Loneliness In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

Alienation is a common topic recurring throughout the book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. The story is about two ranch workers who move from places in California in search of job opportunities. In the book, we learn about the lonely life of the people on the ranch. We also learn about the hardships they face and the negative effects of loneliness. In this essay, I will talk about the quotes that displayed the alienation the characters faced.
In this book, we are introduced to the idea of ranch workers always being in isolation. George told "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to." This quote shows the loneliness ranch workers

He tells Lennie, “Well, s'pose, jus' s'pose he don't come back. What'll you do then?" Crooks does this to see Lennie’s reaction to what it’d be like to be all by himself, without anyone, just like Crooks has been all these years. However, Lennie is more worried about why George wouldn’t come home instead of what’d he do without George. This is the result of friendship, something Crooks is devoid of. After Lennie gets frantic, Crooks tells him to calm down and says, “Maybe if he sees somethin', he don't know whether it's right or not. He can't turn to some other guy and ask him if he sees it too. He can't tell. He got nothing to measure by.” When you’re alone, you’re alone. You have no support system, someone to take care of, and someone who takes care of you. Crooks is lacking these things because he is a colored man working at the ranch. The racism on the ranch is what keeps him in solitude. I feel sympathy for