In Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men the main theme is Loneliness and Isolation. Steinbeck really creates an image in your head of the life of the migrated ranch men. He hides the fact the characters are isolated in the language he uses. The town that the ranch is close to is called “Soledad” which means loneliness in spanish. In latin “Solitaire” (the card game the men play) means alone and isolated. Some of the characters in the book have been described as more isolated and lonely than the other character, with the ones in particular ; Crooks, Candy and Curley’s Wife. Crooks is lonely because he is black and has a crooked back which is physically isolating him, Candy is lonely because he is old and only has one hand, Curley’s Wife is lonely because she is the only woman on the ranch. All the people living on the ranch are lonely to some extent. This is proven when Steinbeck describes the bunkhouse where all the workers sleep. "Over each bunk there was nailed an apple box with the opening forward so that it made two shelves for personal belongings of the occupant of the bunk." (p38) The way Steinbeck describes the bunkhouse indicates their lonely lives. Also by only having two shelves for their personal belongings shows their lonely insecure lives. Crooks has a better facility than any of the other ranch workers since he has a desk. Crooks does not appreciate this because he is alone and isolated from the rest, like Curley’s wife and in some way Candy. Steinbeck has