Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American author. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings. He was also successful in winning many of different awards like Presidential Medal of Freedom, and many more. The story of mice and men, the story takes place in California during the Great Depression. In his novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses characters Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife to prove that people will do crazy things to escape loneliness. To begin, Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife to show that people will do things to get away from being lonely. In the beginning, Curley’s wife is shown as very pretty and very flirtatious with the men on the ranch, which Curley, the son of the boss (owner of the

Candy is the “swamper” on the ranch and his name symbolizes that he is useless just like how candy is useless for your body. Candy has this sheep dog that is also very old like him, the dog stinks very bad and is very loyal to Candy but hurts himself because he is so old. Carlson, another worker on the farm complains about the dogs stench and wants to remove the dog from existence. He argues that it would be best if he shot it because he suffers everyday because he is so old but Candy does not like the idea at all. Candy says, “I been around him so much I never notice how he stinks.” (Steinbeck 44). Candy says this because since the dog was a pup, Candy has not really ever left his side like they are best friends and the dog means a lot to him. A little bit of time passes and Carlson convinces Candy to allow Carlson to kill Candy’s dog. Eventually Candy recovers from his dog’s death and overhears the other guys talking about the land George plans on starting a farm. Candy asks to join and says, “S’pose I went in with you guys. That’s $350 I’d put in. I ain’t much good but I could come and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some.” (Steinbeck 45). He says this because he does not like the ranch he is currently on and wants to find anyway to get out of there. This quote illustrates people will do crazy things to get out of being lonely because he offers his life saving just to help open the farm. Once again this is crazy because during this time people could not really be trusted because everyone was struggling to make it (financially and physically). It also proves this statement because he is also old and cannot really do much because he is also