Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice & Men: Loneliness

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Loneliness is a state of being alone in sadness, resulting from being

isolated or abandoned. As I understand it, loneliness is when a person

has no one to talk to, no one to confide in, nor anyone to keep

companionship with. Loneliness also makes a person slip into a

desolate state, which they try to conceal under a tough image, and is

an emotion even the strongest cannot avoid. In his novel, Of Mice and

Men, John Steinbeck deals with loneliness by looking for comfort in a

friend, but settling for the attentive ear of a stranger. Although

they seem at ease and friendly on the surface, a deep sense of

loneliness lingers in the hearts of Crooks, George, and Curley's wife,

to which they are desperate to find an escape from to cope with their

seclusion from the rest of society.

Crooks, a lively, sharp-witted, black stablehand, who takes his name

from his crooked back, leads a lonely life. He lives according to the

rule that no black man is allowed to enter a white man's home. Crooks’

loneliness is a result of rejection from everyone else on the ranch.

He is forced to live alone in a barn, where he lives his life in

isolation because of his colour, which was an issue in those days.

When Lennie visits him in the room, Crooks' reactions reveal the fact

that he is lonely. As a black man with a physical handicap, Crooks is

forced to live on the border of ranch life. He is not even allowed to

enter the white men's bunkhouse, or join them in a game of cards. His

resentment typically comes out through his bitter, sad, and touching

vulnerability, as he tells Lennie: “…A guy needs somebody to be nea...

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...ch seems to disappear when narrating the story of the

farm to Lennie. Curley's wife's loneliness is covered behind the mask

of a portrayed prostitute, but the mask falls off during her

conversations with strangers, including Lennie. I think John

Steinbeck's message about loneliness and people's attempts to overcome

loneliness in the novel is to reveal to us the nature of human's true

existence. One cannot escape from being lonely, and the characters'

attempts to overcome their loneliness is to seek the desire and

comfort of a friend, but settle for the attentive ear of a stranger. I

feel that Steinbeck is not completely successful in delivering his

message across because for a full realization, one has to dig deep

into the story, as well as place themselves in the shoes of a

character to emphasize with, as well as relate to them and perceive

their misery.