The Isolation and Loneliness of Mice and Men Characters. By: Melaina Distad "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world.” Sometimes people might feel like they have no one to talk to, making them feel isolated. In the book Of Mice and Men there are three characters that fit into the category of isolation and loneliness. The First character is Candy, second is Crooks, and lastly Curley's wife. Let's begin with Candy who is the swapper on the ranch. In the story we learn that his dog is everything to him. But his dog is getting old and as Carlson said “He ain't no good to you, Candy. An' he ain't no good to himself ” (Steinbeck 45). Carlson makes an agreement with Candy and decides to shoot the dog. After Carlson goes on to shoot the dog Candy says, “I wish somebody shoot me when I become useless”(Steinbeck 45). By Candy saying I wish somebody would shoot me shows that he is now lonely and depressed. For his dog was the most important thing to him and without him what's the point of life. …show more content…
Crooks is a stable hand who has to live by himself because of his race. When Lennie is talking to Crooks about how great his new life is going to be with George and Candy, and how he will get to tend the rabbits. Crooks shuts him down to say“ S'pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like that?”(Steinbeck 80). For Crooks is getting flustered in trying to Lennie it’s not going to happen you're not going to get the land, but then he starts to realize George and Lennie have a real connection. He starts to tell Leinee about is life and how Isolated and lonely he is because he can not do the same things Lennie
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.
“You seen what they did to my dog tonight? They say he wasn’t good to himself, nor anyone else. When they can me here I wish somebody’d shoot me - Candy”. This quote shows how Candy was so lonely that he would rather want someone to kill himself instead of his dog because without his dog, he is now even more lonely. He is more lonelier than when he was before because before he was just old and he had his dog with him....
Candy?s disability separates him from society, an example of Curley being set aside is when everybody else goes to town he is left in the barn with Crooks, Lennie, and Curley?s wife. Candy?s only friendship was with his old, smelly dog. Candy?s dog was a symbol of himself (old, and useless). When Carlson kills Candy?s dog, he kills Candy on the inside as well. Curley?s wife had the most pathetic and depressing life.
This aspect is reflected by use of the time period’s race standards, as revealed in the following quote. Crooks whined in sorrow, “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody.” (Steinbeck 73). This quote suggests that Crooks’ exposure of discrimination has forced his isolation, preventing him from a healthy amount of human interaction and possibly driving mental illness. The indifference to women back then also donates to the effects of isolation and loneliness in the novel, as seen through Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife yells in exasperation, “Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?” (Steinbeck 87). This quote illustrates Curley’s wife’s frustration and anger of being shunned by the other people on the ranch, and the lack of her actual name, only being referred to as “Curley’s wife”, may also reveal her as being considered Curley’s property rather than spouse. In the novel, the characteristic of inevitability of age contributes to the effects of isolation and need for companionship. After Candy’s dog is shot, it’s revealed that Candy faces age discrimination. Candy comments in a monotone voice: “Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunkhouses they’ll put me on the county,” (Steinbeck 60). This example shows that Candy is aware of how useless he is in the eyes of the other men on the ranch due to his age, and will face adversity of being
It's just being with another guy. That's all." (39-40). This is important because, Crooks is telling Lennie how George can tell he makes his mistakes. You know how you have those long conversations on the phone ? with your best friend about absolutely nothing? or however kids communicate these days That's what Crooks is talking about. It doesn't matter what you're talking about—just that you're making a connection. "I was born right here in Southern California. My old man had a chicken ranch, ‘bout ten acres. The white kids come to play at our place, an’ sometimes I went to play with them, and some of them was pretty nice. My ‘ol man didn’t like that. I never knew till long later why he didn’t like that. But I know now." He hesitated, and when he spoke again his voice was softer. "There wasn’t another colored family for miles around. And now there ain’t a colored man on this ranch an’ there’s jus’ one family in Soledad" (37). At least Crooks has an excuse to be isolated: he's an African American which makes him an automatic outcast. Even if he wanted to reach out to everyone, he wouldn't be able to. You would think that things like skin color would matter less on a ranch in the middle of nowhere—but somehow they seem to matter more which sucks. “that big new guys messin’ around your pups out in the barn” (50).Lennie went in to crooks bunk while George was in town with the other men . Lennie had pup that he stole from the barn and Crooks was just Lennie that somebody who was messing with
Candy’s dog is, “So God damn old he can’t hardly walk. Stinks like hell too. Ever’ time he comes into the bunk house I can smell him for two, three days. Got no teeth, damn near blind, can’t eat” (Steinbeck 36). Carlson, one of the ranch hands, cannot stand it anymore.
Candy is an old ranch worker who shows he is isolated because he lost his hand so he is unable to work alongside the other guys. Candy had an old sheep dog that stayed at his side he tells everyone “I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup.” When Carlson convinced Candy to let him shoot his old dog, Candy had nothing left to live for. When he lost his dog he lost his ambition with it. Candy keeps to
Candy is the oldest farm worker Curley has around, which makes him a little different than the other workers. Candy says he really wants some land to himself because, he is tired of planting crops for everyone around and getting slim pay. The main reason Candy is lonely however is because his dog got shot. A fellow farm member Carlson is the one who shot Candy’s dog. Carlson shot Candys dog because it was old and smelt really bad. Candy’s dog was his best friend and the only one he enjoyed talking to.
After lennie crushes curley's hand and all the men go into town to get a drink lennie stumbles into Crook’s living space in the barnhouse and the decrepit old stable buck exemplifies our motif. According to the text Crooks says “S’pose George don't come back no more. S’pose he took a powder and ain’t coming back. What’ll you do then?”. In this short excerpt Crooks faces lennie with the idea that George might not come back, as Crooks pushes this thought into lennie's mind he is really trying to make himself feel more powerful because he wants revenge those who discriminate and marginalize him in a act to achieve a personal victory.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck depicts the essential loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930s. He illustrates how people are driven to find companionship. There are pieces of this idea in every character that is in this book from the smallest ones like the boss or the main characters like George. There are two characters that lack the character to even have anyone around.
“Candy looked for help from face to face (…) Candy continued to stare at the ceiling“, portrays a sense of isolation. Considering that Candy is the only significantly old character in the book, a difference between him and the other characters is revealed, which leads to loneliness, as he is difficult to relate to for everyone else. In the scene, Candy looks for help, this indicates that he has no friend, since a friend would ideally stand up for him, this therefore shows that Candy is lonely, Steinbeck emphasises this as Candy looks at each man individually hoping that they will convince the men that his dog should not be shot. Unsuccessfully, the dog dies anyway as no one sided with Candy, the reader reacts sympathetically to his loneliness at this point.
Crooks withdraws his request to be part of Lennie and George’s dream after Curley’s wife puts him in his place. His understandable suspicions and fears about how others treat him return and he cannot see beyond the prejudice he has always experienced. When Lennie enters his room uninvited, Crooks, out of bitter pride, exercises his only right, that of privacy in his own room. (Steinbeck 68) He is so desperately lonely that he cruelly tries to hurt Lennie with tales of George deserting him to try to make him understand what it feels like to be so alone.
Have you ever been alone, or isolated? Loneliness is like a virus “it's a response to isolation and causes anxiety” (psychologytoday.com). Loneliness is heavily portrayed in “Of Mice And Men” By John Steinbeck. Every person needs a friend, someone to engage in a conversation and explain himself to. Without this you are considered lonely. In Of Mice And Men Loneliness is a strong theme that is portrayed and shows it self through two characters, Crooks and Curley's Wife.
Candy is missing his right hand which obstructs him from doing many things the other ranchers can do. Candy’s only true companion is his dog. His dog is later shot in the book by Carlson. In a way the dog kind of symbolizes Candy. The dog is old and handicapped and nobody really wants him around, they say “he ain’t no good to himself”” the only person who wants and cares for the dog is Candy.
Throughout the story other character emerge, each one different however similar, trying to achieve a dream that may never come true or yearning to escape from their loneliness. Loneliness comes in many shapes and forms some in a loveless marriage others by the death of a companion yet others via the lack of social acceptance. This loneliness is the precursor to Lennie’s demise by the hand of his best friend and protector George. The isolation of a young woman, the need of her husband to prove his manhood creates a Pandora’s box of hate, lies and betrayal leading to the death of an