Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Understanding just how important security is to his own future, Candy hopes he can tempt George with his life’s savings and seal the deal when he mentions he had no living relatives to either help him or benefit from his death. Scared and embarrassed, Candy never comes straight out and admits how ageism has affected him, but he does express his feelings of fear and his desire to feel like he belongs when he comments to George, “They’ll can me purty soon. Just as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunkhouses…” (60). Without any family or friends, without a job or any money, Candy latches on to the idea of owning land together: “An’ it’d be our own, an’ nobody could can us” (58). Unfortunately, since Candy is much older than the other ranch workers, he often feels left out and lonely amongst a group of young, healthy men. Despite his insecurities, Candy still wants to contribute something to society to help provide him with a sense of purpose and to help make him feel like someone still needs him.

Curley is very possessive of her, as if she is something that belongs to him but that everyone else desires. Curley wants the men on the ranch to know that he has something valuable that they aren’t allowed to have. Because Curley’s wife is so lonely, she is always seeking attention and putting a lot of effort into her appearance. Steinbeck writes, “She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages.” (31) Her over the top looks portrays her desperation to be noticed. Curley also restricts her from from socializing with the other ranch men, which makes her have no friends. She is unable to make any connections with the men on the ranch because everyone knows that if they talk to her, it will end up causing trouble with Curley, something every rancher is desperate to avoid. Since nobody seems to want to talk to Curley’s wife the loneliness makes her doubtful about herself. “What’s the matter with me? Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?” (Steinbeck 85). Steinbeck wants us to acknowledge loneliness and realize that sometimes people can be together and yet still be

Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I'd put in. I ain't much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some. How'd that be?” and “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 ) Candy has no family and George and Kenzie are his only friends.

“Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.” Dag Hammarskiold

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.

“Language…has created the word ‘loneliness’ to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word ‘solitude’ to express the glory of being alone.” (Paul Tillich) This quote narrates the novel, “Of Mice and Men”, by John Steinbeck. In the first chapter, Steinbeck presents the idea of loneliness and men who work on ranches with no point in life. Steinbeck utilizes this setting to demonstrate these thoughts. The novel “Of Mice and Men”, demonstrates loneliness and isolation in the characters Candy, Crooks, and Curley's wife.

Candy is an example of a character who is extremely lonely; he has almost nothing to live for and no reason to live except for the small jobs he does on the ranch. This is shown through

“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world…” (Steinbeck 13). In the novel Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck writes about two guys named Lennie and George but he also writes through his characters about loneliness and what it can do to people. Loneliness is a powerful emotion because people need people to keep on going in life; loneliness is shown by the characters of Candy, an elderly man; crooks, the only African American on the ranch and Curley’s wife; the only female on the ranch.

Candy, and old swamper who first situates George and Lennie on the ranch, lacks acquaintances and offers to do anything to minimize his time in seclusion. Candy’s first act of desperation occurs one night in the bunkhouse as he rests with his old, blind dog. Carlson, an insensitive and bitter rancher, insists on killing the dog and ending its misery, but Candy claims that he is too close to part with it. Candy also adds, “’ I don’t mind takin’ care of him’” (45). He not only rejects Carlson’s reasonable proposal to kill the dog, but also vainly

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, he wanted people to know about loneliness. So one person that had a lot of loneliness was Crooks. In the book Of mice and Men “Had his bunk in the harness room; a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn.(66). In the book it said that Crooks has his own room in the harness room. So that means that he cannot talk to anybody about his feelings or his thoughts. Also since he is black nobody really respects him, or wants to talk to him. Also in the book Of Mice and Men “‘Well, I got a right to have a light. You go on get outta my room, I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room.” “Why ain’t you wanted” Lennie ask.”(68). Now Crooks is telling Lennie to leave because he doesn't want

When you first meet Candy, he says, “‘When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me. But they won’t do nothing like that. I won’t have no place to go, an I can’t get no more jobs’” (Steinbeck 60). At the ranch, Candy has lost a hand in a farm accident and then loses his dog. After Candy lost his only companion, he expresses that he feels so alone and has nothing that he would rather get shot. He also says, “I could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them guys [...] His eyes blinded with tears and he turned and went weakly out of the barn, and he rubbed his bristly whiskers with his wrist stump’” (Steinbeck 95). Candy at first reflects on his dream of living with others, but he quickly realizes that these dream are only an

By providing a wide variety of individuals from different backgrounds, John Steinbeck proves that loneliness is a common theme in his novella, Of Mice and Men. Because he has lost his hand, Candy feels as if he is no longer needed or useful, leaving him feeling all alone while working on the ranch. Being the only woman, Curley's wife is confined to gender stereotypes. This makes her appear desperate for attention, when she is really just seeking companionship. Crooks, the stable buck, lives in an unwelcoming society because of his race.

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.

Of Mice and Men, a tragic novel written by John Steinbeck, tells about the dream of Lennie Small and George Milton. Lennie and George are two hard workers that travel place to place to make money to buy the piece of land they have always dreamed of owning. Steinbeck includes many different themes in his novel, however, loneliness seems to play a major role in the book. When Lennie and George arrive at the farm where they are going to work they meet many new people. They are introduced to Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife who represent the theme of loneliness in the novel.

Soledad. Not only is this the name of the town in which the ranch is located on, but it means solitude; the state or situation of being alone. Two main themes proposed In Of Mice and Men written by George Steinbeck are social discrimination and isolation. Setting new standards, George and Lennie make quite the aberrant pair considering they travel together and pay no mind to the ideas of discrimination. You see, most ranch hands wouldn’t travel together.