Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

‘Of Mice And Men' by John Steinbeck is a classic novel, tragedy, written in a social tone. The authorial attitude is idyllic, however, as the story develops it changes into skeptic. It is evident that Steinbeck knew the setting and places he is writing about.

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted drive one’s mental health insane. Curley’s wife was lonely mentally and emotionally. It was caused by her lack of communication and association with other people. Curley’s wife inappropriate actions with the other characters and her untimely death in the novel are driven by her loneliness.

Of Mice and Men Summative Essay What does being secluded do to a person? It does a lot. In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men most characters are lonely and how they act reflects that. Both Crooks and Curley’s Wife’s behavior portrays in who they are and how they are treated.

“Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.” Dag Hammarskiold

Curley’s wife dreams of becoming an actress, but her loneliness causes her to seek the attention of the men of the ranch, which results in her death. Curley’s wife is first introduced when Candy is showing George and Lennie around the bunkhouse. She comes into the bunkhouse dressed up with make up on her face, asking them if they have seen Curley while leaning forward to show her body. This shows loneliness because she tries so hard and dresses up to catch the attention from someone on the ranch. Curley’s wife again comes when Candy and Lennie are in Crooks’ room because all the other men are out in town. She again asks the men if they have seen her husband. They look to the door to see her face heavily made up while breathing heavily as if

“They left the weak ones here” Curley’s wife stated when the other men went off into town, leaving herself, Candy, Crooks, and Lennie. Though in Of Mice and Men George and Lennie seek friendship and asylum with each other, there is a sense of division between the strong and the weak. The weak, being Crooks who is isolated because of race, Candy who is isolated because of his age and injury, Lennie who is isolated because of his mental disability, and Curley's Wife who is an outcast because she is female, are treated as less than the other men, dehumanized throughout the writing itself. Lennie is compared to several animals within the first chapter, "...and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws." (pg. 2) as well as a horse and a terrier.

In chapter four of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, The stable hand Crooks is further described and the theme of loneliness and powerlessness is shown. Crooks originally seemed quiet and distant, but that was because the only time he was written about was when he was by the white ranchmen, who have authority over him. Since he is shown in his domain in this chapter, it is revealed that he is a tidy and is a thick-skinned realist. When Lennie tries to intrude, Crooks tries to kick him out stating that he was the only one with rights to that room and that he needed to leave because of that. Later on he eases up and allows Lennie in his room and they talk about George and Lennie’s future home and the pups.

1. In the story, Crooks demonstrates extreme loneliness and isolation throughout the story. For example, Lennie and Candy were in Crooks’ room when Crooks said, “Guys don't come into a colored man's room very much. Nobody been in here but Slim. Slim an’ the boss”(75). Crooks tells how nobody but Slim comes to talk or visit with him. How he is just left alone on the ranch to do his own thing. Crook’s has lived on the ranch for most of his life, but no one thought about him, they just expected him to do his own thing. For instance, another example of this is, Lennie had come to Crooks room and Crooks told him how, “I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse…”(68). He told how no one wanted to be near him or with him, no one wanted anything to do with him. Crooks is the character

In the novel of Of Mice and Men one of the main themes that is focused on is loneliness. Loneliness eventually isolated some of the characters and prevented them from achieving their dreams throughout the book. Many of the characters in this book did not give up on their dreams until they had no one to turn to and they were by themselves. After the characters were secluded they started to realize that they could not achieve their dreams so they easily gave up on them. In of Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck reveals how loneliness isolates and prevents the characters from achieving their dreams through George’s realization that he can’t achieve his dream without Lennie, Curley’s wife's’ marriage, and Crooks skin color.

Another character that was very lonely was Candy. Candy’s only companion was his dog, which Carlson had killed. When the dog was killed Candy was all alone and did not know what to do, which was why Candy took so long to agree to killing the dog. Crooks was also a very lonely character. Crooks was the only African American on the ranch so he had to stay in the barn and was not allowed in the bunkhouse with the other ranch workers.

Loneliness is something you don't want in you life. But this is a very sad story because a lot of the people are lonely. They have hard lifes. But thesis are some of the people that are lonely in this story. One person that is lonely in this story is Crooks.

“ A guy needs somebody - to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody.” Discuss how ‘Of Mice and Men’ explores loneliness.

Throughout the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, many themes are present such as friendship, dreams, or one of the most interesting themes, loneliness. Loneliness is usually taken as something bad or unpleasant, but in this book, the author showed that loneliness can also be advantageous. Being alone gives a person independence, and the ability to only look out for themselves, which can sometimes make it easier for a person or a character. Isolation was shown through certain characters such as Crook (an African American worker), George Milton and Lennie Small, and Curley's wife where the author depicts ways how independence can be better than dependence. Although loneliness can be difficult and miserable at times, being isolated can

‘Of mice and men’ is a tale of loneliness and hardship felt by the people living in America during the 1930 's. Written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937, it tells the heartbreaking story of two ranch workers during the depression; George Milton and Lennie Small. At the time America was very poor, with a shortage of jobs so people had to travel in search of new jobs. As many people were constantly moving, lasting friendships or relationships were hard to come across. People became scared to have friendships, scared of each other making them lonely and isolated. Most of the characters lived by ‘every man for himself’; only having to care for themselves, not having to worry about others and therefore

Of Mice and Men, is a world-famous novel which was written by John Steinbeck back in 1937. The novel is mainly about George and Lennie and their life. But I am not going to write about that. I am mainly going to focus on the characters which live on the ranch in the book (Crooks, Candy, Curley and Slim).