In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, he shows how lack of companionship leads to loneliness. The book takes place on a farm in California were two unusual friends, George and Lennie, find work. As they spend more and more time at the farm, they come across a variety of many different people, many of whom, are lonely. Throughout the novel, using Curley and Crooks, Steinbeck illustrates the misery and loneliness these characters experience due to lack of companionship and communication. He then compares it to Lennie and George who have found companionship and communication in each other and therefore aren’t as lonely as the others. Curley’s wife experiences much loneliness and isolation because nobody really wants to talk to her. Crooks shows this when he responds to her, “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in awhile?... I had enough, he said angrily, You ain’t wanted here. (79-81)” Being the only woman on the ranch comes with struggles for Curley’s wife. Her predominant struggle is that she has no one who really wants to talk to her. Because she is a woman, she is isolated, bored and lonely, and her attempts to engage with the other men on the ranch only push them further away. This is prominently shown when …show more content…
As shown when Lennie asks Crooks, “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)” Crooks is separated physically from the other men and has his own room in the barn. He doesn’t have much contact socially, nor does he often get to work with the other men due to his job of tending horses. Also, because of his race, he is excluded from the other men and isn’t able to go out and play cards or get a drink with the others on the ranch. This causes him to become even more lonely as he is stuck in isolation with nobody to talk to or be there for