To be alone means to literally be by yourself, surrounded by no one. Loneliness, on the other hand, is a feeling. You could be in a room full of people and still feel lonely. Although alone and lonely are both adjectives, it is important to note their distinct differences. Mother Teresa once said, “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” The novel “Of Mice and Men” written by John Steinbeck starts out seems to be a novel about friendship, although as the story progresses there is a prominent tone of loneliness. Through the novel, we follow the lives of George Milton and Lennie Smalls, two migrant workers searching for a job in California, during the Great Depression. We can examine how someone can be lonely …show more content…
Crooks is an older “Negro” gentlemen. After learning his life story we can tell he hasn't had it easy. Unfortunately, his life was never going to be one filled with love, hope, and happiness. Right from the start Crooks was dealt an unfair hand, just because of the colour of his skin. When Crooks is explaining to Lennie why he is treated differently you can feel his defensiveness, "'Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me." During this time period society deemed to be “Negro” immoral and dirty. Doing your best just isn't enough when the whole world is already not even looking down on you but through you. You may as well be invisible and we can associate loneliness to this gentleman, even more, when we about his past. This is also how we can relate him to our next character Curly's Wife. Off the bat she was dealt a rough hand as well, being born a girl gave her many disadvantages. Men looked down to women, and most were not able to be taken seriously or even able to go after what it is they were truly passionate about. Being used by men and told where they should be and shouldn't be. An example of the way Curly's wife was treated is when she comes into the stables looking for Curly, “Candy laid the stump of his wrist on his knee and rubbed it gently with his hand. He said accusingly, "You …show more content…
Crooks loneliness causes him to shut himself off from the potential of happiness or the idea that he deserves to be happy. Curly's Wife’s loneliness causes her to act it not so ladylike ways, bringing more judgment to her being a woman. Loneliness weighs down on each of these characters so much that I struggle to put myself in their place. I cannot fathom the immense feeling of solitude they must have felt. Being judged for something that is simply out of your control is bound to make anyone think they are alone in this world. Being the only woman on a ranch full of men made Curly's wife feel isolated. Furthermore, Crooks being the only “Negro” man on the ranch makes him relatable to Curly's
Crooks also feels a great deal of loneliness, as he is an outcast on the ranch. He lives in his own room where hardly anybody ever bothers him. He is never invited to play cards or do anything fun with the other guys. One day a curious Lenny asked, “Why ain’t you wanted?” Crooks replies “Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They think I stink. Well I tell you, you all stink to me” (pg. ). Crooks’ attitude towards this is shown when he saw Lennie playing with his puppy outside of Crooks’ quarters. Crooks states that “if me, as a black man, is not allowed in the white quarters, then white men are not allowed in mine” (pg. ). However this is merely a front as the more open side of Crooks is shown later on in the book.
In his novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck depicts the essential loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930s. He illustrates how people are driven to find companionship. There were so many moments of loneliness and sadness throughout the novel, including many deaths. Following the deaths, they were very unexpected making the novel more intense and latch onto it more.
Even though the Great Depression had a massive affect on the characters in the book loneliness had a bigger impact. Loneliness has tremendously affected the behaviour and thoughts of Crooks and Curley's Wife. There are distinct changes in both of them. Crooks has developed a bitter personality and Curley's Wife has become excessively modest. Simple relationships and unconditional care could have prevented both of these character's situations. Loneliness has affected each person differently, but the source of why they changed is the same.
Loneliness is the sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned. John Steinbeck brought up the theme of loneliness in many characters in Of Mice and Men. Crooks, Curley?s wife, and Candy expressed the theme of loneliness in many different forms throughout the story. Early in the novella George said, life working as ranch hands is about the loneliness of living, for these people finding friendship seems to be impossible. Crooks expressed feelings of loneliness throughout Of Mice and Men.
“A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. ‘I tell ya’ he cried. ‘I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.” (Page 72-73) As you can see, Crooks also spends most of his time alone because he is black. He is not allowed to enter the bunk house nor go to town with the guys. He is not allowed to enter the bunk house, he is not allowed to go to town with the guys and nobody likes him because he is black. This shows that he has no friendship and his whole life is filled with loneliness. His case is different from Lennie’s.
What is loneliness? Loneliness is an intricate and usually emotional reaction to isolation or absence of companionship. In the book ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck many characters such as Crooks and Curley’s Wife have experienced loneliness. Crooks is lonely because he is black. Curley’s wife is lonely due to being the only female at the ranch and having no one to converse with.
Finally, to conclude, Steinbeck uses the character of Crooks to show how a Black American would fit in the 1930s American society. Using the microcosm of the ranch helps to show the readers how he would be treated, how much respect he would be given and what his character and jobs would be like compared to that of normal White Americans.
Crooks suffers from loneliness, because he is black, not because he is an unfriendly person. Crooks, though, may seem mean, but he is just tired of being rejected and disrespected by everybody around him. Crooks has a horrible life. He will never have a companion or anybody that will respect him unless he meets another black person. Crooks says,” I’ll tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick. (Pg. 73)” He doesn’t even have the opportunity to have a companion, and that is sad.
Loneliness has made Crook's a very bitter and isolated man. He is truly not able to leave this situation because of his race. The other men at the ranch do not communicate with Crooks unless he is working because he is black. Other than when they are working, the other men ignore Crooks off all of their activities. Crooks is very isolated, and doesn?t seem to want any company. He has become bitter and known to lash out at people because of the loneliness that he has. Crooks's emotions are showed to the reader when he talks to Lennie in his room about having no one to relate to and communicate with. "Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he's goin' to come back. S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy `cuase you was black...A guy needs somebody--to be near him." Crooks has never been treated well by anyone because he is black. This has affected Crooks. Crooks's was shocked when...
Crooks is a black stable hand who has been called Crooks due the hunched back he has after a horse kicked him. In the 1930’s, being black was an extreme disadvantaged. You would be discriminated for your colour and this would lead to loneliness. Crooks was always being blamed for everything that went wrong even though he was hardly involved. The boss picked on him because of his colour “An’ he give the stable buck hell” (page 21) “Ya see the stable bucks a nigger” (page 21). Candy says this when George and Lennie arrive at the ranch and after Candy said that Crooks was a nigger, George accepted the boss’ treatment of Crooks. Another time Steinbeck talks about Crooks being discriminated was when he writes about the Christmas party where Smitty took after Crooks and the men did not stop the fight because Crooks was black, but did not allow Smitty to use his feet in the fight due to Crooks’ disability.
An example of how the men are discriminative towards Crooks is that he is forced to live in a shack away from the bunkhouse and also Crooks says that "They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say "I stink" and "I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse." An example of when Curley's Wife is critical towards Crooks is when she looks into his room to see what Lennie and Crooks are doing and then she states, shaking her head, that they left the weak ones behind. Also, she threatens to have Crooks hanged because a black man should never talk to a white woman the way he just had. As a result of all of these discriminatory acts against him, Crooks feels unwanted and lonely because of his color and placement on the farm.
Steinbeck writes "Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego - his voice was toneless. "(81) The character of Crooks reflects the universal need for human connection as well as the brutalizing effects of racial prejudice. Like Crooks, Curley's wife is very lonely,
Famous German physician Albert Schweitzer said, “We are all so much together, but we are all dying of loneliness.” In the novel Of Mice and Men, written during the Great Depression, loneliness is a very important theme. I am going to write about how loneliness has impacted the lives of George, Crooks and Curley's wife, in this essay.
Growing up in a place like this where there is so much discrimination and a lack of equality you expect a lot of people to feel lonely. With Crooks not having any friends or family, Curley’s wife not being loved and Candy only having his dog as a friend Of Mice and Men was very lonely.
Everyone has been lonely once in their lives; when a person is lonely they can begin to exhibit strange behaviors, they can become paranoid, hallucinate, or project inner thoughts into their realities. Most people who are lonely usually live alone and prefer to be a closed off from the outside world. In Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield, she shows her loneliness by using others peoples lives for her enjoyment, for thinking she and everyone else was on a stage, also by snapping to reality when treated with cruelty. However, not having any companions, such as, friends and pets could also cause loneliness. When you’re not in tune with the outside world, your mind wanders, you make up things to fill in the gaps or the realities of the world. Mansfield shows us how feelings can lead to the unthinkable.