Of Mice And Men Essay On Loneliness -- essays research papers

In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck looks at thetheme of loneliness as it affects many timbers on theranch. Crooks, Curleys wife, and Candy are the close toexcluded characters on the ranch, because they wholly havedreams that they will not be able to live turn up and they each areat loss when it came to companionship. Crooks is unfrequented(a)because he is the plainly black man on the ranch. Since thisbook is set during the Depression, Jim Crow laws are still ineffect, whites and blacks had separate facilities for socializingand living. Crooks comments that he cant live in thebunkhouse, and cant even contact cards in t here. "I cant playbecause Im black. They say I stink."(68) This quoteillustrates that Crooks feels the pain of rejection more(prenominal) that he all(a)ows throng see. In fact, Crooks protects himself by actinglike a "proud and remote man."(67) The full extent of Crooksssuffering is made clear in chapter 4 when Crooks lashes outat Lennie. Viewing Lennie as a symbol of all the white menwho had hurt him, Crooks strikes out in anger, saying "Yougot no right to convey in my room...Nobody got any right inhere but me."(68) Steinbeck states that "Crookss facelighted with pleasure in his torture."(71) Crookss anger,though, is really secure a cover for the pain he experiences fromconstant isolation. "A poke fun goes nuts if he aint got nobody ...A guy gets too lonely and he gets sick."(73) This desire tohave a connection is apparent later on in the scene whenCrooks hears Lennie and Candys plan to buy a little ranch.Wistfully, he suggests, "If you guys want a hand to work fornothing, just his keep, why Id come and lend a hand."(76)No matter how hard Crooks may filtrate to hide the hurt hefeels, he clearly would like to be included in this venture withthe other men. Crookss dream, however, lasts only for afew minutes. When Curleys wife threatens Crooks with alynching, he quickly reme mbers the terrible reality of his seat . Steinbeck writes "Crooks had reduced himself tonothing. There was no personality, no ego - his voice wastoneless."(81) The character of Crooks reflects the universalneed for tender connection as well as the brutalizing effectsof racial prejudice. give care Crooks, Curleys wife is very lonely,but she is lonely for different reasons. Like Crooks Curleyswife suffers from... ...ion. But Candy gets some smellback in him when he hears George and Lennie talking abouttheir dream farm. auditory sense this gives Candy a reason to live.He would love to join George and Lennie on there farm andhe even states them that hell give them money to serving financeit "I aintt much good with ony one hand. I wooly my hand righthere on this ranch...an they give me two hunderd an cubic decimetredollars cause I los my hand. An I got fifty more saved upright in the bank, right now...and I got fifty more morecomin... Spose I went in with you guys. T has three hundredan fifty bucks Id put in."(59) When George agrees to letCandy jump on the wagon and join the farm, you can tellCandy is extremely pleased. But with death of Lennie thedream of the farm dies to. Like the other characters Candysdream was stolen from him. Candys character was lonelybecause he needed human contact but his only companionwas his dog which was killed. Loneliness change manycharacters in John Steinbecks novel, Of Mice and Men.Crooks, Curleys wife and Candy were affected the most bythis loneliness because none of them had a real companionand all of them had dreams which were shattered.