Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The Great Depression was a time of solitude, isolation, and loneliness. In accordance, 1930s society impacted all of the characters introduced in Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men. The novella was set in Soledad, a town named as a result of its location near Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (the Mission of Our Lady of Solitude). The town’s reference to solitude was portrayed by Steinbeck to present the discrimination of the time period. A few individuals who were effected as a result of discrimination were Candy, Crooks, Lennie, George, and Curley’s wife. Consequently, loneliness was a major outcome of discrimination.

To expand on the relationship between discrimination and loneliness, the cause, reasons, characters, and actions must be analyzed.

Candy, who lost his arm, was incessantly adjudicated for his age and disability on the ranch. Candy only had one life-long friend – his dog. After Candy’s dog died, Candy became so lonely that he took part in George and Lennie’s dream to escape from his troubles and feel secure. Likewise, Crooks, the stable buck, had a disability because he was kicked in the back by a horse, yet suffered from much worse than that. He was a black person; the boss used Crooks as a human punching bag, demonstrating how inhumane people were to negro populace during the 1930s. Crooks understood his situation, telling Lennie, “I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse… ‘Cause I’m black” (Steinbeck 68). He tried to combat the loneliness by focusing on his work and reading, but as he told Lennie, “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody” (Steinbeck 72). The stable buck gets treated negatively throughout the novella – like when Curley’s wife said she would have him lynched, so both Crooks and Candy wanted to join George and Lennie in their dream. George’s dream would be a secure place. Since disability was not something normal, the characters wanted a place that would be free from