How Loneliness Affects Relationship: Of Mice and Men
In the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, loneliness affects the friendships and relationships in the novel. The novel is set in the 1930’s in the great depression which inspires the themes seen in this book. The characters in the book are victims of the great depression which means they have to travel around America looking for work on ranches. Consequently, this means that the characters such as Crooks, Candy and Curley’s wife. All of these characters are all outcasts.
Crooks works on the ranch is a stable buck. As the book is set in the 1930’s, racial tension is at an all time high. He is negro and has a crooked back which both set him back as far as his social life goes. Crooks are forced to sleep in the cold stable with all the horses and read books. He is not allowed out and is constantly mistreated by the boss of the ranch. All of this makes crooks very lonely. He says “A man grows sick when he has no one in his life…”. This directly tells us that Crooks is a lonely man and needs friends. So, because Crooks is Negro and he has a crook back, he is lonely. This loneliness affects his relationships because no one want to be friends with him because he is black and has a crooked back.
Candy is an old man with only one hand. He is forced to do all of the menial tasks because of the fact that he is old and only has one hand. This makes him lonely because he isn’t allowed to go out on the ranch with all the other men and hang out with them. Early in the book his only friend, a dog, is shot by one of the other men because it is too old and smells he says “But he’s the only thing I’ve had, I had him since he was a pup”. This shows us that he is lonely because he doesn’t want to lose the only thing he has. So, because Candy is old and has no hand, he struggles to make friends because he doesn’t hang out with the other men on the ranch. Therefore he is lonely.
Curley’s Wife is also a very lonely character. Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch as she
Crooks works on the ranch is a stable buck. As the book is set in the 1930’s, racial tension is at an all time high. He is negro and has a crooked back which both set him back as far as his social life goes. Crooks are forced to sleep in the cold stable with all the horses and read books. He is not allowed out and is constantly mistreated by the boss of the ranch. All of this makes crooks very lonely. He says “A man grows sick when he has no one in his life…”. This directly tells us that Crooks is a lonely man and needs friends. So, because Crooks is Negro and he has a crook back, he is lonely. This loneliness affects his relationships because no one want to be friends with him because he is black and has a crooked back.
Candy is an old man with only one hand. He is forced to do all of the menial tasks because of the fact that he is old and only has one hand. This makes him lonely because he isn’t allowed to go out on the ranch with all the other men and hang out with them. Early in the book his only friend, a dog, is shot by one of the other men because it is too old and smells he says “But he’s the only thing I’ve had, I had him since he was a pup”. This shows us that he is lonely because he doesn’t want to lose the only thing he has. So, because Candy is old and has no hand, he struggles to make friends because he doesn’t hang out with the other men on the ranch. Therefore he is lonely.
Curley’s Wife is also a very lonely character. Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch as she