Isolation And Identity In 'Of Mice And Men'

Celeste Charlet
Period 5
Of Mice and Men Essay
November 20, 2014
The Link Between Isolation and Identity

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck takes place in the 1930s during a time in which many individuals were devastated by the turmoil that the Great Depression aroused. Many people lost themselves in the sacrifices they were forced to make and struggled to find a place to belong. Steinbeck uses three crucial characters in the novel to convey the theme that loneliness is connected to losing one’s identity.
Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife to demonstrate that one can lose their identity through lost dreams, which can lead to loneliness. During the scene when Curley’s wife is confessing her true feelings about her life to Lennie, she says: “Seems

like ain’t none of them cares how I gotta live. I tell you I ain’t used to livin’ like this. I coulda made something of myself” (88).

Curley’s wife wishes she had accomplished more in her lifetime, and now she is unhappy with the way her life has realistically turned out. In her opinion, nobody values her and therefore she has lost her identity. She wants to be known as a person who made something of themselves, but she is not the person she wants to be. Curley’s wife is also lonely, and the fact that she feels as if no one cares about her only adds to her feelings of isolation she has on the ranch. When Curley’s wife explains to Lennie about her dream to be in the movies, she claims that her mother stole her letters that would have allowed her to get her career started: “Well, I wasn’t gonna stay no place where I couldn’t get nowhere or make something of myself...So I married Curley...I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella” (89). Curley’s wife exhibits lost dreams leading to lost identity, having changed her life to escape her restraints only to end

up with a man whom she does not like. She comments that she would not have remained in a position in which she was stuck, and yet she lives on the ranch now with still nowhere to go. She has lost part of herself and her identity after failing to achieve her dream once again. Also, Curley treats his wife as his property throughout the book. This, added to the unfortunate truth that she does not even like Curley, causes her to be extremely unloved and alone. Feeling alone can also be displayed in other manners.
Crooks illustrates the concept that racism can lead to isolation and misplacing one’s identity.

Crooks talks to Lennie about the discrimination he experiences on the ranch: “S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black...A guy needs somebody-to be near him” (72). Crooks points out that he is not as fortunate as Lennie to have companionship because the other men reject him due to his skin color. Because of this, he is alone in the world. His identity is lost to everyone because no one takes the time to be near him or get to know him. He is counted as meaningless, and according to the others his identity is nothing but an unwanted black man. To be so unappreciated and have no reliable friends causes Crooks to be isolated both physically and mentally. When Crooks talks to Lennie about his life, he reflects on how he is viewed on the ranch: “If I say something, why it’s just a nigger sayin’ it...This is just a nigger talkin’, an’ a busted-back nigger. So it don’t mean nothing, see?” (71). Crooks feels as if his identity is nothing but a crooked old nigger to the guys, which makes him feel inadequate. He claims that everything he says is just wasted words because he is black. Without anybody crediting or even listening to what he has to say, he is friendless. Another way for one to encounter loneliness can be feeling

incompetent.
Feeling useless can also lead to failure to keep one’s identity in sight and cause one to be companionless, as demonstrated by Candy. George and Lennie discuss their dream of owning a farm and animals, when Candy becomes interested: “I ain’t much good with on’y one hand...S’pose I went in with you guys. That’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in. I ain’t much good, but I can cook and tend the chickens…” (59). Candy requests inclusion in the dream only after admitting that he feels that he is somewhat useless. He views himself as an old cripple whose worth is compromised because of his impairment. This becomes his personal view of his selfhood. He wants to join in on this dream so he can find a place to fit in and belong, because he is unwanted as of now. Candy confides in George about how he really feels about his old dog being put down: “You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me...I won’t have no place to go” (60). Candy remarks that he will be incapable within a matter of time, and wishes his life would simply end once he is finished working. He sees his identity as restricted to his remaining bit of worth around the ranch, and figures that his life is not worth anything outside of this. He also says that he will have nowhere to go after he is “canned”, which shows that he is by himself in the world and has no one that cares about him. Ultimately, Candy considers himself to be utterly unproductive which causes him to experience a sense of unbelonging.
The characters in Steinbeck’s novel suffer from the effects of loneliness on their personal identities. Each character faces severe isolation in which they question who they are. These people illustrate the fact that being separated from others emotionally and physically is linked to feeling as if one has lost their individuality or oneness.