Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men Essay Have you ever felt like you had no one to be there for you? Well that’s how the characters in Of Mice and Men felt. In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck there are many characters that are lonely.

He tells George that he does not have any relatives, so he would be able to give all of his money to him and Lennie. That is if they let him in on their dream to buy their own house. This shows just how bad Candy wants to get out of that ranch and that he will do anything to not be lonely. Loneliness is shown through Candy because he feels like he does not belong and because he has no other friends except his dog, so he feels secluded from the others.

Curleys wife -Curley 's wife 's loneliness has altered her demeanor towards others tremendously, making her overtly insecure and excessively flirtatious. Curley 's wife has become virtually another person because of loneliness. The men on the ranch avoid her because of flirtatious personality to keep out of trouble. No one understands her situation and how loneliness affects her. Her insecurity is evident by the way she dresses and utilizes her make-up. She uses her appearance to receive attention like when "[Curley 's Wife] was standing there looking in. She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters,

Curley’s wife is a lonely and Naïve, and that makes her an easy prey. She is the only woman on the ranch she is a lonely woman. Her husband, Curley, is a mean and over powering man, uses her to pick fights with other guys. He is a terrible husband who not only is mean to his wife but also leads us to believe that he beats her up. Curley’s wife usually would listen to her records but Curley even breaks those. Her flirtatious nature is what gets her into trouble, and that also leads her to her death. Lennie is a gentle giant who doesn’t mean to hurt anybody but accidentally does. In the case of Lennie, Curley’s wife does not know what she is getting in for. Curley’s wife flirtatious nature is a harsh reality but as an innocent person get her in to trouble.

The character Candy preforms abundant examples of how he is lonely and needs companionship. In the bunkhouse with Slim, Whit, George, and Carlson, is one example. Carlson is suggesting to Curly about his dog, "I'll shoot him for you" (Steinbeck 44). This wording suggests that Carlson is ready to murder Candy's only friend which will motivate him to be secluded and bitter. Through the representations of his feelings Candy presents the belief that he is lonely. Candy is talking with Lennie and George when he says, "They’ll  can me purty

After the loss of Candy’s dog, he becomes lonely but has to find a way to overcome loneliness. John Steinbeck creates Candy to be an old and crippled man. Candy, since he is a older man, might not get as much work. That isn't the only reason. Steinbeck describes Candy with, “a round stick-like wrist, but no hand” (18). At this moment, George and Lennie are meeting and observing Candy for the first time. Throughout the story, the reader does not hear of Candy doing much work on the ranch. He “[shifts] his broom” on the first day but that might be the only deed he does (18). The farm workers stereotype him to be weak because he is old and only has one hand. When we first meet Candy, we learn that Candy has one main friend. That is his

"Why won't you bring him to the house, Caddy? Why must you do like nigger women do in the pasture the ditches the dark woods hot hidden furious in the dark woods," (Faulkner 92).

During the entire novel, Candy’s desperation was shown as Steinbeck’s main example of Loneliness and its impact on humans. Isolated after the loss of his hand, he is unable to work with the other men and reduced to the role of the swamper which causes Candy to feel unimportant and disposable. Candy seems to have spurts of short term depression throughout the novel. For example when candy is forced to put his dog down, “Candy did not answer. The silence fell on the room again. It came out of the night

Displaying characterization, Steinbeck portrays Candy as a depressed and inferior individual (as a mouse), lacking the self-confidence to hold a purpose: “When they can me here I wisht someone’d shoot me…have no place to go, an’ I can’t get no more jobs”(Steinbeck 60). Candy’s description illustrates his diminutive mouse-like starting point. Subsequently, Candy recognizes the vital importance to contribute, and to exhibit purpose (as a man): “Maybe if I give you guys my money, you’ll let me hoe in the garden even after I aint no good at it”(Steinbeck 60). This brief period defines Candy’s evolvement as a new man-like character; he gains the essential hope to embrace a

Consequently, Curley’s Wife also represents another figure of lower power. People use their power to criticize her, which affects her decisions to talk with people, how she uses her only power against Crooks, and her dream. George and other people of higher power despise her being around them, “I don’t care what she says and what she does. I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse that her. You leave her be,” (Steinbeck, 32). Most people think her intentions are bad. However, Curley’s Wife defends herself by saying that she just wants someone to talk to, “I get lonely...You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?” (Steinbeck, 87). People who have higher power affect how she reacts with them.

The way she acts during the play shows that she is lonely. In the play she is always looking for some companionship "[She] is just looking for somebody to talk to. Don't your never just want to talk to somebody?" (p. 8) Sometimes she sneaks over to the bunkhouse under the premise of looking for somebody "I'm looking for Curley" (p. 8) The rest of the men on the ranch see Curley's Wife as a tart or slut who is constantly looking for a man "she got the eye" (p. 7), "Seems like she can't keep away from guys." (p.13). The men on the ranch are afraid of her because she is married to the son of the Boss. They figure that if they were to do anything to her that she would somehow get them fired "Get going. We don't want no trouble" (p. 15). Near the end of the play as she prepares to run away it is apparent that she is lonely and only sought a companion on the farm. She does not love Curley "I don't like Curley. He ain't a nice fella. I might a stayed…but least night [Curley] and [The Boss] both lit into me." (p. 20), and prepares to run away to go to Hollywood. Before she dies, she and Lennie become friends. She has shared some of her innermost and secret ambitions with him which signifies that she likes him, trusts him, and thinks that she can confide in him. Curley's wife is an example of isolation and intolerance of women during the 1930's and is

One of the loneliest characters in Of Mice and Men is Candy. Candy is a tall old man who works on the farm as a swamper because he lost his hand in an accident. Like most characters in the book, Candy is lonely for multiple reasons. Proof of this is when in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, when Candy says,”I’d make a will an’ leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, cause I ain’t got no relatives nor nothing”(59) The quote shows that Candy has no relatives left, probably due to his old age. Candy is also shown to have no friends other than his dog, which was shot in the back of the head by one of the other ranch workers. Candy’s dog was his only companion, other than George and Lennie, who he just met. He was so desperate for friendship that he was willing to give complete strangers all of his money, just to make friends and look forward to a better future. While Candy was very lonely, there were many other characters dealing with loneliness throughout the book.

He is constantly isolated. Even his wife does not want to spend time with him. Inside of the barn during a heart to heart conversation with Lennie, Curley’s wife reveals that she “don’ like Curley” because he “ain’t a nice fella” (86). Know wonder Curley is insecure in his marriage! His wife not only does not

“The biggest disease known to mankind is loneliness.” This quote is saying that everybody has known the feeling of loneliness at some point in their life, just like the characters in the book Of Mice and Men. The characters in Of Mice and Men show that loneliness is a problem that must be overcome in order to live a happy, fulfilled life.

Due to the fact that Candy lost an arm in an accident, he isn’t able to do the jobs that the other workers on the ranch do. Since he can’t do the jobs he doesn’t have communications with the ranch workers so he has to rely on his old dog for company. Once his dog is shot by Carlson he is left all alone this is what brings out the loneliness for Candy. In the text it said, “Candy looked a long time at Slim to try to find some reversal. And Slim gave him none.