Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Loneliness Essay

“’They left all the weak ones here,’ she said finally.” (Steinbeck 77) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a story of two friends departing to work on a ranch. It takes place in Soledad, California during the era termed the Great Depression. Countless characters in Of Mice and Men have impairments. Curley’s wife is lonely, Lennie is mentally slow, Candy is old and without a right hand, and Crooks is black in a sad time when that is not extremely acceptable.
One of the handfuls of characters with impairment in this book is Curley’s Wife. She is lonely and a bit of a “tart” as understood in the book various times. “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” (Steinbeck 86) No one ever wants to talk to her because

they believe she will just cause trouble for them. Talking to no one can truly create some damage to a person over a period of time. She becomes lonely when she cannot talk to anyone except her husband, who will rarely talk to her. For example, Curley is always out working or at a cat house with the guys at the ranch. Loneliness is definitely a large impairment for her in this book. This is just one of the characters in Of Mice and Men that have an impairment.
Lennie Smalls is also an enormous contributor to the impairment problem in the story.

He is mentally slow. “George said I ain’t to have nothing to do with you – talk to you or nothing.” (Steinbeck 86) His friend George offers him guidance on almost everything throughout the story. During this time, it is not acceptable to be mentally slow, for the reason that no one understands and just assumes insanity. Another example of when this impairment is seen is when Lennie and George were living in Weed. Lennie was touching a girl’s dress and she begun to scream “rape” since she did not realize what he was doing. Lennie did not intend harm by this though. A final instance where this is seen is in Chapter 3 when Lennie crushes Curley’s hand. He did not undertake anything at first. George yelled for him to fight, subsequently he did. He did not realize how firm he was gripping and squeezing though. He meant no harm. This character is not the only one with an impairment he cannot currently

amend.
Candy, the elderly Swamper of the ranch, is the third character.

Candy is awfully old and has no right hand due to an accident on the ranch. Being old and attempting to work is already challenging enough, having no right hand just adds to the difficulty. “’I ain't much with on'y one hand. I lost my right hand here on this ranch. That’s why they give me a job swampin'" (Steinbeck 60) He cannot accomplish much with only one hand, yet he still continues to work. An instance where an effect from his impairment shows in the book exists in Chapter 3, when Carlson shoots his dog. The guys here certainly fail at having respect for him. Candy tells them multiple times he has no intention of allowing them to shoot his dog, however they still act. Candy eventually lets them execute it. His reasons for giving up is that he is not growing younger and could not accomplish anything even if he was to seek to argue with them on the subject. A final example of his impairment is that he cannot perform an exceptional amount of work. The reason for this is obvious. He is aged, tired and without a right

hand.
The final character with an impairment is Crooks. Sadly his impairment is his skin color. He is black in a time where racism occurs. “Crooks said darkly, ‘Guys don't come into a colored man's room much.’” (Steinbeck 77) Several of the guys on the ranch refrain from being around him for the sole fact that he is colored. Another example happens when Curley’s wife comes in and yells at him for talking back to her in Chapter 4. This shows Crooks is not respected much at all. As seen before Curley’s wife has little, if any, respect, thus for him to become undermined by her demonstrates an immense deal. A final perception of his impairments occurs when he is not allowed in the bunkhouse. He has his own room away from every last one in the barn because no one desires him near. Loneliness comes from his impairment and can fabricate another impairment he must deal with. John Steinbeck included numerous types of impairments in Of Mice and Men.
Limitless characters in Of Mice and Men have impairments. Some of them are Curley’s wife, Lennie, George and Candy. Curley’s wife is lonely because no one will talk to her. Lennie is mentally slow and does everything that George tells him add. Candy is old, without a right hand. Crooks is black in a sad time when that is dreadfully unacceptable. “’God, you're a lot of trouble,’ said George.” (Steinbeck 56)