Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Candy is presented by Steinbeck as a pitiful miserable character. Candy has lost control of his life and of his future and has been reduced by society to a gossiping cleaner. The only characterisation we receive about Candy and other characters is through their speech. Candy is given new confidence when he speaks negatively of Curley’s wife. He enjoys the audience of George and relishes the sense of power, in that he knows more about the ranch than George.

“‘Guys like us that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to’”

“Well, you keep your place then, n*****. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” (Steinbeck 81). In the novella, Of Mice and Men, the readers are following the life of Lennie and George, who are migrant workers during the Great Depression. Migrant workers, unlike Lennie and George, primarily travel alone, and they go from job to job. George and Lennie have been together since they were younger, as Lennie would come along with George while he worked, so they had become inseparable. Lennie got them kicked out of many jobs, but they landed a spot as a ranch hand bucking barley. Once they became acquainted with the farm, Lennie and George become friends with a man named Crooks, but before that, they are introduced to the ranch by Candy. As the story progresses, a theme of isolation, discrimination, and loneliness on Candy, Lennie, and Crooks is revealed.

In the book "Of Mice and Men" the theme isolation and loneliness is cast upon three characters which are only some of the examples: Candy, because of his age, Crooks, Because of his skin color, and Lennie because of his level of intelligence. However going deeper into the reasons of why candy is isolated and lonely. First we see how candy has no friends or family. Candy says "I'd make a will an' leave my share to you guy in case I kick off, 'cause I ain't got no relatives nor nothing" (Steinbeck 59).

The two main characters, George and Lennie, are two totally different people with two totally different personalities. Lennie, big guy who is not smart and wouldn't make it without George and loves to pet and feel things. And George, is little old man, very smart, and takes care of Lennie. Together they make a perfect team. They get along great and are best friends. Or at least they are until they go to the ranch, and meet new people.

Chapter 1 – George and Lennie camp in the brush by a pool, the night before starting new jobs as ranch hands. George finds Lennie stroking a dead mouse in his pocket. He complains that caring for Lennie prevents him from living a freer life. We find out that Lennie’s innocent petting of a girl’s dress led them to losing their last jobs in Weed. However when they talk about their dream of getting a piece of land together, we know they really depend on each other.

Loneliness reaches all aspects of a person’s normal life. It can affect the decisions someone makes and the possibilities they can achieve. In John Steinbeck’s Novel “Of Mice and Men”, the story revolves around an unlikely pair, who move around the country trying to find a job during the events of the Great Depression. Of all the characters in this novel, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s Wife, are the loneliest.

Without argument, loneliness is a very large theme in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Throughout this novella loneliness has affected every character. The ones that it has affected the most are Crooks, Candy, Lennie, George, and Curley’s wife. Out of all of the characters I believe that Crooks has faced the most loneliness.

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.

Katherine Aragon Mrs. Donato-Jennings Ninth Grade 6 November 2015 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck brought up this theme of loneliness in many characters in the book. Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Candy are three characters that are part of this theme. In the beginning of the novella George said “ Life working as ranch hands is on the loneliness lives to live, for these people to find friendship is impossible.” Crooks’ loneliness is cause because he is black, at the time the story was taken place there was racism. Since Crooks was black, He wasn't able to socialize with the white men.

Loneliness affects everyone at some time in life, unfortunately some more than others. In the novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, loneliness affects everyone in the story. Three of the characters who suffer from loneliness for assorted reasons are Lennie, Curley’s Wife, and Crooks. Lennie’s loneliness is due to his mental disability, Curley’s wife due to a bad marriage, Crooks from racism. Lennie is lonely because of his mental disability.

Of Mice and Men Essay The mask of loneliness obscures the true soul and feelings yet can be eluded by true friendship. John Steinbeck writes in Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife and Crooks hide their loneliness from the others and put on a fake face to seem normal to the others on the ranch. The secluded people on the ranch bring out their true feelings to another character somewhere in the book and they expel everything out which shows the reader and the other character how much they have been hiding.

John Steinbeck's book of mice and men has lots of event and themes but the most important one is loneliness.Everyone gets lonely but sometimes being lonely makes you a better person, everyone needs someone to be there for them, and no matter who you are you will get lonely.Crooks, Candy and Curley's wife are the 3 loneliest people in the novel. Crooks is isolated candy has no one but his dog and they put him down and Curley's wife who just sits at the house all day while the men work.

George and Lennie are different from other workers because they have each other to look after, and Candy has his dog as a companion so he would not feel alone. Crooks yearns for companionship because he is segregated and lonely. Similarly to Crooks, Curley’s wife doesn’t have anyone and she goes around the ranch flirting with other ranchers. Ranchers yearning for companionship reveal how hard it was during the Great Depression. For example, in Life As We Know It, humans have to find a way to survive the moon eclipse, to survive they have to fight for food. Survivals had face many emotional and physical challenges, where they start feeling lonely and longing for someone to be at their side during harsh times to soothe away their loneliness. Human beings are designed to feel and think, sometimes feeling alone cause them to lose their minds, and they would do anything to have a strong relationship with someone that will help them get rid the feeling of loneliness. In Of Mice and Men, characters are struggling to find a friend that helps them get through the Great Depression. Being lonely is not easy during the Great Depression, but it causes people to forget themselves and changes them into a different

     There are two main characters, George and Lennie. Lennie is a massive man with incredible strength, but has a childs mind. George is a fairly sized man who is not incredibly strong, but has good common sense. What one man lacks, the other man makes up for. It is a perfect example of how