Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Being friendless/ lonely can be really depressing and this could impact the way you see life, or how you see yourself. The people who are lonely aren’t responsible for it. In the novel, Of Mice And Men, Steinbeck’s character Crooks shows what really being lonely looks like. Crooks is not lonely because he chooses to, he is lonely because he is African American, and nobody wants to be his friend. This book was written in 1937, so racism played a role in not having many friends, or being judged a lot. The character Crooks in the novel, Of Mice And Men is one person who is truly lonely. Since Crooks is truly lonely and friendless this impacts him in a bad way because it will lead to him feeling worthless, and self-conscious. This also leads to him being used, being alone, and wanting no one to bother him. In chapter 4 Crooks states “A guy needs somebody- to be near him ...Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you”. This shows how Crooks …show more content…

For Crook, he is one who isn’t responsible for his loneliness. Crooks isn’t responsible because he isn’t accepted by anyone, because of his race. Most people that work with Crooks do not accept him and exclude him from hanging out or other things. This is because he is African American. Crooks didn’t choose to be African American, and he knows that and if he could change he would because he just wants a friend to talk to. Crooks states, “S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play Rummy’ cause you was black. How’d you like that? S’pose you had to sit out here an’ read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books” (Steinbeck, pg 105). “They play cards in there, but I can’t play because i’m black. They say I stink..” (Steinbeck pg 100). These prove that he wishes he could be involved more, and have friends but he can't help it because they won’t accept

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