Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Everyone has dreams, big and small. When one dreams, there is a scent of whimsical hope in the air mixed with the powerful drive for success to obtain their luminous goals. But, many times these luscious dreams end up in grief and pain instead of a promised joy due to the hurdles in life, such as the certain circumstances that society professes or the flaws in a person that restrains them from their aspirations. The writer, John Steinbeck, incorporates this ideology in his novella, Of Mice and Men by creating three pivotal characters. Lennie, Crooks, and George all have schemes that go wrong, and yet hope to illustrate their desires of fulfilling their American Dream and to be prosperous for their own independent purposes.

Feeling sad for someone’s bad luck is sympathy. Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck, has many people who i feel pity for. I feel sympathy for Curley’s wife, I feel more sympathy for Crooks, and I feel most sympathy for Lennie. Sympathy effects many people in different ways. It is shown throughout Of Mice and Men.

Finally, the most significant point is loneliness. Crooks and Curley's wife are the loneliest people in the book. Crooks says, "Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody to be near him…" It is evident that he is very lonely.

Barbara Sher once said, “‘Isolation is a dream killer’” (qtd. in Wishcraft). In his novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck scrutinizes the effects that alienation can have on society. Many characters experience loneliness throughout the novel. He illustrates the results of individuals becoming isolated from their peers. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays characters alienated from society in order to illustrate the harmful effects of loneliness caused by discrimination.

Crooks, the only black stable hand on the ranch, loved to read and because he was so lonely he liked to clean to occupy his time (Steinbeck 67). He was named Crooks because his back became crooked after he had been kicked by a horse (Griesbach). The fact that he was the only Negro on the ranch; he was forced to be isolated (Steinbeck 66). He understands that he gets treated differently because of his skin color (Steinbeck 68). No one ever comes in his room or invites him into theirs, he’s not allowed to play cards with others, and every one of them thinks he smells bad all because he’s black (Steinbeck 68).

In Of Mice and Men the character Crooks is a stable hand who works with the ranch horses. He is also the only black man on the ranch because of this he lives by himself. Crooks is seen as an outcast because of his skin color and because he has been injured and that has afected his ability to perform the duties expected of him.

The most important dream in this novel is that of the two main characters Lennie and George. They

Crooks is the only black man on the ranch, and is often discriminated against by all the other workers at the ranch. He is usually excluded from many activities that all the other men participate in, and is ignored by most of the workers. “I ain’t wanted in the bunk house…cause I’m black…” This quote shows how the other men who work at the ranch reject and isolate Crooks, and how he is forced to have his own bunk house, since he isn’t allowed to reside in the same bunk house as the other workers. Crooks leads a harsh, lonely life, only because the

Crooks is the loneliest guy on the ranch. He is the only colored man on the ranch and is always called the nigger or the busted back nigger. Being the only colored person on the ranch there is a lot of discrimination and prejudiceness. What also makes him the loneliest person is that he got kicked in the back by a horse so he is hunched over and can barely walk so he can’t do much with the other ranch hands. He is a permanent ranch hand like candy because he can’t travel from his back being crooked. His room is a shack by the barn and it’s full of tools like a shed. From the discrimination he isn’t allowed to stay in the bunkhouse with the other guy’s and isn’t allowed to have a light in his room.

Steinbeck presents dreams as a tool to aid the men of the ranch’s contentment. They give a sense of purpose, a reward for long days of hard labor on the ranch. The idea of dreams prolonging survival and happiness is best portrayed by the dream and relationship shared by Lennie and George. Their mutual dream to "live offa the fatta the lan" (Steinbeck 57) brings to light their need of other’s companionship to alleviate isolation and loneliness, and to make their dream seem more realistic. To immerse oneself in this idyllic fantasy world with acres of vegetable garden, and rabbits, was the perfect

The character of Crooks is a representation of the segregation and mistreatment the minorities in society had to face. “Maybe you guys better go. I ain't sure I want you in here no more. A colored man got to have some rights even if he don't like 'em". In the story Crooks lived in the harness room separate from the regular ranch workers who lived in the bunkhouse altogether.

In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck looks at the theme of loneliness as it affects many characters on the ranch. Crooks, Curley's wife, and Candy are the most excluded characters on the ranch, because they all have dreams that they will not be able to live out and they all are at loss when it came to companionship. Crooks is lonely because he is the only black man on the ranch. Since this book is set during the Depression, Jim Crow laws are still in effect, whites and blacks had separate facilities for socializing and living. Crooks comments that he can't live in the bunkhouse, and cant even play cards in there.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is book of many themes; one that is very prominent is loneliness. Loneliness is common in many people's lives and that is also true for the lives of the characters of the book. Almost all characters in the book are lonely in one way or the other.

Crooks shows that he doesn’t care who the person is, black or white, but he wants someone to be there for him whenever he needs just like George and Lennie have. Also, it depicts how Crooks craves fraternity and he is so desperate for it that he is starting to feel sick from his loneliness. Almost all of the characters that Steinbeck uses in this book have a feeling of loneliness in some way or another. Even George and Lennie feel a little lonely, and in the beginning of the book, George tells Lennie a story that begins with, “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family.

“Of Mice and Men” is written by John Steinbeck, published in 1937, it was set in the 1930’s during the Great Depression in California. George and Lennie are the two protagonist characters; they are farm workers who have a dream of one day owning their own ranch. They find work in a ranch near Soledad and are met by different characters, most of which are lonely and the only thing keeping them alive is their dreams. Loneliness is the unpleasant emotional response to isolation and lack of companionship, in the novel “Of Mice and Men” Steinbeck portrays the theme of loneliness and isolation effectively through key fictional characters. This essay will describe the way loneliness is shown in “Of Mice and Men.”