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Theme of loneliness in the novel
The theme of loneliness in the novel
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It always feels good to talk to someone when you feel lonely or confused, whether that be a family member, a friend, or any person you trust. In Of Mice and Men, Crooks, the only black man on the ranch, works in the stables. Set in the 1930s, a time period with a large amount of racism, the other characters discriminate against him and do not treat him equally. Married to the ranch owner’s son, Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch. Because of the threat that her husband provides, she is often ignored by the men on the ranch. These characters, along with others, prove this theme by showing what it's like to feel lonely and not accepted by those around them. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck suggests that as humans, we crave a sense of belonging and acceptance from other people for who we are and for the decisions we make. This is because …show more content…
Crooks also tells Lennie that he is discriminated against, which makes sense because he is the only black man on a ranch set in the 1930's. The reader can assume that because Crooks spends so much time alone and is judged by the color of his skin he is lonely and wants to be accepted by those around him. Crooks goes into depth about what it feels like to have no one to turn to. By writing that Crooks says, "he got nothing to tell him what's so an' what ain't so" and "he don't know whether it's right or not", the reader can assume that Crooks has doubts about if what he's doing is normal and wants someone to reassure him because he says that "he got nothing" and "he don't know". Steinbeck wrote "If some guy was with me" and "it would be all right. But I jus' don't know.". These examples support the theme because it shows that because Crooks is lonely, he craves someone else to justify his thoughts and
Steinbeck clearly shows that Crooks never has any say on the ranch. No one cares about him. He’s just a “negro stable buck” (66). In this novella, No one ever talks to him except for candy. Lennie finally finds himself going into his room. While in there they speak about racial profiling. Crooks tell lennie that he’s the only African Americans on the ranch. He tells Lennie how he’s “alone out here at night” (73). He has nobody to talk to all he does is read books and think. The people on the ranch care less about his needs and wants, all they want him to do is to continue his work...
Crooks talks with Lennie in the book, "Crooks laughed again. ‘A guy can talk to you an’ be sure you won’t
Crooks, the black stable buck, is isolated from the community of migrant workers because of his racial status. When Lennie goes into the barn to see his puppy, he and Crooks have a conversation. “'Why ain't you wanted?' Lennie asked. 'Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black'” (68). Lennie is too kind-hearted and intellectually slow to visualize the apparent racial boundary that sets Crooks aside from Lennie and the rest of the workers. Crooks is so isolated from the rest of the workers that he says he “can't” play cards, not that he isn't allowed to, which means that the racial boundary is like a wall Crooks cannot cross. Because he is black, Crooks believes that he cannot play cards with the white men. He can't get over the racial boundary, and believes he will be forever separated from the white men. In the beginning of chapter 4, Steinbeck describes Crooks' living space. “Crooks, the Negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room; a little shed that leaned off the...
In his novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck depicts the essential loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930s. He illustrates how people are driven to find companionship. There were so many moments of loneliness and sadness throughout the novel, including many deaths. Following the deaths, they were very unexpected making the novel more intense and latch onto it more.
Earlier on the page Crooks is saying to Lennie what if George didn’t come back, what if you didn’t have nobody. Crooks is saying all these what if’s because he doesn’t have nobody by his side all the time. To describe this quote Crooks is talking to Lennie telling him that he doesn’t have any body and that lennie is lucky to have somebody that cares for him. “S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk house and play rummy ‘cause you was black. How’d you like that?”(68). Crooks feels that he doesn’t have nobody so he is explaining how he has things for his life and wishes he could have somebody who cared about him in his life. No body in the book really cares for Crooks because he is different so everyone is in the bunk house except for him playing rummy while he is sitting inside his room all by himself. To let the reader know how Crooks fells Steinbeck uses characterization to show how Crooks thinks and feels. I this quote Crooks is talking about himself and explaining to lennie what it is like having nobody around you. “Sometimes he gets thinkin’, an’ he got nothing to tell him what 's so an’ what ain’t so. Maybe if he sees something’, he don’t know whether it 's tight or not. He can’t turn to some other guy and ask him if he sees it too. He can 't tell. He got nothing to measure buy”(73). Crooks badly wants someone
The character Candy could be considered lonely after the death of his dog. Before that he seems relatively happy and, in fact, is quite gregarious in chapter two when George and Lennie first enter the bunkhouse of the ranch. He goes on about the other characters and describes the Boss, Slim, Crooks, Curley and Curley's wife. He even gossips with George, telling the story about the glove on Curley's left hand which is full of vaseline so he can keep "that hand soft for his wife."It is not until chapter three that Candy's life turns lonely. Carlson, a laborer on the ranch, believes that Candy's dog is too old and decrepit. He suggests that Candy shoot it to put it out of its misery. Candy can't do it and, because Slim gives Carlson the approval, the man takes Candy's dog and kills it.
In the touching and gripping tale of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, he explains many themes throughout the books. One of the major themes is loneliness, which is shown throughout many different characters, for example, Curley’s wife, the stable buck (Crooks), and Lennie.
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.
Loneliness in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck This book is set in a deserted, lonely country. The individuals in the stories are isolated by particular features such as age, gender, disability. and race to the end. They appear to relate to each other, however, each is.
Being lonely, bullied, and disabled are all problems in everyday life. People go through struggles like this just as Crooks did in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. In this story, two main characters are searching for the American Dream. When they arrive to their job, they meet an African American man named Crooks. Crooks is mistreated by everybody around him and abandoned because of the color of his skin. Crooks faces many challenges throughout the story while dealing with the fact that he will never be treated the same as the others. The reader should feel sorry for Crooks because he faces many obstacles while being disabled, bullied, and lonely.
"Were born alone we live alone die alone. Only through love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that were not alone” Orson Welles. In this novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck focuses on the loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930’s. One of the most important things in the life is to have a friend, without friends people will suffer from loneliness like in this novel, not everyone in the novel has the same connection and special friendship like George and Lennie’s. Of Mice and Men is the story about lonely men who travel from ranch to ranch not really communicating with other ranch hands. Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife all were lonely and dealt with their loneliness in different ways.
In his conversation with Lennie, Crooks spells out what it is like to be alone. He is unsuccessful in being accepted as equal, because of his social status, and the racist views of the men on the ranch. Crooks tells Lennie, “‘A guy needs somebody to be near him’ He whined, ‘A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody’” (Steinbeck 72).
Crooks's anger, though, is really just a cover for the pain he experiences from constant isolation. "A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody ... A guy gets too lonely and he gets sick."(73) This desire to have a connection is apparent later in the scene when Crooks hears Lennie and Candy's plan to buy a little ranch.
All throughout Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck explores how isolation through sexism and racism can cause a person to crave attention. He helps the reader to understand this by depicting both Curley’s Wife and Crooks, who were minorities on the farm, as extremely needy for attention