The Loneliness of Mice and Men In the book, Of Mice and Men, there are lots of loners and outcasts. There are a lot of lonely homeless people that can relate to Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife. Also people can relate to Crooks because he has no friends or family just like some people. Everybody has felt lonely in some type of way or form before. People could relate to Candy Because he is familiness and friendless just like most orphans. Lastly, People can relate to Curley’s wife in a certain sense. Just like I can. I can relate to because she moved from all her family just like my mother moved us away from our family in Detroit to be with my father when I was younger. The characters Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife all exemplify loneliness …show more content…
This quote explains the life of Crooks when he was growing up. He was isolated because he had nobody to play with or talk to. His dad made him stop talking to the kids because they were white. The second example is when Crooks says, “There ain’t another colored man on this ranch” (68). When he says this he is explaining to us his isolation and thus,he has his own room. The third quote I am using is when Crooks says “This is just a nigger talkin’, a busted back nigger. So it doesn’t mean anything see” (78). When he say’s this he is showing isolation because nobody really cares about what he says because he basically is irrelevant. These are the quotes that prove that Crooks is isolated and …show more content…
This first quote that Curley’s wife says is “I ain’t used to livin here….” (34) She says this because she is used to living with her family in Salinas. So she is alone because she doesn’t have any family. The second example is “Curley doesn’t let me talk to any of the guys….” (65) She says this because she can’t associate with anybody. So therefore she is isolated from others.The last example is "Seems like they ain't none of them cares how I gotta live". (47) She says this because nobody really pays attention to her. Nobody pays attention to her because she has a history of getting people in trouble by flirting with them. These are the reason’s why Curley’s wife is
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.
The first description of Curley’s Wife states that she gives multiple ranch workers “the eye” despite being “married two weeks.” From this we can instantly deduce that she is somewhat of a “tart” however if we evaluate further this could explain that she is lonely and not content with her new husband. The fact that she is giving other ranch workers “the eye” despite being married makes us feel no sympathy for her and instantly portrays her as endeavouring and potentially dangerous, although, on the other hand we can understand her restriction by Curley which makes us feel sympathy.
The story ‘Of Mice and Men’ is set in a period of time known as the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a time where the stock market crashed, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless or striving exceptionally hard to keep their roof from falling in. The characters in ‘Of Mice and Men’ face many dilemmas, for instance Curley’s wife doesn’t get much attention from her husband and seeks it out from the other ranch members and Crooks can’t live a day without being singled out because of his race/colour. Both these problems relate to what I believe is the biggest problem in this book, loneliness. Loneliness has made Crook a very bitter and isolated individual.
Curley’s wife seems to get a lot of the other guys in trouble. Curley always suspects that she’s fooling around with the other men, “Any you guys seen my wife?” (p.53) Curley’s Wife always gives an excuse to confront the guys saying, “Any you guys seen Curley?” Then she tries to hang around and have a conversation.
Curley?s wife spent her whole life trying to grab attention. She was always labeled and ignored by everyone on the ranch, an example of this is when George tells Lennie that she was troubled and to stay away from her. Curley?s wife was ignored and used from early on, when she was given false intentions on being a movie star.
“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.
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.
Curley’s wife had dreams and goals that she wanted to achieve way before she even met Curley. While Curley’s wife was talking to Lennie she tells him she “ain’t used to livin’ like this I
Crooks demand Lennie to get out because he’s not wanted. Lennie asked,”why ain’t you wanted” (68) Crooks replied, “can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, all of you stink to me” (68). Crooks is very alone and all he does is read books. So when Lennie comes to Crooks house, Crooks scared Lennie away with the words he said. Crooks said,”I didn’t mean to scare you”,”I was just talkin’ about myself” (73). Crooks enjoy when Lennie comes over because,”he sits alone out here at night, maybe readin’ books or thinkin’ or stuff like that” (73).Crooks is a really respectful guy that keeps to himself. He is lonely and most of the guys on the farm does not respect him because of his skin color. “ A guy needs somebody to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got
In other words, she is being stripped of her self worth. However in reality, she was a crucial character in the story, who also faced mental and physical disputes contributing to the theme of loneliness. Curley and his wife took part in a standard unbalanced relationship. Even though she appears to be well off and powerful, she is actually under Curley’s conditions: To never leave the house. “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in awhile?
(86) This is one of the main reasons why Curley's wife is made out to be a whore or floosy, not because she is one, only because she wants to have conversation. The other instance is when Curley's wife says "I ain't gonna give you no trouble. Don't ya think I like to talk to someone every once in a while." (77) As she states I ain't gonna give you no trouble she is clearly saying that she knows the guys see her as a troublemaker
Curley’s wife also degrades all men by saying all they do is drink, can’t save money, and go to cat houses. Lennie, Crooks, and Candy are all in Crooks’ shack. They’re all talking to each other about the ranch they dream of owning, when Curley’s wife appears. Curley’s wife yells at the trio in the shack,”Think I don’t know where they all went? Even Curley.
Crooks has his own room because he is not allowed in the bunkhouse so he has to sit in his small room in his free time and read books for fun. Being black, Crooks is subjected to blatant racism and segregation which results in Crooks' extreme
Since Crooks is a black man, his human rights are not respected. Due to his race, Crooks does not have any right to speak or even live near the white men. He is all alone, which makes him so cynical. Crooks has lost his rights to freedom, too, since he is unable to move anywhere because he won’t be able to get a new job.
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.