy, Curley’s wife, George to display the theme of loneliness during the Great Depression era in the United States of America. The author utilizes the theme of loneliness to showcase the significance of a person's need for intimacy and devotion to another.