Of Mice And Men Loneliness Analysis

Of Mice and Men: Loneliness

“The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved” (Mother Teresa). In the book, Of Mice and Men, loneliness is one of the themes presented. This theme was shown throughout most of the characters in the book. The characters Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife show the effects of loneliness. The lonely characters in this story are Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife. Candy is the swamper in the ranch, and he lost his hand in an accident at work. Candy is lonely after his dog was shot to be put out of its misery. Another lonely character is Crooks. He is the coloured stable hand in the ranch. Crooks is lonely

For example, Crooks is lonely because he is coloured. He is persecuted, segregated, and spends most of his time alone in the barn. Crooks explains to Lennie what it feels like to be lonely:
“S’pose you couldn’t go into the into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black. How’d you like that? S’pose you had to sit out there an’ read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain’t no good. A guy goes needs somebody- to be near him.” He whined, “ A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya,” he cried, “I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.” ”

Loneliness is the same as being surrounded by many people, but your aren’t able to connect with them in a personal level. This is presented many times throughout the book. Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife are surrounded by many people, yet they don’t have friends. For example, Curley’s wife tries to socialize with Lennie and Candy, “Well, I ain’t giving you no trouble. Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?” (74). Instead they befriend her. They misinterpret her desire to have friends and they think she is attempting to flirt with