Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

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Loneliness is inescapable. Everyone at some time in his or her life has experienced loneliness. However, loneliness comes in many shapes and forms. It is not always solitude caused by the absence of people, but by the lack of understanding of those around you. The two main protagonists in Of Mice and Men, George Milton and Lennie Small, are migrant laborers looking for work on various ranches during the Great Depression in the 1930s. They arrive at a ranch in Soledad, California, and it becomes clear that the along with a majority of the other ranch hands, George and Lennie are lonely as well. Therefore, the town of Soledad, which by definition means loneliness in Spanish and is by no coincidence the setting of this story, is extremely relevant in Of Mice and Men because a vast majority of the characters experience various degrees of loneliness. The most prominent and easily identifiable character who experiences loneliness is Crooks. He is the stable hand who takes care of the horses and other livestock on the ranch and is named Crooks because of his crooked back caused by a damaging kick from a horse. Crooks is the only black man on the ranch and is repeatedly segregated from the other men because of his race. He is not allowed in the bunkhouse or allowed to even play cards with the other men and is forced to sleep in the barn with the animals. This kind isolation would cause anyone to be ill-tempered about the world and the people in it, and Crooks is no exception. When