ipl-logo

Loneliness In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

914 Words4 Pages

Loneliness

Sometimes people need to take a break from everything and everyone to spend time alone and learn to love themselves and who they truly are, but there are also times when people just need someone to simply be there for them. If someone doesn't have anyone to talk to or even just be around, they may start to do anything for attention or start to feel negative feelings like they don't belong and their self worth isn't good enough. In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, loneliness is a dominant theme where many characters feel lonely and separated from the others. Some of the characters that express being lonely the most are Crooks, Curly’s wife, and Candy. Considering this feeling, some of the characters say or do things …show more content…

Lennie tries to make a conversation with Crooks, initially Crooks gets upset and irritated, but he then realizes it might be nice to have someone to talk to and allows Lennie in his room. Crooks knows that Lennie won't tell anyone about their conversation, so Crooks shares some of his feelings with Lennie about being lonely. He says, “a guy needs somebody-to be near him, a guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody”(72). Crooks is hinting to Lennie that he is glad Lennie came to talk and he likes having somebody around. Candy then comes into the barn, he starts talking about the dream of leaving and living on their own farm. Crooks adds how he would like to go with and help out. Unfortunately, Curly’s wife interrupts their conversation and threatens to have Crooks lynched. This brings Crooks back to his reality as a black man. He realizes that what he said about going with them to the “dream” farm wasn't going to happen. “I didn't mean it. Jus’ foolin’. I wouldn’ want to go to no place like that”(83). Crooks knows he's going to always be alone, and has no success with having people to talk to and be …show more content…

Candy has grown up with his dog and his dog is getting to the point where he can't see and walk very well. Everybody on the ranch thinks it is time for Candy to say goodbye to his dog, they don't like it when Candy brings him to the bunkhouse because of his smell. One of the men on the ranch named Carslon, puts an end to Candy's dog's life by shooting him in the back of the head. Candy is left all alone and has nobody. One night Lennie starts talking to George about their dream they have, Candy overhears them and asks if he can join them. Candy says “I wont have no place to go, an’ I can't get no more jobs”(60). They say yes to him and Candy immediately seems happier. Later on throughout the book when Lennie dies, Candy immediately knows the dream will never happen now and he will be stuck alone

Show More
Related
877 Words | 4 Pages

This shows Crooks is treated unfairly since he is the only African American man working in a ranch full of white men. When Crooks tells Curley’s Wife to leave his room and that she doesn’t have a right to be in there, she gets angry and threatens him by saying, “Well, you keep your place then,

Read More
984 Words | 4 Pages

Lennie and George find themselves becoming more hopeful after Candy successfully manages to turn a dream that was originally meant for two men into a dream for three. He tries to help George and Lennie attain their dream, and convince them that, “S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in. I ain’t much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some” (59). He also shows the two friends of the possibility towards failed outcomes- symbolized through Candy’s inability to kill his own dog.

Read More
173 Words | 1 Pages

Secondly, Candy was looking for Lennie to tell him about what he thinks about the ranch, he entered the Barn and found Lennie in Crook's room. Candy says, "Must be nice to have a room all to yourself this way. Sure, said Crooks. And a manure pile under my window. Sure, it's swell."(Steinbeck

Read More
665 Words | 3 Pages

Crooks explains, “ A guy needs somebody- to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody”. Crooks isn’t allowed to play cards or enter the bunkhouse. ”Why aren’t you wanted”? Lennie asks “Because i'm black, they play cards in there, but I can’t because i'm black.

Read More
479 Words | 2 Pages

Crooks was friendless and had no one to talk to. He has his own bunk in a separate room away from the bunk house where the others lived and by being alone he could leave things anywhere he wanted. Crooks is suffering from racial discrimination because he is the only black man on the ranch and is not allowed in the bunkhouse with the other men because of his color. The author also uses Candy to show loneliness in the novel. Candy becomes lonely after his old dog that he loved very much was shot because he was old.

Read More
708 Words | 3 Pages

He lives alone in the harness room; a little shed that leaned on the side of the barn. He was segregated from all the other men, and he quickly became plagued with loneliness and alienation. Crooks just wanted to be accepted by the other men. In chapter four, Lennie went into Crook’s bunk because the other men went into town. Crooks told Lennie what it is like to be a lone black man and some of his everyday struggles.

Read More
1143 Words | 5 Pages

Crooks feels isolated because he cannot socialize with the white males and lives by himself in the barn. While most of the workers are off in town the outliers are left behind. Lennie, being a member of the unfavorable bunch, stumbles into Crooks room as he waits for George’s return. Lennie becomes very anxious about George's return as Crooks is giving him the worst-case scenarios that could happen to George. Once Crooks notices Lennie's companionship with George he feels sad.

Read More
2169 Words | 9 Pages

Crooks is the opposite of Lennie and Goerge Because, unlike them, he has no friends on the ranch and must be alone. Crooks, throughout the novel, has proven that he wants to end his loneliness, but due to the discrimination he faces as a black man during the great depression, everyone is ill-tempered towards him; he likes to stay in his own space. Due to the way Crooks has been treated throughout his life; he becomes bitter and resentful. Crooks speaking to Lennie relieved him from his loneliness, although Crooks did not want to show it. In contrast to Crooks, Candy had a companion on the ranch, but that companion was not a human; it was a dog.

Read More
880 Words | 4 Pages

We all may have had the feeling of loneliness and isolation, wanting companionship feeling abandonment. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, there are men living on a ranch having their own reasons for loneliness or being isolated. The three characters Crooks, George, and Lennie crusade dealing with own ways of loneliness and isolation. Crooks has no one that likes him because he’s black, Lennie struggles mentally and George struggles with always having to care for him. They all can’t decide whether it is that they want to be alone or not.

Read More
1125 Words | 5 Pages

Loneliness and isolation is an ongoing theme throughout the novel Of Mice and Men, experienced by several characters to different degrees. Some characters are more isolated and lonely than others, yet every character in the story goes through this theme during one point in the story. There are various reasons why each character is lonely or isolated. In general, all the ranch workers feel some sort of loneliness because they move alone from ranch to ranch and do not have real connections with others, Curley’s wife experiences this theme because she is the only woman on the ranch and nobody wants to interact with her because Curley is very protective and hostile of her. Thirdly, Candy struggles through being lonely and isolated after Carlson shot his dog and because Candy does not work with the others since he is a swamper.

Read More
860 Words | 4 Pages

A key aspect of any novel or story is the way the characters interact and feel towards everything. In John Steinbeck’s, “Of Mice and Men”, the characters tend to give off the effect of loneliness and the feeling of isolation throughout the novel. The main characters that give off the effect of loneliness and the feeling of isolation are Curley’s wife, Crooks, and George. They’ve been truly alone, if not in mind then in body.

Read More
786 Words | 4 Pages

People Affected by Loneliness Loneliness can make anyone affected by it very depressing and sad to see. It is seen in Of Mice and Men in many characters that are prominent in the story. The main ones are Crooks (the black stable hand), Candy (the old worker with his old dog), and Curley’s wife (who is ignored so that they do not get into trouble). Each of these characters have had lasting events that led them here.

Read More
698 Words | 3 Pages

Crooks is a black man who isn’t allowed to be in the house with all the men. The men won’t allow him to come in because of his color. Crooks is lonely and he doesn’t bother the men. One night Lennie came in and was talking to Crooks and telling them about the farm that they were going to get. For once Crooks thought well maybe I won’t be lonely I could go with them and don’t have worry about none of them.

Read More
977 Words | 4 Pages

Candy lost his right hand in a ranch accident, which is why the owners “give me a job swampin’” as he says (Steinbeck 59). He believes he will that he will be “can[ned] purty soon,” so he wants to go with George and Lennie (Steinbeck 60). When Carlson wants to shoot Candy’s dog, Candy does not want him to. He says “No, I couldn’... I had ‘im too long” and “I had him from a pup” (Steinbeck 45).

Read More
752 Words | 4 Pages

A Big Box of Crayons “We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box” (Fulgham, Robert). In the same way, each individual is a unique crayon, and we all live together in one big box, the world. Rituals of Memory, by Kimberly Blaeser, also uses symbolism to describes relationships like a loop that always returns. Similarly, Alberto Rios, in The Vietnam Wall, brings us on his journey while viewing the Vietnam Wall, which serves as a symbol of America’s honor and those who died or remain missing from the Vietnam War.

Read More

More about Loneliness In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

Related Topics

Open Document