Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men it is interesting how many of Steinbeck’s characters suffer from the same exact thing. Many novels will have a theme or a recurring subject that is placed upon a few of the characters. John Steinbeck however chooses to allow the recurring subject of loneliness to effect multiple characters deeply to give it a strong presence in the novel. Several characters from the novel Of Mice and Men deal with loneliness. There are many characters in Steinbeck’s novel that portray loneliness. Some characters may be a little more obvious and others may be a little more discrete. For example, George stated,”God you’re a lot of trouble… I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail. I could live so …show more content…

While talking to lennie, Crooks stated,”S’pose you couldn't go in the bunk house and play rummy ‘cause you was black. How’d you like that? S’pose you had to sit out here and read books... books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody to be near him… I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick… i was talkin’ about myself.” (Steinbeck 72-73). In this portion of the story Steinbeck allows crooks true feelings to be shown to the reader. Crooks clearly reveals that he feels lonely due to the other characters ostracizing him from the bunkhouse because he's African-American. Although he was the most obvious, he is not the only help that suffers from loneliness. Candy told George and Lennie, “ I'd make it will and leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, ‘cause I ain't got no relatives nor nothing.” while talking about the ranch. This quote shows that Candy has no one. The closest thing that he has to a companion is his dog and even then Carlson put his dog down. Once his dog was put down Candy truly then had absolutely no one. Crooks and Candy both have different reasons and situations yet they both are

Trapped Characters in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
583 Words | 2 Pages
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses stereotypes and discrimination to convey a message of how the characters feel. A lot of the stereotypes and clichés are just common beliefs of the times, but a few are situational. To quote a quite distinguished reader, "Characters are ‘trapped’- either by what others think of them, or by their situation." A lot of the character’s feelings about themselves and what others think of them will lead to loneliness.
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Of Mice and Men, 3 Characters with Loneliness
406 Words | 1 Pages
In Crooks. room, Lennie came to talk to him. Crooks was cautious at first, this was from the years of racism that Crooks endured, he learned not to associate with white folk. Steinbeck expresses the theme of loneliness in the character of Candy. Candy is lonely because he is missing half an arm.
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The Loneliness Of mice and Men
401 Words | 1 Pages
“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.
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Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Character Analysis Essay
813 Words | 2 Pages
He is first mentioned by Candy, the old swamper of the ranch, as a generous man when Crooks brings a gallon of whisky to everyone on Christmas. But readers will notice that the other characters are discriminatory towards Crooks since he is African-American. He is not allowed to even be in the bunkhouse, so he sleeps in the barn and reads books alone. Many characters push him over as well; Curley’s wife boasts, “‘I can get you strung up so easily that it ain’t funny’”(81). Crooks also has almost no one to talk to, as he explains how it feels when he talks to Lennie in his room: “‘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 bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black… A guy needs somebody - to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody… I tell ya a guy gets too lonely and gets sick’” (72-73). Because Crooks has been isolated in the barn for all of his time working at the ranch, he becomes reclusive and bitter, unlike the other men in the bunkhouse. George then walks into Crooks’s room and leaves with Lennie after wishing Crooks a good night. Crooks is never mentioned in the story
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Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Loneliness
713 Words | 2 Pages
Unlike Crooks, Candy’s loneliness leads him to open himself up to other people, more than others typically did during the 1920s. At first Candy had his dog, who he loved dearly. He stammers to Carlson, “I been around him so much I never notice how he stinks” (44). Candy’s love for his dog keeps him blind to her faults. He is able to contain his loneliness through his dog, until Carlson shoots her. When this happens, Candy no longer has something tying him to the ranch, and the swiftness his dog was killed leads to paranoia; he opens up to Lennie, and George quite easily. Candy confesses to them, “You seen what they done to my dog tonight? . . . [When they can me] I won’t have no place to go, an’ I can’t get no more jobs” (60). Candy, being so close to his dog, has an existential crisis. He is lost, and alone without his dog, so he becomes very friendly to those around him, trying to fill the hole in his
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How Does Steinbeck Present The Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men
648 Words | 2 Pages
Later in this book, Lennie and George are introduced to a character named Crooks. Crooks is a black man that lives far from the rest of the workers in his own room. “ Q U O T E “ . D E S C R I P T
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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
696 Words | 2 Pages
Candy is known in the book Of Mice and Men to be a tall, stoop shouldered old man. Walking around with his old dog that he considered his best friend. On page 45 it said, Candy looked unhappily. “No,” he said softly. “No I couldn’ do that. I had ‘im too long.”In this part of the book, Carlson was asking Candy if he can shoot his dog since to Carlson,
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Of Mice And Men Crooks Loneliness Essay
1074 Words | 3 Pages
Crooks also tells Lennie that he is discriminated against, which makes sense because he is the only black man on a ranch set in the 1930's. The reader can assume that because Crooks spends so much time alone and is judged by the color of his skin he is lonely and wants to be accepted by those around him. Crooks goes into depth about what it feels like to have no one to turn to. By writing that Crooks says, "he got nothing to tell him what's so an' what ain't so" and "he don't know whether it's right or not", the reader can assume that Crooks has doubts about if what he's doing is normal and wants someone to reassure him because he says that "he got nothing" and "he don't know". Steinbeck wrote "If some guy was with me" and "it would be all right. But I jus' don't know.". These examples support the theme because it shows that because Crooks is lonely, he craves someone else to justify his thoughts and
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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
729 Words | 2 Pages
And Slim gave him none.” p.47 This quote explains when Carlson gains the right to kill Candy’s dog and Candy looks around for somebody to stand up for him
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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
791 Words | 2 Pages
On the ranch, where they live and work, the only thing that Candy has is his old dog. The other guys on the ranch always complain to Candy about how his dog smells and cannot do anything useful. One night, while most of the guys were in the bunks, they started talking to Candy about the dog and how he should put it down. Carlson then says that he would do it for Candy, and he agrees. “A shot sounded in the distance. The men quickly looked over at the old man. For a moment he continued to stare at the ceiling. Then he rolled slowly over and faced the wall and lay silently”(Steinbeck 49). When Candy heard the shot, he knew that he lost the only thing
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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
414 Words | 1 Pages
However, Candy expresses his passion about this dream and the need for them to get this farm. Stating how they aren’t like the others that come by because Candy, along with Lennie and George are working together to get this farm. After crooks hears this, he becomes intrigued and asks if he could join
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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
1290 Words | 3 Pages
(Steinbeck 44). Candy says this because since the dog was a pup, Candy has not really ever left his side like they are best friends and the dog means a lot to him. A little bit of time passes and Carlson convinces Candy to allow Carlson to kill Candy’s dog. Eventually Candy recovers from his dog’s death and overhears the other guys talking about the land George plans on starting a farm. Candy asks to join and says, “S’pose I went in with you guys.
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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
1526 Words | 4 Pages
Crooks’s loneliness comes from the racial discrimination he faces and inequality he feels from being a cripple. Unlike the rest of the workers, he lives in the barn with the horses. The reason behind this is that he is black and at the time this book takes place and was written, there was not racial equality in america. While Crooks was talking to Lennie and Candy about Lennie and George’s dream to have their own ranch, Crooks offered to help out around their place if they ever did achieve their dream and was all for the idea until George came in. The tasks he offered to do were not much different from the ones he was already doing because he was crippled, another source of his feeling of inequality and loneliness.
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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
1030 Words | 3 Pages
Steinbeck explains the negative effect of loneliness when Crooks describes himself: “A guy needs somebody-to be near him…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 a guy get too lonely an’ he gets sick” (72). Crooks conveys his thoughts about loneliness, telling Lennie that over time, it can slowly affect a person into sickness. In this situation, Crooks is the person who is ill as he is known to be a crippled man who has “accumulated more possessions than he could carry on his back” (67). Crooks continues to exemplify this emphasis after he reassures Lennie about George’s return: “I seen things out here. I wasn’t drunk. I don’t know if I was asleep. If some guy was with me, he could tell me I was asleep, an’ then it would be all right. But I jus’ don’t know” (73). Crooks reflects on an experience about seeing hallucinations, telling Lennie that he was never drunk and questions if he’s insane or asleep. He believes that he needs someone to reassure him during his time of unexpected episodes. He yearns for relationship similar to George and Lennie, hoping to meet a dependent
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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
1124 Words | 3 Pages
In the novella, it discusses, like Crooks, that Candy was injured and did small work to keep busy. He was in constant fear of being let go from his job because of his debilitating injury. He stated, “They’ll can me purty soo. Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunkhouses they’ll put me on the county” (60). To add to his injury, Candy’s only true companion was his old, mangy dog.
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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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