Isolation and loneliness play a significant role in Steinbeck's “Of Mice and Men”. Almost all characters in the novel portray this theme including Crooks, Candy, and Curley's Wife. Crooks is the stable buck on the ranch, and tends to the horses. Crooks is an African American, causing him to be greatly ignored and avoided. Crooks spends almost all of his time in his barn tending to the horses, not allowed to go into the bunkhouse. “You go on and get outta my room, Im not wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain't wanted in my room”. Since he is always tending to his horses, he rarely ever has any interaction with the other ranch workers.“This is a very good example of Isolation in this Novel. Secondly we have Curley. Curley is the ranch swamper,
Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck depicts the essential of loneliness, curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy express feelings composed through broken dreams and loss of realism. Candy is an old man who lost his hand in a farming accident. Due to his loss in a limb, he is no longer suitable for work. Carlson, the ranch boss, says his dog is old, smelly, and needs to get put out of his misery. Candy tells him, “I've had him since from a pup.”
Nonetheless, without a genuine, earned place on the ranch, Curley becomes consumed by jealousy. “Curley’s like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he’s mad at ‘em because he ain’t a big guy.”
Although Crook, Curley's Wife, and George are lonely, ultimately you need to have someone in life.
He has to stay in a cabin by himself, and has to follow the orders of everyone else on the ranch. He is even powerless to Curley’s wife, who tells him she could “get [him] strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” (Steinbeck 81). This oppression comes full circle, as Curley’s wife receives many insults and false accusations throughout the course of the novel as well.
In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck various characters should relate becauses of their shared loneliness. They can't because of race, gender, and disabilities. candy, curley, and crooks should relate but can't because of these stereotypes. In the book curley's wife,a lonely woman on the ranch crooks, a african american and candy, an old disabled man at one point or another feel lonely and isolated. In this time period there's alot of inequality between people that aren't young white men.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck looks at the theme of loneliness as it affects many characters on the ranch. Crooks, Curley's wife, and Candy are the most excluded characters on the ranch, because they all have dreams that they will not be able to live out and they all are at loss when it came to companionship. Crooks is lonely because he is the only black man on the ranch. Since this book is set during the Depression, Jim Crow laws are still in effect, whites and blacks had separate facilities for socializing and living. Crooks comments that he can't live in the bunkhouse, and cant even play cards in there.
In the novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck displays characters who each express their individual sense of loneliness. In particular, Crooks, the stable buck, exhibits a specific kind of solitude which stems from his background, discrimination towards him, and his isolation. As a child, Crooks grew up with two brothers that were “always near [him], always there” (73). He mentions remembering “[his] old man’s chicken ranch” (73) where he could live freely, spend time with his family, and play with his friends. Now, he has lost everything - his brothers, his family’s ranch, and the company that he had through his family and friends - thus igniting his loneliness.
Curley’s first appearance in the novella is when he walks into the bunkhouse on the ranch, searching for his father. He is described as having “a work glove on his left hand, and, like the boss, he [wears] high-heeled boots” and that his arms are "gradually bent at the elbows and his hands [are] closed into fists" (25). Wearing high-heeled boots signifies that he does not need to work as hard, or at all, as the ranchers. The way he is dressed, and
The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck portrays the idea of loneliness throughout the book within the diverse characters. Curley’s wife feels abandoned living in a two-by-four house and has nobody to socialize with. Equally important is Crooks, a black stable buck who lives alone and cannot do many things because of his race. In addition, an old swamper, Candy, dog was killed and is now deserted without anyone to be around. Every character ends up alone in the end due to Lennie being mentally unstable and accidentally killing Curley’s wife, his actions make George come to the decision that killing Lennie needs to be done.
Curley’s wife is trapped in her husband's ranch and is very lonely as she has no friends. She is the property of Curley, that's all she is in her life. (Moss) “ Well, I ain't giving you no trouble. Think I don't like to talk to somebody ever once in awhile?
When going through life, friendship is a vital component of finding happiness. In challenging times, you turn towards your friends for support and companionship through your endeavors. John Steinbeck uses the characters Lennie, Curley's wife, and Crooks to show loneliness and the need for compassion in his novel Of Mice and Men.
Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch and has no one who will respect and talk to her. Her sexuality isolates her from the other characters at the ranch such as Candy, Crooks, and Slim. From the loneliness and boredom she’s felt over time, her attempts to get the attention of Candy, Crooks, and Slim only make them push further away from her. “He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural.
Curley’s wife retorted that she could get him lynched in the blink of an eye (Of Mice 80). In the same sense, it took a lot of dignity for Crooks to not argue with Curley's wife since she can do many things to make his life miserable. Ultimately, Crooks chooses to isolate himself from the other ranch workers, however he allows his dignity to come forth in different ways when certain people intervene on his isolated
‘..Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world they got no family they don’t belong no place.’ This is what many felt during the ‘great depression’ in the 1930’s. John Steinbeck gives us the sense that many felt lonely ‘they got no family they don’t belong no place. The main theme of this novel is alienation; the three characters, Curley’s wife, candy, and crooks are all alienated, and felt it by another person at some point. They all have dreams... it’s the American dream... but not all dreams come true...
Perhaps as a further representation of her apparent insignificance she is always referred to as `Curley's wife', never given a name. She experiences further sexual prejudice in that none of the ranch hands will talk to her. This is partly because she can make up things about those she dislikes who will subsequently get `the can' and also because she is a `looloo' with a very flirtatious nature. "She got the eye goin' all the time on everybody. I bet she even gives the stable buck they eye. I don't know what the hell she wants" says