Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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In Spanish, Soledad means loneliness, which is only fitting for the book’s setting: Soledad California. Loneliness is the act of being sad and isolated. During the Great Depression people were alone and in financial travesty. By the 1930’s, the Ku Klux Klan was at its most powerful state, the Jim Crow laws were still in place, and lynchings were at their height. At the same time women had only gained the right to vote 10 years ago and voting laws made it almost as hard as possible for them to be able to vote. Minorities were even more lonely living in a state of fear and humiliation. The combination of loneliness and mistreatment made life as a minority miserable. In Of Mice and Men Steinbeck depicts the minorities of the ranch as people with …show more content…

However she is above an African-American like Crooks. As Crooks is one of the few people she has power over she uses one of her most effective weapons the threat of lynching to scare him into silence. Though Curley's wife is not inherently evil the pressure of being one of the lowest members of society and not feeling fulfilled push her to use her power over whoever possible. Another way Curly’s wife attempts to use her power as a white woman is when most of the men go to the whorehouse. Candy, Crooks and Lennie are the only men left on the ranch Candy exclaims “They left all the weak ones here,” she said finally (77). Curley’s wife calls Candy, Crooks and Lennie weak for not going to the whorehouse. By calling the others weak she tries to make herself feel powerful. However the reality is she is the one who is weak, constantly exploiting her sexualty in an attempt to make herself feel above others. Even though she does this she is still living in isolation and will never complete her …show more content…

Crooks is a stable hand who had his back kicked by a horse which gave him a long term injury. Even though Crooks is a stable hand which is a more important job than others on the farm he is treated not nearly well as the other workers. Crooks is forced to sleep in the barn apart from the other men which receive the privilege of sleeping in the bunks. The one time Crooks was allowed in the bunkhouse was for christmas. On that christmas he was allowed to drink a gallon of whiskey with the other workers, the night quickly became violent as everyone became drunk and attacked him. Candy’s account of the events are truly sickening. He “relished” the memory of Crooks being beat up by the other ranch workers. Candy goes on to say that the boss beats Crooks when he is angry. As it turns out the boss brought Crooks to the bunkhouse for the night's “entertainment”. Considering the thirties which was prior to the civil right movement if Crooks responded to this abuse with any action he would likely be lynched. Crooks reveals he dreams of becoming equal to everyone else. He recalls where he grew up playing with white kids who he became friends with. He goes on to talk about how in Soledad that whites and colored people quickly became separate from each other and that his wonderful childhood was over. Crooks

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