Loneliness In John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

Of Mice & Men - Loneliness*

Crooks

• He is not allowed to stay in the bunkhouse with the other ranch hands because he is black and so does not have the same status as the white workers – pg. 73, 75 • He is excluded from the bunkhouse and the weekend trip into Soledad because he is black. He does not even enter the bunkhouse when he needs to speak to Slim – p. 55 • He is excluded because he suffered an injury and so is not as capable as the other ranch hands – p. 22 • His possessions show that he is lonely; he has books because he is excluded and so spends his time reading – p. 22 • He bitterly guards his enforced privacy and tries to prevent Lennie from talking to him – p. 74, 75 • He admits that he is lonely and longs for company – pp. 79, 80, 82
34, 56 • The rest of the ranch workers avoid her as they know that if they befriend her they will get into trouble – pp. 35, 61 • She makes several visits to the bunkhouse, claiming to be looking for Curley, but really looking for company – pp. 34, 56, 84, 85 • She is left at the ranch on Saturday night – pp. 85, 86 • She announces her isolation to the people left on the ranch on Saturday night and to Lennie – pp. 85, 94

She is distanced from the rest of the characters because she is not even given a name.

Candy

• The other workers cannot understand his friendship with the dog and just see it as a nuisance and want it shot – p.