Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

It has been estimated that approximately 60 million people in the United States, 20% of the total population, feel lonely. It is not uncommon to suffer from loneliness. It is way more common than people actually show. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, multiple characters show signs of loneliness. Crooks, one of the characters, shows signs the most. All of the characters show signs of either being alone, being isolated, or being not wanted. Isolation, does in fact, lead to loneliness, and then loneliness leads to insanity. Being alone can lead to insanity. Multiple characters show this throughout the book. Lennie tells George that “(He’ll) go off in those hills right there- right up in those hills and live by (himself)” (pg 13). Lennie feels alone, and the need to isolate himself because he does not think George wants him around. Lennie again says “Cause I can jus’ as well go away, George, an’ live in a cave.” (pg 13). Even after George had reassured Lennie, whom he still feels like he should leave, and he is not wanted. By Lennie wanting to isolate himself from
Curley's wife says that “(She) ain’t giving (them) no trouble” (pg 77). She just wanted someone to talk with her because she feels lonely. Throughout Curley's wife's character development is shown that she really just wants to talk. “What kinda harm am I doing to you? Seems like they ain’t none of them cares how I gotta live” (pg 88). Curley's wife opens up to Lennie and expresses how she really feels to him. Lennie learns that Curley’s wife was going to be an actress but could not end up doing that, because she was only 15 years old. Curley’s wife’s character is not made likeable until the end where she is gone and it is too late. All throughout the book everyone tells Curley's wife to leave. Candy says “you better go home now” (pg 81). They only said this so that they do not have to keep talking to