Lonely Characters In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Lonely Characters in Of Mice And Men
Imagine a world where people didn’t really care what one said to another, and neither cared enough to ask each other questions. A place where everyone existed in silence, but were together at the same time. As portrayed in the novel, Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, in which Steinbeck’s idea of loneliness is isolation in silences. The author teaches the reader that friendship is mostly about conversation, and magnifies the effects of isolation through the eyes of Crooks, Curley’s wife and Candy.
Within the novel Crooks deals with loneliness, because he is segregated by his skin color.
“S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black...A guy goes nuts when he ain’t got nobody” (72).
Crooks is black, and in

Think I like to stick in the house alla time”(77).
Curley’s Wife really just wants someone to talk to and she will settle for the attentive ear of a stranger.
Since Curley won’t talk to her, and listen she needs to find it elsewhere. Thus she talks to the guys in the bunkhouse.
“I couldn’t get nowhere or make something of myself... So, I married Curley”(88).
Curley’s wife didn’t marry Curley out of love, she only married him because it was the best her life was going to get.
She’s regretting her decision on marrying Curley, and wishes her life would’ve went as planned. The novel illustrates an image of Candy’s sense of loneliness, and how friendship is only achieved by conversation.
The novel illustrates an image of Candy’s sense of loneliness, and how friendship is the only achieved through conversation.
”No I couldn’ do that. I had ‘im to long... I’m so used to him,” he said softly. “I had him from a pup”(45).
The only thing that has been with Candy through everything is his dog, he lost his hand, his youth and now his beloved dog.
Candy is left with nothing but himself, and because he doesn’t say much to anyone he has few