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Motif Of Loneliness

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The motif of loneliness is explored throughout John Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men, not only through the main characters, but the secondary characters as well. Of Mice and Men has many examples of discrimination. Some of the best examples are racism and sexism, which is why two of the characters are shown to be lonely. Crooks, the stable hand, is black, which makes all the others on the ranch want to have nothing to do with him. Similarly, Candy is outed since he is an old cripple. The men treat Curley’s wife the same way they treat Crooks, but they treat her this way because she is a women. Due to the fact that Crooks is black, the other guys exclude him from many things. Crooks is a perfect example of how racism can cause loneliness. …show more content…

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). Candy does not want to give up the dog since he has had him for so long, and the dog is one of the only possessions he has left. Being old makes some of the other guys not like him as much. Even though they do not actually say it, it is implied when one of them says “I wisht somebody’d shoot me if I got old an’ a cripple” which is exactly what Candy is (Steinbeck 45). Candy is quite old and is missing a hand so although Slim is describing his dog, he is also inadvertently describing Candy. In the same way Crooks is lonely because of his color, Curley’s wife is lonely because of her …show more content…

One character, named Crooks, is lonely because he is people are biased due to his color. He is not the only one to be the product of intolerance. People are discriminatory towards Curley’s wife because she is a female. Candy is lonely because he is a cripple who is only still around because of pity, so is most people avoid him. All three of them are lonely because of something they do not have control over and cannot fix. Crooks is black and that is not something that can be changes. Just like how Curley’s wife is a girl and Candy lost his hand in an accident and everyone grows old. Things like this still go on today. While sometimes it is not as obvious other times it is easy to see. These days people face intolerance in some places because of their sexual orientation , something they cannot control. Prejudice can cause people to be lonely. When people judge others without knowing them then exclude those people; the people being excluded cannot make

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Since Curley's wife never received a letter back from the movie director who promised her a role in Hollywood. However that barrier isn’t changeable, and the only barrier she has is her inability to move on from her dead dream. Crooks is in a similar position to Curly wife. He is crippled which hinders is working ability ,and the color of his skin hinders his ability to be hired. Since this book takes place in 1937, the people living in this time are racist to people of color.

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Of Mice and Men Essay In the John Steinbeck novel of Mice and Men, everyone is lonely and will try or do anything to stop being lonely. Curlys wife is the loneliest character she is willing to talk to anyone even Lennie. Crooks is also a lonely character he is willing to take any chance if he can make a friend, even if he knows he can't do help out. And Candy is lonely character the reason being that he had a best friend who later dies, Candy is feeling less of use he is willing to do anything to feel useful.

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Steinbeck states in the novel, “You seen what they done to my dog tonight?”(60). An example of Candy telling George and Lennie his problems. Candy still feels upset over his dog death by Carlson. But by using that excuse he got George to agree with him, to let him live in the ranch once they earn enough money. With Candy’s help with George and Lennie’s dream, it is easier and now faster for the three of them to get their ranch.

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Cameron Brown "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck is a novel which has the theme of loneliness. The idea of loneliness is shown throughout the novel. Steinbeck also shows characters being lonely by using sexism racism and ageism to show lonliness in this novel. When Candy meets George, he tells him about Crooks being the nigger stable buck. Around this time black people were thought of as lower than white people.

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765 Words | 4 Pages

Loneliness is a key aspect that flows throughout the Of Mice and Men plot line. Every character express some sort of loneliness at one time or another in this story. Some character express the fact that they are currently alone and others express that they have been lonely in their past. Others do not clearly state that they have even thought about loneliness, but they do give subtle hints at to it. The two main characters in this story are George and Lennie, they travel together and yet both express their struggles and fears of being alone.

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1316 Words | 6 Pages

In the book Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, he writes about two men one named Lennie and one named George having a dream, but is ruined through the troubles of Lennie 's doings. This book was written in the 1930’s talking about migrant workers and how they survived through that era. In that era all migrant workers preferably work alone, but with George and Lennie they stick together because Lennie is a more challenged person so he doesn 't know his wrong doings which causes lots of trouble for George. On page 94, one of the most significant passages is written on having a dialogue between George and Candy about how they were unable to get the farm because Lennie had ruined their chances of getting it. Steinbeck creates a motif of loneliness through the different characters he writes about, ties in different strands of the story to make one storyline, and foreshadows events to come.

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It was a very isolating life. For this reason, Candy and his dog as well as George and Lennie were “different from the others” as George himself assures to Lennie. Although the power of their friendship could make possible to overcome the loneliness that a nomadic life implied, it could not last forever as demonstrated when Candy’s dog is gunshot in chapter 3 similarly to Lennie in chapter 6. Reality was harsh in those times, where only the strong and authoritarian could survive, and innocent dreams would only remain as such; simple dreams.

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Lastly Crooks goes through this theme because he has to stay in a room next to the barn and is isolated from the others because he is black. Steinbeck uses different factors to portray the loneliness and isolation within characters such as physical or mental, which then deliver various messages to readers. Curley’s wife struggles through loneliness and isolation because she is the only woman on the ranch. Curley’s wife is

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1037 Words | 5 Pages

The killing of Candy’s old dog was significant on several intense levels because of the concept of old age, concept of worth, and the foreshadowing of Lennie’s death. The concept of old age portrays to Candy and his dog because they are both aged and “worthless” to others in the book. Carlson was talking to Candy and said, “He ain’t no good to you, Candy. An’ he ain’t no good to himself.

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597 Words | 3 Pages

Crooks, Candy, and Curley's Wife are all very lonely in the book Of Mice and Men. Even though George and Lennie seem to be lonely, they have each other as well as the other characters do not have anybody. In this book, loneliness plays a great part in this story, and every lonely character has a little bit of hope. For an example, Candy says “I got hurt four years ago, they’ll can me purty soon. Jus’ as

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796 Words | 4 Pages

One’s self has experienced loneliness from choice or forced into isolation. The novel ¨Of Mice and Men¨ written by John Steinbeck, took place during the Great Depression, near Soledad, California. The protagonist, George and the antagonist, Lennie are mid aged, white men who are working on a ranch with other mid aged, white men. Along with ones who aren’t as focused at the time, such as Crooks, the negro or black, Curley’s wife, the woman and, Candy, the old and weak man were treated differently from all the white, strong males in the novel due to the setting the novel. This making distance in relationships in Of Mice and Men, isolating these characters into loneliness.

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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.

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698 Words | 3 Pages

In the story Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses the dog to represent loneliness of Candy. The men in the bunkhouse where complaining about how bad the dog stunk so Carl said let me do it he won’t even feel a thing. Curly says, “ I had him since he was a pup though”(Steinbeck #44). Steinbeck is trying to show that because the dog has been with Curly all this time he is going to be lonely once Carlson kills him. Curley won’t have a person or a dog to wake up to and talk to or attend to the dog.

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621 Words | 3 Pages

While Crooks, a victim of racial prejudice, expresses his isolation openly, he also socializes with other workers on the job and while playing horseshoes with them. Curley’s wife, on the other hand, cannot talk to anyone without suffering the consequences of a jealous husband: “ I get so lonely,’ she said. “you can talk to people , but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?”

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282 Words | 2 Pages

Another example of Crooks getting discriminated because he is black is when he and Curley’s wife are arguing. She completely shuts him down by saying how she could get anyone to lynch him at any time. Crooks can say nothing but “Yes, ma’am”. Even Curley’s wife, who is considered weak, can pick on even weaker people, like Crooks.

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