Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Loneliness is a terrible thing that affects many people, some more than others. The desire to have a companion is something that everyone will inevitably feel due to human nature. People are born into their family and will instantly have an attachment to their mother. As they grow older, people will continue to attempt to form attachments to others. Loneliness is especially prominent in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men. Set during the Great Depression, Of Mice and Men tells the story of two men, George and Lennie, who travel to a ranch in the Salinas Valley. Many of the characters are people who will work wherever they can and do not have any companions in their travels. In Steinbeck’s work, loneliness prevents Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy from fully enjoying their lives as

Knowing that Lennie wouldn’t remember anything he told him, Crooks said, “‘Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black.’” (Steinbeck 34). He also told Lennie about his youth when he lived on a large chicken ranch that his parents owned and had plenty of people to play with. Crooks is better than many of the other characters at coping with his loneliness. He has many books that he reads and spends lots of time tending to the horses. He plays horseshoe with the other guys when they invited him to. At first, when Lennie attempted to talk to Crooks, Crooks told him to leave his room, saying that as the white people didn’t like him, he didn’t like white people. He spent time resenting white people for not allowing him to do things with them and forcing him to live in the stables because of his skin color. Eventually he gives in and confides in Lennie. While Crooks is never truly able to find anything that’ll end his loneliness, he is better than the other characters at suppressing it due to his many years of being isolated by