Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

OF MICE AND MEN ESSAY
“Sometimes you have to give up on people, not because you don’t care, but because they don’t - Anonymous.’ Loneliness is a tough, sad feeling for many people and can definitely have affects on how they act and/or feel. Within Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck the constant topic of loneliness is talked about. The novel realistic fiction and takes place in California during the Dust Bowl Era. Just about every character talks about their loneliness, some more that others. All the characters say at one point that they feel lonely and it affects their actions. Curley’s wife always looking for conversation, Crooks being in his own house, and Candy not having happiness and a companion. Their loneliness is a recurring feeling

Curley’s wife is lonely because during this era women typically stayed at home but she didn’t like that loneliness so she decides to go and bother the other ranch workers. Curley's wife says that "I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely." This is a direct quote that she feels lonely and that nobody really likes to talk to her, they reluctantly do. The first quote shows that Curley's wife feels like she doesn't have fair rights and doesn't get to talk to people equally because they won't talk to her. She feels as if she is isolated by all the ranch workers because they don't like talking to her. Even Curley seems to ignore her which makes her feel lonely. The workers see her as a bad person who is a “trap” and a “temptation” but really she doesn’t have anyone and is looking for someone to talk with. The loneliness trait of Curley’s wife affects her actions of talking to everyone. A quote by Curley's wife is "What’s the matter with me? Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody" This quote shows that she feels as if she can’t talk to anybody. Even though she is married, she isn't happy and doesn't feel company and someone to talk to. The second example kind of ties in with the first quote. She feels as if she doesn't have someone that truly wants to have a conversation and doesn't mind

Another quote is after Candy's dog gets shot he says "I wish somebody would shoot me when I become useless" which is showing that he used to have a true companion, his dog but now it's gone. He is beginning to realize that he doesn't have someone that makes him happy. His dog wasn't in good condition but it gave Candy happiness. The quote is showing that Candy doesn't have somebody for him. When he says "shoot me when I become useless" is pretty much saying that he doesn't feel as if someone is there for him. He had his companion in his dog but they shot him, because he was useless. Candy is saying when he gets useless because he won't care because he feels as if he has nobody. He's affected by this loneliness because he never seemed happy, until George and Lennie talked about the dream. But before that when he was lonely he was always sad. Loneliness affects Candy in not wanting to talk to the others. Early on in the book Candy says "A guy on a ranch don't never listen nor he don't ast no questions" which proves that everyone on the ranch is lonely and really aren't there to talk and to be companions. Nobody truly enjoys talking to one another on the ranch, instead they kind of "force" talking to them. The first quote is showing that everyone is lonely but mainly Candy's because that's what he is seeing. Nobody asked questions when Candy