ipl-logo

How Does Steinbeck Present The Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

698 Words3 Pages

Loneliness is a strong word, however it means a lot to be lonely. The definition of lonely or loneliness is sadness because one has no friends or company. In the novel Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck shows that Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s Wife have loneliness because they never have company or friends to talk to. These Character’s show that loneliness is a problem that must be overcome in order to live a happy, fulfilled life. In the story Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses the dog to represent loneliness of Candy. The men in the bunkhouse where complaining about how bad the dog stunk so Carl said let me do it he won’t even feel a thing. Curly says, “ I had him since he was a pup though”(Steinbeck #44). Steinbeck is trying to show that because the dog has been with Curly all this time he is going to be lonely once Carlson kills him. Curley won’t have a person or a dog to wake up to and talk to or attend to the dog. Therefore Steinbeck shows the amount of loneliness Curly has now since his best friend is gone. “ I ain’t got no relatives or nothing” ( Steinbeck 59) . Steinbeck is telling the reader that Curley has no family or anyone around to talk to. Therefore it tell the reader that Curley …show more content…

Crooks is a black man who isn’t allowed to be in the house with all the men. The men won’t allow him to come in because of his color. Crooks is lonely and he doesn’t bother the men. One night Lennie came in and was talking to Crooks and telling them about the farm that they were going to get. For once Crooks thought well maybe I won’t be lonely I could go with them and don’t have worry about none of them. “ Crooks scowled, but Lennie’s disarming smile defeated him” ( Steinbeck 69). Crooks finally excepted some company and he was talking to Lennie. He didn’t feel so lonely anymore he felt like he could trust Lennie. Crooks even felt like he could finally talk to

Show More
Related
724 Words | 3 Pages

Albert Schweitzer once said, “We are all so much together, but we are all dying of loneliness.” Undoubtedly, Albert Schweitzer’s quote can be referred to Curley’s wife in the novel Of Mice and Men, and John Steinbeck’s message about loneliness. Without a doubt, Curley’s wife, from Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is a lonely character who fails to find companionship, and depicts Steinbeck’s message about loneliness. Certainly, Curley’s wife was in search of a companion throughout the novel.

Read More
877 Words | 4 Pages

Crooks telling Lennie to leave his room demonstrates him being marginalized makes him push other people away from him because he doesn’t want other people to be around him even if they want to be around him. When Candy comes into the barn looking for Lennie and finds Lennie in Crooks’ room, Crooks tells Candy to come inside in an annoyed way, but in reality, “It was difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger” (73). When Candy also shows up at Crooks’ room, Crooks tries to make it seem like he is angry that Candy is coming into his room, but he isn’t angry at all and has a hard time hiding it. Crooks is glad that

Read More
630 Words | 3 Pages

Due to his race, he was segregated, and was not allowed to associate with white people. Crooks was the loneliest person on the ranch because his color, there is a lot of racism at the point and so they were considered lower. On page 68 it states " I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse and you ain't wanted in my room.

Read More
765 Words | 4 Pages

Loneliness is a key aspect that flows throughout the Of Mice and Men plot line. Every character express some sort of loneliness at one time or another in this story. Some character express the fact that they are currently alone and others express that they have been lonely in their past. Others do not clearly state that they have even thought about loneliness, but they do give subtle hints at to it. The two main characters in this story are George and Lennie, they travel together and yet both express their struggles and fears of being alone.

Read More
708 Words | 3 Pages

Lennie asked Crooks “Why Ain’t you wanted?” Crooks replied “Cause I’m black” he also told Lennie, “I tell ya a guy gets lonely and he gets sick.” The explanation supports the fact that Crooks was plagued by loneliness and alienation and he wanted

Read More
880 Words | 4 Pages

Steinbeck displays through the dialogue and characterizations that these characters experience isolation because of both social barriers and personal choice. Crooks being an African-American on the ranch, full of whites, struggles racially which causes his withdrawal from the society. Crooks explains to Lennie his when he’s accompanied by him “ A guy goes nuts if he ain 't got nobody. Don 't make no difference who the guy is long’s

Read More
568 Words | 3 Pages

People need people. Being lonely can make society go insane… especially unexpected people. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, two unlikely paired men named George is an undersized, dark man with “sharp, strong features”; he’s quick to face when it comes to his friend Lennie. Lennie, his companion is his opposite, a sweet, dous size man with a “shapeless” face that has a mind of a child. They share a dream of buying their own piece of land, farming it, and mostly to Lennie, keeping the rabbits... but traumatic events gets in their way to make it tough for them to accomplish it.

Read More
559 Words | 3 Pages

Lonely Characters in Of Mice And Men Imagine a world where people didn’t really care what one said to another, and neither cared enough to ask each other questions. A place where everyone existed in silence, but were together at the same time. As portrayed in the novel, Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, in which Steinbeck’s idea of loneliness is isolation in silences. The author teaches the reader that friendship is mostly about conversation, and magnifies the effects of isolation through the eyes of Crooks, Curley’s wife and Candy.

Read More
860 Words | 4 Pages

A key aspect of any novel or story is the way the characters interact and feel towards everything. In John Steinbeck’s, “Of Mice and Men”, the characters tend to give off the effect of loneliness and the feeling of isolation throughout the novel. The main characters that give off the effect of loneliness and the feeling of isolation are Curley’s wife, Crooks, and George. They’ve been truly alone, if not in mind then in body.

Read More
1145 Words | 5 Pages

First, loneliness is the sadness caused by having no friends or company, and friendship is a state of mutual trust and support between people, they are polar opposites, yet a person may acclaim to have both. For example today a person may have a friend, or many, but still will face loneliness in their life in one way or another. This is shown in Of Mice and Men periodically throughout the novel, knowing this the reader is challenged with such themes, the enticing beauty of friendship between George and Lennie, and the gloomy dreaded idea of loneliness shown by Curley’s wife, Candy, Crooks, and again Lennie. Among these characters the reader may also feel a connection between themselves and the characters, even though the world now and during the publication of Of Mice and Men has changed a lot. The world has reformed, and developed exponentially so, however friendship and loneliness is still a facet of everyday

Read More
1216 Words | 5 Pages

Candy’s character is one who represents the want for a companion, even though companionship can end in heartbreak. Carlson told Candy that he needs to shoot his dog, his loyal companion, “‘I’m so used to him,’ he said softly. ‘I had him from a pup…’”(50). Everyone leaves to find Lennie while Candy stays with Curley’s wife, “Old Candy lay down in the hay and covered his eyes with his arm”(108). The words “used to” are significant because it shows how Candy doesn’t know what it’s like to be without his dog, his companion, because he has had him for so long.

Read More
1128 Words | 5 Pages

Crooks is an all alone, isolated character in Of Mice and Men, he is so isolated that he isn 't allowed in the bunkhouse because of his skin color and this loneliness and isolation affects him. When Lennie comes into Crooks ' room Crooks says "You got no right to come in my room. This here 's my room. Nobody got any right in here but me." Loneliness affects him here because he isn 't allowed in the bunkhouse so he has his own cabin and when Lennie comes in he isn 't used to people and he gets frustrated with Lennie.

Read More
1622 Words | 7 Pages

His tone was a little more friendly.” (69) Crooks decided to change his tone with Lennie when he realized he wasn’t going to leave. Loneliness is a big issue within Crooks because of his skin color which separates him from the others on the ranch. This shows how Crooks ties into the theme of loneliness because when reading between the lines, he wanted Lennie to leave for fear that he would criticize Crooks like everyone else is doing, so he asks that he leaves. But, he’s caught short when Lennie isn’t like the

Read More
786 Words | 4 Pages

(Steinbeck 80). Crooks is talking to Lennie about if George were to never comeback and support Lennie. He says this because then he would be like Crooks as he does not have anybody to interact with socially. Another example of Crooks being lonely is in the same conversation with Lennie, “ S 'pose you had to sit out here an ' read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books.

Read More
621 Words | 3 Pages

While Crooks, a victim of racial prejudice, expresses his isolation openly, he also socializes with other workers on the job and while playing horseshoes with them. Curley’s wife, on the other hand, cannot talk to anyone without suffering the consequences of a jealous husband: “ I get so lonely,’ she said. “you can talk to people , but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?”

Read More

More about How Does Steinbeck Present The Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

Related Topics

Open Document