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Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

666 Words3 Pages

What role does loneliness play in your life? Today, we’ll be exploring the role of loneliness in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men. This is a book in which all of the main characters experience emotional isolation and exhibit self-seclusion. Loneliness plays a huge role in the lives of the characters in this book, as can be seen by Crooks’ protectiveness of his room, what Lennie said while waiting in the brush for George, and Curley’s Wife’s interaction with Lennie in the barn. In the next paragraph, we’ll circle back to Crooks’ protectiveness of his room. The role of loneliness is particularly shown in Crooks’ protectiveness of his room. In this excerpt of the book, Lennie tries to go to Crooks' room. Here’s Crooks' response: “You go on get …show more content…

In this selection from the novel, Lennie is hiding in the brush, waiting for George, because Lennie has just murdered Curley’s wife. He begins to consider how George will react to this event, and decides George will be angry with him. “but I won't care. If George don't want me . . . . I'll go away. I'll go away." (p.99). Lennie immediately assumes that George will not want him around anymore. Lennie assumes this because people do not always treat him very well, leading him to feel at times inadequate. If he believes that he is inadequate, he just assumes that people will not want him around because of it. This is, in some ways, similar to Crooks' loneliness, due to the fact that they are both cast out due to aspects they are not in control of. However, it is in some ways different, because Crooks knows that he is lonely because he is black and treated differently because of it. In this instance, Lennie believes that he is simply not enough, and takes for granted that he will not be …show more content…

In this passage of the text, Lennie is hanging out in the barn, with his puppies. Curley’s Wife enters, and Lennie wants nothing to do with her, per George’s instructions. This is Curley’s Wife’s response: “Why can't I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely." (p.86) Curley’s Wife is pushed away from social encounters constantly, even with her own husband. As Aristotle stated, “Man is by nature a social animal.” As humans, we thrive off of social contact, and for a person to be completely deprived of that will not only make them lonely, but desperate as

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We know Lennie does not mean to do bad things but is just unlucky and gets in trouble alot. We saw how many times Lennie got in trouble making us readers assume that something was going to happen to poor Lennie. In this case it does. In the beginning of the story George gets mad at Lennie saying hoe his life would be so much easier without him and wish Lennie was never with him. Saying hoe Lennie is the one who makes all the trouble and George has so much responsibility.

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His realization of his loneliness makes him lash out with many feelings. In the midst of his thoughts, Crooks opens up and says “ If some guy was with me, he could tell me I was asleep, and then it would be all right. But I just don’t know.” (Steinbeck 73). Crooks don’t know how it feels to be cared for.

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Lennie's isolation mainly comes from his mental handicap. He has a hard time expressing himself verbally and often has to communicate with others through George . Even though George often berates Lennie. “A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is” “I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick.”

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”(72) he can’t believe that something like that would happen to George that will leave him alone. After George had scolded him had replies ”If you don 't want me I can go off an’ find a cave. I can go away any time”(13). He requests that it would better off for George and everyone else if he is alone, even though he wants someone to talk to and be with. None of the other people really like Lennie on the farm and especially when the climax of the story happened he was dreadfully hated.

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Crooks is a prime example of how loneliness brings out the worst in people. When Lennie comes to visit Crooks while looking for his puppy, Crooks says, "I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain't wanted in my room" (68). After feeling unwanted and alone, Crooks becomes hostile towards kind people. He is the only one who is not welcoming to Lennie, unlike everyone else.

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