“I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.” (73) Of Mice and Men follows two men, Lennie and George, as they navigate the desolate society of the Great Depression as ranch hands looking for work. However, surviving the Depression is not their biggest problem, but staying together and staying out of trouble. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck illustrates the various ways humans cope with the feeling of loneliness.
Many characters in this story lack a social support network to provide them with proper social stimulation such as Curley’s Wife who attempts to not cope with this soul aching sensation but banish it. The Wife goes as far as to wed Curley to escape her previous loneliness, not for love she admits, “I don’t like Curley,” (89) later in the tale. The Wife is always “lookin’ for Curley,” (31) as well. However, she is simply using the guise of searching for her husband as a way to socialize with the men on the ranch. She is so lonely that she is willing to take any opportunity to speak with another, even Lennie, whom broke her husband’s hand, when she finds him
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Candy starts this tale with an ancient, disgusting dog, and he cares for it due to its sentimental value and companionship. He resists the other ranch hands many times when they try to get his dog put down due to it’s smell and blindness and worthlessness until eventually, he tells them “Awright-take ‘im” (47), and he loses his dog. He latches on to George and Lennie’s dream to form bonds of friendship and find security in life, and is even willing to throw in all of his money, three hundred and fifty dollars, to do it. This new dream flourishes in Candy’s mind, causing him to calculate and plan out their proposed life, however, Lennie dies and Candy loses his dream. In the end, Candy is a one handed man who tried to cope with the loneliness through companionship but lost it all, just like his