Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

648 Words2 Pages

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

Open Document