Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Analysis

In the novel, “Of Mice and Men,” written by John Steinbeck, two migrant workers are on a journey to fulfill their dream of ‘living on their own land and a shack they can call their own.’ However, the incident involving Candy’s dog indicates that the same will happen to Lennie. The author develops the motif of loneliness through the use of indirect and direct characterization of Curley’s wife, Candy, Crooks, and Lennie.
One of the main characters, Lennie, is described as being a five-year-old stuck in a grown man’s body, possessing some sort of mental illness. With that in mind, many of the ranch hands don’t seem to have as much interest in him and disregard him. Lennie does not mind that he is isolated from the others because he cannot exactly understand or grasp the concept that he is different. He ‘sees’ things, like his Aunt Clara or rabbits that can talk, in his head. ‘They’ are his friends. Being different, Lennie is separated from the others and he is not included in the games the ranch hands play. He is usually found by himself in the barn playing with the pups. Lennie is not exactly lonely, for he is not aware of the condition he is in that caused him to be in that

Another ranch worker, Carlson, finds Candy’s dog as filthy and useless, possessing a pungent smell. He is eager to kill the man’s dog. Candy refuses to let Carlson kill him, but eventually gives in, for the dog’s sake. The dog was Candy’s only companion, but now, Candy is lonely. He is already isolated from the rest of the ranch workers. His old age prevents him from doing certain tasks and he is becoming less ‘useful.’ Candy knows his time on the ranch will soon come to an end. He is also left behind when the rest of the men go to the whore house – it’s not a place for old men to be. Candy is an outcast as well, he doesn’t exactly belong on the ranch with the other