Crooks Loneliness

The Emotions Further Down

“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place” (Steinbeck 13). The “guys” on these ranches are mostly migrant workers during the Great Depression looking for a job in the late 1930’s. Candy and Crooks are two of the men in Steinbeck’s OMAM while Curley’s wife is married to the boss’s son. All three of these three characters suffer from discrimination and endure isolation. Thus, through each of these characters, the theme of loneliness is conveyed to readers.

In chapter three, an older migrant worker called Candy explains to George how he lost his hand on the ranch and was compensated with a “swampin” job and 250 dollars. Because of Candy’s

While he has a crooked spine that causes his to bend to the left, he is an intelligent man, and has farm experience from the farm he grew up on. However, to the other men, he's very visible because of his color causing him to be excluded from the rest of the group most of the time. Like when the workers do activities for pass time, Crooks is never involved: “They play cards in there but I can't play because I'm black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, all of you stink to me” (68). Although, Crook’s color is making him highly visible, he's made invisible by always being separated from everyone else and what they're doing. This in turn, has made Crooks bitter in a way saying “He kept his distance and demanded that other people keep theirs” (67). Him turning bitter and distant is an effect of being made to feel unimportant and unwanted. Crooks doesn't have anyone, not a family, friends, or a place that he belongs among the other men. So, he looks for something that does belong to him and makes sure no one can take that away from him: “You got no right to come in my room. Nobody got any right in here but me” (68). This further shows how he felt hurt from being isolated from the bunkhouse, so the only way he can get equal is restricting everyone to stay out of his room, the only place he can feel he belongs. Overall, Crooks is so visible from his dark complexion that it makes him invisible, through the discrimination of the times he's made as invisible as he is visible. In turn making him bitterly further isolate himself from others to prevent being hurt even