Isolation In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Isolation is considered the fear of loneliness and the struggle of fighting your own mind as it continues to strengthen the bottled emotions.In the novel,Of Mice and Men,George and Lennie go to a ranch.They meet a lot of people as continue working there.As the story progresses he shows isolation in three different ways to give you insight on how people were treated if they weren’t white,young,or a man.In the novel John Steinbeck gives examples of isolation and how it’s affected them. Crooks is a primary example of isolation.While Crooks was talking to Lennie he said something that upset Crooks so he responded “Well I got a right to have a light.You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse in my room.” (68).After reading that quote there was an understanding that Crooks is forced to stay by himself,he isn’t allowed to have any interaction with them outside of working,and the worker don’t call Crooks by his name. Crook’s is treated this way because of the simple fact that he is an “african” american man.Back then no one believe that “african” americans should be treated the same way they were treated.They felt that allowing them not to be slaves and to be allowed to live in the states little to no rights was
fair enough.Someone who also suffers from isolation is the oldest person on the ranch,Candy. Candy’s experience isolation is due to his old age and his loss.Candy’s isolation different from Crooks isolation.Crooks is lonely and physically isolated from everybody else.
In chapter three of the novel page 45 after Carlson had said was willing to shoot Candy’s dog,Candy stated “I’m so used to him.I had him from a pup.” Even though Candy is surrounded by people he is incapable of keeping up with the younger workers and losing his had puts him at more of a disadvantage. His dog was his only source of comfort and communication,when Carlson shot the dog that just took away everything he held near and dear to him.The two examples previously stated actually go through isolation but this last one doesn’t necessarily go through
it. Curley’s wife doesn’t necessarily experience isolation but she feels like she is.When she was talking to Lennie in the barn she told him how she get’s lonely. “I get lonely.You can talk to people,but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley.Else he gets mad.How’d you like not to talk to nobody?”Everyone on the ranch thinks that Curley’s wife is a tart.They try to steer clear of her at all cost.With them avoiding her and Curley always “looking” for her she doesn’t actually get to talk to anyone,but when she does talk to them,they think she is only trying to get attention.Isolation has been hard on the three of them and they struggle everyday to get pass it. Throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shows how isolation affects people.Crooks and Candy have struggled all their lives to deal with the isolation and loneliness.Curley’s Wife has been let down and forced to deal with whatever was thrown her way even if that was Curley.They all have been treated differently worse because of the their ethnicity,gender,and age.Sometimes isolation starts in the mind and it just cannot be helped .Just find someone to talk to and it will all be okay.