Of Mice And Men Loneliness Analysis

The author, John Steinbeck, is famous for pieces including The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck was born February 27, 1902, and unfortunately passed away on December 20, 1968, at 66 years old. Of Mice and Men is set in the time period of The Great Depression. The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in history. It started when the stock market crashed in 1929. World War II marks the end of this economic downfall that will forever be remembered. In his novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses the characters of George, Candy, and Crooks to contribute towards the overall theme of loneliness. To begin, George displays loneliness by needing a companion with him through his journey to try and acquire

Candy is a swamper that works on this farm. He has a dog who is very old and brittle, just like him. Candy lost his hand while working and has not been able to work the same jobs since. He attempts to persuade and help George to achieving his dream. Candy declares, “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” (Steinbeck 59). This shows he is lonely because Candy barely George and Lennie but is willing to give up his entire life savings just to escape the farm. George agrees to this deal, but wants Candy to keep quiet about the whole situation. As the story advances, Candy gains more confidence and relies on this plan for the dream farm. Tension begins to rise between Curley’s Wife and Candy. Candy argues and says, “An’ we got fren’s, that’s what we got. Maybe there was a time when we was scared of gettin’ canned, but we ain’t no more” (Steinbeck 79). This shows that Candy now feels empowered because of his friends. Before George and Lennie came, Candy did not have anybody to fall back on. Now, he has friendships that will keep him safe and cares more about keeping them than keeping his job. Loneliness was a big issue with Candy, but because of this idea of a new and better place with Lennie and George. With them, he now has courage and is no longer

Crooks was the stable-buck. A stable buck is a black man who works in a stable, but now it is considered very offensive. The only time Crooks really gets human interaction is when he is getting food, or when the boss gets angry enough to the point where he beats Crooks. He has a hunched back so the boss is beating on an already crippled, defenseless black man. Crooks tells Lennie, “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you” (Steinbeck 72). This shows that Crooks is dying to just converse with anybody he can, even if that person is cognitively impaired and does not always understand what is even going on. Lennie is the only person who came into Crook’s room to just sit and talk as opposed to beat him. Lennie could not keep his mouth shut about the dream farm, and Crooks wanted in. Crooks informs George, Candy, and Lennie, “...if you… guys would want a hand to work for nothing, just his keep, why I’d come an’ lend a hand” (Steinbeck 76). This shows how desperate Crooks is to make friends and not be lonely. He is already crippled and still wants to work on the dream farm just to be around other people. Crooks shows how lonely he is because he also does not know George and Lennie almost at all. That very day was the first time they had