Of Mice and Men is a story full of many characters, and most of these characters share a common trait: loneliness. This trait being the most salient theme of the story. Several characters such as Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy, are the most lonely. Candy being so for the loss of his dog and his dream, Curley’s wife for the loss of her dream and her life, and Crooks for being the only black man on a dominantly white ranch. Firstly, Curley’s wife is introduced in the story as a devious entity, one created to cause trouble, and foreshadow various events in the book, while still inheriting a depressing tale of her own. The ranch hands are shown to dislike her, and are skeptical of her actions, given that “A ranch with a bunch of guys ain’t no place for a girl, especially like her.” according to George. This gives evidence to her loneliness, showing that she …show more content…
He is an introvert, and dislikes the other ranch hands, because since he is black, he “ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse.” His loneliness is pure because since the beginning, he was isolated, alienated, and treated unfairly just because his skin was a darker pigment than everyone else's. In his chapter, he finally got to socialize with Candy and Lennie, filling the hole in his heart that also longed for human interaction. During his conversation with the two, he became more open to people coming into his room, and went from “You ain’t got no right to come in my room,” to “You can come in if you want.” In the midst of his first interaction in a long time, he also got a place in the dream ranch. But nearing the end of his chapter, his dreams were also crushed by Curley’s wife, who threatened to lynch him, stripping him of his confidence, and shutting him up once again. He ends up telling Candy that he doesn’t want to be a part of the dream ranch anymore, and once again continues his lonely life,
All through the book Curley’s Wife is very “open” to everyone she meets. The reason for this can be interpreted by her and Curley’s “so-called” marriage. The relationship between Curley’s Wife and Curley seems to be somewhat unstable as he is always asking “Any you guys seen my wife?” (pg. ). This also shows how protective Curley seems to be as he is always checking up on where his wife is. Curley’s insecurity seems to cage in his wife from having any kind of a friendship with any other men. In turn, the wife gets so sick of being isolated like this and relieves her loneliness by conducting secret conversations with many other men on the ranch. As a result many of the ranch hands see her as a tramp but it can be viewed that all she really wants is a person to talk to.
... love and affection that she desires. This makes her seek it from other people. By not talking to anyone and constantly worrying about what Curley will do, she has attained a sneakiness that does not please anyone on the ranch. Acting in flirtatious ways is the only way Curley's Wife thinks she can deal with her loneliness.
The guy’s seeing her as a tramp and a troublemaker, but all she wants is someone to talk to. Crooks, who is another lonely man, was very sad as well. Because he was black, he wasn’t allowed into the other guys bunkhouse with them because they thought he stunk. “Why ain’t you wanted to?” Lennie asked.
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.
Thomas Carlyle, philosopher, once stated, “Isolation is the sum total of wretchedness to a man.” There is nothing in this world more heartbreaking than the lack of healthy relationships. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is an insightful story about man-to-man bonds. It is set during the 1930s, when the United States was going through the Great Depression. At this time, everyone, including migrant workers similar to the ones in our story, had difficulties finding secure jobs. This resulted in an attitude of every man for himself. Some of the characters in the story can connect well with others; however, the rest have a hard time fitting in. Slim, the jerkline skinner, is one of the people who can blend in with the other ranch workers. This
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.
Throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men (by John Steinbeck), loneliness is the major underlying theme of the novel. You could almost say that the book has hormonal' up's and down's. Most of the characters are very lonely because they have no family. However, George and Lennie are the contradiction to this. George and Lennie's bond towards each other are so- strong that you can almost see it as you are reading the book. Candy the old crippled man wants to be part of George and Lennie's dream to own a farm and "live off the fatta the land". Curley and his dog are like the metaphor in the book for George and Lennie. Candy has to take care of his dog and George of Lennie. The other two characters in the novel that are apart of the overall theme of loneliness are crooks the crippled stable buck and Curley's wife the flirtatious city girl. Crook's fits in to the loneliness theme because he is black. During this time in history, there was very little racial empathy. So being black means that he is isolated from everyone else at the ranch. Speaking of isolation, curley's wife feels very isolated because her husband, Curley, doesn't trust her at all, however, because Curley is so strict and concerned about her flirting with other guys it almost fuels her desire to cause trouble.
Curley is the boss’s son on the ranch, and as a result, he is given a lot of power and wealth. Curley finds himself isolated
Candy, Crook’s and Curley’s wife all were lonely and they dealt with it in unique way to make themselves feeling lonely. I think one of the most important lessons in the novel is friendship and having a social interaction with other human beings are very important and we all should be grateful, because it keeps us far way from loneliness. I remember a time when I was lonely I couldn’t stand it. When my mom and the family went out to the store for a while to go shopping. I felt I was going to explode, it didn’t feel like just a couple of minutes it felt like days. From the second they walked in the door I was greeting the, they thought I was eccentric. They kept “asking are you okay?” That was just about an hour I don’t want see if it was for a week.
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
The theme of loneliness is important to the meaning of Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck, and the side characters of the novella feel loneliness just as much as the main characters. Crooks has been lonely for a long time, and his secluded nature starts to show. Curley’s Wife is lonely as well because of her feminine nature and marriage with Curley. Loneliness is also evident in Candy, and just as he thinks he has found a home, all his hope of companionship is ripped away. Crooks, Curley’s Wife, and Candy are not like the other characters of this book. All three of them have some feature that sets them apart from the others. Crooks is African American, Curley’s Wife is a woman, and Candy lost his hand. These traits have separated these characters
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
but she is lonely for different reasons. Like Crooks Curley's wife suffers from... ... middle of paper ... ...ion. But Candy gets some life back in him when he hears George and Lennie talking about their dream farm. Hearing this gives Candy a reason to live.
“‘A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is… I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick,” (Steinbeck 73). In this statement, Crooks, a character in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, divulges what effect loneliness can have on a human being. In the novel, the two main characters escape to a ranch where they must face the conflict that seems to follow them. Set in the 1930s during the Great Depression, Steinbeck brilliantly portrays the loneliness and suspicion that was common during the time. Much like in everyday life, we can see the way in which loneliness drives people to become isolated, crave companionship, and refuse to express emotion.
These men often tell her that she should stay home aand wait for Curley,‘’Maybe you better go along to your own house now. We don’t want no trouble’’ (Crooks, 77). The workers on the ranch believe that Curley’s spouse is a problem, as she would cause Curley to suspect that she’s cheating on him, so the men would avoid talking to her. This makes her question why everyone is shunning her driving her loneliness, ‘’Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am anyways’’ (Curley’s wife, 87). No matter how hard Curley’s wife tries to socialize with others’ on the ranch, they would push her away and feeding her