Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, loneliness is defined as being sad from being apart from other people. Yet sometimes even when surrounded by numerous people, a person can feel as lonely as ever. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, loneliness is a palpable emotion in almost every character. The ranchers are not apart from other people; they are able to go into town and socialize, as well as amongst themselves. There are a lot of ranchers living in the ranch, yet each character portrays loneliness in a way unique to him or herself, especially characters such as Candy and Crooks. In this novel, John Steinbeck uses the characters of the ranchers, Candy, and Crooks to illustrate how loneliness does not always equal isolation. The

In the novel, Steinbeck uses his character to exhibit loneliness. Crooks reveals this by declaring rather emphatically, “I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (73). Steinbeck displays this by showing his estrangement from the other ranchers and Crooks’ futile attempt at making friends. The novel is set during the time when different races are still very segregated. This is presented to readers when Crooks is said to live in the harness room instead of the bunkhouse because he is a black man. This is also prevalent in how the boss treats him by, as Candy says, “giving him hell whenever [the boss] is mad” (20) and how the other ranchers call him a “nigger”, which is derogatory term for an African-American person. Because of how he is segregated from the other ranchers, Crooks becomes friendless and often resorts to reading instead of joining them, obvious by the amount of books in his possession. The lack of companionship in his life is what drives him to confess to Lennie his thoughts on his and George’s friendship, although it is rather about himself. His loneliness becomes very obvious when he makes this confession, and Lennie is startled by his outburst. Yet although he is already segregated from the other ranchers, his loneliness is also derived from his futile attempts of making friends with them. Crooks tries to display his contempt for the other ranchers by saying,

Although not a rancher, Curley’s wife portrays the theme of loneliness very well. Her loneliness is depicted by how she is alienated from the rest of the men, and no one gets to exactly know her character. Aside from the novel set in a racist period, the people are also very sexist. Women are seen as less than men; they have no real purpose except to stay at home and look after children. Also, in this novel, Curley’s wife is the only female character that have an actual position in the story. All the other female characters mentioned are prostitutes from cat houses, Lennie’s dead Aunt Clara, and the woman in Weed that called the authorities on George and Lennie. Her lack of a name shows readers that she is unworthy of one because she is simply an insignificant female character. Because she is the only woman in the ranch, Curley’s wife finds herself doing nothing but seek attention from the other ranchers by flirting with them. Her loneliness and boredom of being alone then leads her to be proud and attention-seeking. Because of this, no one takes the time to get to know her. She states, “Seems like they ain’t none of them cares how I gotta live” (88), presenting how no one actually knows her, nor cares for her. When she confides in Lennie, it is the first time she ever tells another person her life story. None of the ranch workers know about her past, nor how Curley met her, so they only resort to gossip and