Isolation In Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a novel set during the Great Depression. Lennie Small and George Milton, the story’s main characters, start to work on a farm in California. They have a bond similar to brothers where Lennie looks to George for guidance. On a farm where most people keep to themselves, George and Lennie’s rare relationship gets questioned many times. We see characters like Candy and Curley’s wife trying to escape from the bitter cycle of loneliness and how Crooks is overcome in bitterness because of it. As George puts it, "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place"(15). Throughout this novel we see how isolation affects everyone. Through
his characterization of Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy, Steinbeck portrays how loneliness can cause desperation and negatively influence people.
Crooks is a good example of how loneliness can cause bitterness. Because Crooks is black he is alienated by the other guys on the farm and lives by himself. When Slim, George, and Curley leave to go somewhere, Lennie comes into where Crooks stays. Crooks is so used to being trodden down by racist treatment and loneliness that he is suspicious when Lennie enters his room and is nice to him. Crooks tells Lennie that he won’t understand how being lonely feels because he has George. “A guy needs somebody—to be near him.” He whined, “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya,” he cried, “I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (71). Crooks is telling Lennie that everybody needs somebody and without somebody that person will become sick from loneliness.
Furthermore, Candy is an old man who lost his right hand, which is now a stump, because of a ranch accident.
Like George and Lennie, is the only other person on the farm with a companion. e has his dog, who is now old and now longer productive. He is convinced by Carlson, another ranch hand, to shoot his dog to end his suffering. When he learns of George and Lennie’s dreams to have their own farm, he instantly wants to join them. George says "I gotta think about that. We was always gonna do it by ourselves." Candy interrupted him, "I'd make a will an' leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, 'cause I ain't got no relatives or nothing" (58). Candy is so eager to jump onto George and Lennie’s plan because he knows that, like his dog, he will eventually be deemed as useless. He has no one else to turn to and realizes if he can join the ranch, he won’t be lonely
anymore.
In addition, Curley’s wife is another good example. She always seeks attention from the men at the farm. Many of the ranch hands steer clear of Curley’s wife, afraid of getting in trouble with Curley. She tells George and Lennie how her husband doesn’t care about her or what she has to say. Curley's wife knows her beauty the only way she can control people, since she has no power on the ranch. Curley’s wife catches Lennie alone in the barn. He is wary of talking to her since George has warned him of talking to her. Curley's wife exclaims, "Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely” (84). When Curley’s wife is first introduced, she is seen as evil but as the story goes on you realize that she is alone. Her obsession with finding somebody to give her attention eventually leads to her death. To conclude, in Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck describes what it feels like to be lonely and how it negatively effects people.
Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks are all lonely for different reasons and handle dealing with it in different ways. Crooks is bitter and keeps himself isolated from everyone. Curley’s wife seeks out attention from the ranch hands so she can have someone to talk to. Candy clings onto George and Lennie’s dream so he in the future he knows he won’t be alone. Loneliness is one of the main themes in this book. The setting of this book being during the great depression, many men were unemployed and moved around a lot for work. Thus, leading to many of them not forming relationships with many people. Thus, we see how loneliness really can cause make people desperate and influence in a bad
way.