People often have their peers to look out for them; however, many still have a sense of loneliness. In “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, a multitudinous amount of characters are not able to share their feelings with a close friend. While many of the characters are around other people or other workers, they often are moving around from ranch to ranch, instead of developing close relationships with their peers. The theme of loneliness is showcased quite frequently throughout “Of Mice and Men.” Crooks, the stable buck, is only one of the many lonely characters. The narrator says, “Crooks, the negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room; a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn” (Steinbeck 66). Crooks had to live off in a little bunk room by himself because some of the white workers did not want Crooks to stay with them because of his color. When explaining to Lennie why he is not wanted, Crooks says, “ ‘Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m …show more content…
When Carlson says he does not like the smell of Candy’s dog, Candy replies with, “I been around him so much I never notice how much he stinks” (Steinbeck 44). Candy’s only real friend was his dog, and he spends most of his time with his dog. Carlson and some of the other guys thought it would be a good idea to put Candy’s dog to sleep because it stunk, he was very old and already in misery, and Candy could get a new puppy from Slim’s litter afterwards. Later, when Carlson took Candy’s dog out back, the narrator describes the scene as, “A shot sounded in the distance [...] For a moment he continued to stare at the ceiling. The he rolled slowly over and faced the wall and lay silent” (Steinbeck 49). When Carlson took Candy’s dog out to shoot him, Candy felt like he had lost his only real friend. After the death of his dog, Candy had become even more lonely than before the
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.
Crooks. loneliness is caused because he is black, at the time the story took place there was racism. Since Crooks is black, he wasn?t able to socialize with the white men. When Steinbeck describes all of Crooks? possessions, it shows that Crooks has been at the ranch a long time and that his possessions are all the he cares about.
In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and the poem "Eleanor Rigby" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, many of the characters are experiencing loneliness. When people feel lonely their way of lifestyle are different then that of someone's who's not lonely or them if they were not lonely. Also because they are lonely their actions are different. They portray this in both the novel and the poem.
“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.
Mother Theresa once said, "Loneliness is a man's worst poverty." Without friends and companions, people begin to suffer from loneliness and solitude (Dusenbury 38). Loneliness is an inevitable fact of life and cannot be avoided, as shown prevalent through each of the characters in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Each and every character in this novel exhibits loneliness. Lennie was isolated for being mentally handicapped, Candy was isolated for being old and disabled, Crooks was for being black, Curley's wife for being a woman, and George for having to care for Lennie and being unable to socialize with others because of Lennie's consistency of getting into trouble from town to town.
Not having any friends is one of the reasons why Crooks is lonely. The other workers on the ranch take place in fun activities, such as horseshoes and card games. Crooks never gets invited to play. This resentment is due solely to the color of his skin. The other characters all have someone to talk to. George and Lennie have each other, Candy had both his dogs. The other workers are friends with one another. Curley’s wife is also lonely, but still has Curley. The men sit in the bunk house, talk and have fun on occasion. Meanwhile Crooks is in his shed all alone. Crooks tries to explain to Lennie in
alone just to try make some money. This was a very bad period in the
During the era of the Great Depression in the 1930’s, many people lost their jobs and became very lonely. This was around the time when John Steinbeck released his famous book about these “bindle stiffs”. The book was called, Of Mice and Men. Loneliness is one of the major themes of this novel. Several of the characters in the book are alone. In this novel, John Steinbeck shows how being alone affects different characters. Each is affected in a different way. Throughout the novel, the theme of loneliness is mostly expressed in the important characters of Candy, Curley’s wife and Crooks.
I have been analysing the novella ‘Of Mice and men’ by John Steinbeck, which was published in 1937. Steinbeck wrote the novel based on his own experiences as a bindle stiff in the 1920’s, around the same time when the great Wall Street crash happened, causing an immense depression in America. Throughout the novel he uses a recurring theme of loneliness in his writing, which may have reflected his own experiences at this time. This is evident in his writing by the way he describes the characters, setting and language in the novel.
In order to live a happy, fulfilled life, the characters in Of Mice and Men must overcome their problem of being lonely. the characters Candy, Curley's wife, and Crooks show many examples of loneliness. Over the chapters these characters make many decisions by themselves. They never have anyone to talk to about their rough patches in their life. they must all overcome obstacles, some harder than others. some choices they make will change their lives
Crooks is isolated for being the only black cripple man on the ranch. Since this book is set during the Depression, Jim Crow laws are still in effect, whites and blacks had separate facilities for socialising and living. The full extent of Crooks's suffering is made clear when Crooks lashes out at Lennie. Viewing Lennie as a symbol of all the white men who had hurt him, Crooks strikes out in anger, saying "You got no right to come in my room...Nobody got any right in here but me." (Pg 67 & 68). In fact, Crooks protects himself by acting like a "proud, aloof man." (Pg 67) and his anger is just a disguise for the pain he experiences from constant isolation as “his face lighted with pleasure in Lennie’s torture." (Pg 71).
We all know that every one becomes lonely once in a while. But in Steinbeck's novella "Of Mice and Men” it shows the loneliness of ranch life in the early 1930's. It also shows how people are trying to find friendship with other ranchers in order to escape from loneliness. Imagine if you had nobody to talk to. Loneliness is the basic message here in this story.
What is your biggest fear? For some it is being unsuccessful or being inadequate for others it is the idea of being lonely or being alone for a long period of time, how much will a person do to feel that happiness that all people strive to have? John steinbeck explores this grim motif about loneliness in his award winning novella “Of Mice and Men” which is about ranch hands set in the great depression who survive each day in the blistering hot california landscape which may have the answer to this difficult question, John steinbeck uses clever symbolism in his characters to illustrate his ideas about the motif through the people known as crooks, candy and curley's wife Loneliness in Steinbeck's book is seen in almost every character but not as distinctive as seen with the character Crooks the stable buck. In Of Mice and Men, Crooks is used as a representation of what
In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, loneliness is a key theme to the novella. Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy are affected the most by their loneliness. Steinbeck creates the novella in a setting where most of the characters are isolated from the outside world and other people. Crooks is kept in a separate barn because he is black. Curley’s wife is unable to talk to other people on the ranch because Curley had forbidden it.