Mother Theresa said, “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” Everywhere in this book runs this same theme. From the migrant farms in California during the Great Depression to the two best friends George and Lennie. To the migrant workers and Curley and his wife. You hear lonely they are when Curley’s wife cried, “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody! I get awfully lonely”(86). They don’t even know her name, they just call her “Curley’s wife.” For loneliness is the downfall of a person resulting in negative even barbaric actions. Working as a field hand is one of the loneliest jobs a person can have. They come on the farm alone and they leave alone. They work all week to get some money and then they go out on the town to try and forget some of their loneliness. But, there is something even lonelier than being a field hand. It is when you are a negro back in this time period. Crooks is the perfect example of a lonely negro. When George goes out on the town Lennie results in talking to Crooks. Crooks begins to taunt Lennie saying how George is going to go out and never come back. Crooks is trying to make Lennie afraid and show him what he is feeling. Being negro Crooks has probably been alone most of his life and he quickly became jealous of something he could never have. “A guy sets alone out here at night, maybe readin’ books or thinkin’ or stuff like that. Sometimes he gets thinkin’ and he got nothing to tell him what’s so an’ what ain’t so”(73). When Crooks says this he shows how much he hates the world. He is lonely and he blames the world for it. As Crooks talks he says, “A guy needs somebody to be near him. A guy goes nuts if ha ain’t got nobody”(72). Crooks is alone ma... ... middle of paper ... ...if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want. Why, I could stay in a cat house all night. I could eat any place i want, hotel or any place, and order any damn thing I could think of. An’ I could do all that every damn month. Get a gallon of whisky, or set in a poolroom and play cards or shoot pool”(11). “No-look! I was jus’ foolin’, Lennie. ‘Cause I want you to stay with me”(13). “Guys like us are the loneliest guys in the world. They ain’t got no family. They come to a ranch and work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re pounding their tail on some other ranch. With us it ain’t like that. We got somebody to talk too that gives a damn about us”(13).
Crooks, the black stable buck, is isolated from the community of migrant workers because of his racial status. When Lennie goes into the barn to see his puppy, he and Crooks have a conversation. “'Why ain't you wanted?' Lennie asked. 'Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black'” (68). Lennie is too kind-hearted and intellectually slow to visualize the apparent racial boundary that sets Crooks aside from Lennie and the rest of the workers. Crooks is so isolated from the rest of the workers that he says he “can't” play cards, not that he isn't allowed to, which means that the racial boundary is like a wall Crooks cannot cross. Because he is black, Crooks believes that he cannot play cards with the white men. He can't get over the racial boundary, and believes he will be forever separated from the white men. In the beginning of chapter 4, Steinbeck describes Crooks' living space. “Crooks, the Negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room; a little shed that leaned off the...
Nobody likes to be forced to live in a barn, let alone to work only with the horses. Crooks spent most of his nights reading and he keeps away from others because of the way he is treated and this eventually leads to his very own emotional downfall. He is treated as an outcast and is forced to find friendship the only way he can, through the books that he reads. Crooks is fascinated by the strength of the friendship of Lennie and George, especially how close they are. Crooks said, "Well, s'pose, jus' s'pose he don't come back.
Crooks was excluded from the group and had his own barn which was his only freedom. When Crooks said “Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he’s goin’ to come back. S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ’cause you was black. How’d you like that? ” (Steinbeck 72), he wants to seek someone’s company like Lennie has George’s. Crooks threatened Lennie into the fact that George might not come back because he wanted Lennie to feel loneliness, but to his disappointment he was in vain. Crooks also conveys through his body language and the way he speaks that he doesn’t want to be excluded from the others and wants to participate in all the activities with them.
Loneliness is the central theme in the novel Of Mice and Men. Many of the characters show signs of being lonely, some more than others. Loneliness haunts Crooks deep inside. Crooks accepts things the way they are though. Crooks does not talk to the other men and they do not talk to him. This causes the greatest amount of loneliness in Crooks out of all the characters. Rejection can cause most people to become crazy, as it
There is no hiding the provocative use of isolation in the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Isolationism can be defined as a policy of remaining apart from the affairs or interests of other groups. Steinbeck uses people of different race, sex, and mental capabilities to uncover the isolation and alienation society throws down upon people who are different. Lennie, a main character in the novel, is mentally handicapped and must obey George in order to make a living. Lenny is a large man and an excellent worker, but due to his mental deficiency, he is isolated from the rest of the workers on the ranch. The incorporation of isolation and alienation in the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is brilliantly used to open the eyes of the reader about the apathy shown towards people who are not lucky enough to be considered “normal” by society’s standards.
In the story Cannery Row Loneliness is a main theme to the characters lives. One of these themes is Loneliness. 'He was a dark and lonesome looking man' No one loved him. No one cared about him'(Page 6). The severity of his solitude makes this theme one of the most important. The seclusion of this man can penetrate ones innermost thoughts and leave them with a sense of belonging after hearing of this characters anguish. In addition a man who was not entirely alone was still feeling secluded. ?In spite of his friendliness and his friends Doc was a lonely and set- apart man.?(Page 132). An individual could have many people around him but could still not have the one good friend that he needs. Seclusion comes in many different forms that can be d...
Well known author Gretchen Rubin once said, “Keep in mind that to avoid loneliness, many people need both a social circle and an intimate attachment. Having just one of two may still leave you feeling lonely.” In the novel Of Mice And Men written during the Great Depression by author John Steinbeck loneliness is one of the main themes throughout the story. In this essay I will be writing about how loneliness affects three of the characters, George, Crooks, and Curley's unnamed wife.
The purpose of Philip Slater’s book The Pursuit of Loneliness is to “reach some understanding of the forces which are unraveling our society” for his readers (xxii). It is a common conception that America is the best country, an idea which is substantiated by economic figures. However, Americans are not happy. According to Slater, “all societies frustrate certain human needs and satiate others (because) humanity and any particular society’s idea of what humanity should be is never very exact” (2). In America, the gap between reality and perception is growing farther and farther apart, at human expense. Americans work their entire lives for the future, in the pursuit of economic security, which ultimately leads to continued unhappiness in the present. American culture “struggles more and more violently to maintain itself, (but) is less and less able to hide its fundamental antipathy towards human life and human satisfaction” (122). Slater’s book teaches people about the existence of the “wide gap between the fantasies Americans live by and the realities they live in,” in the hopes that this will inspire people to react in positive ways (xxiii).
Earlier on the page Crooks is saying to Lennie what if George didn’t come back, what if you didn’t have nobody. Crooks is saying all these what if’s because he doesn’t have nobody by his side all the time. To describe this quote Crooks is talking to Lennie telling him that he doesn’t have any body and that lennie is lucky to have somebody that cares for him. “S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk house and play rummy ‘cause you was black. How’d you like that?”(68). Crooks feels that he doesn’t have nobody so he is explaining how he has things for his life and wishes he could have somebody who cared about him in his life. No body in the book really cares for Crooks because he is different so everyone is in the bunk house except for him playing rummy while he is sitting inside his room all by himself. To let the reader know how Crooks fells Steinbeck uses characterization to show how Crooks thinks and feels. I this quote Crooks is talking about himself and explaining to lennie what it is like having nobody around you. “Sometimes he gets thinkin’, an’ he got nothing to tell him what 's so an’ what ain’t so. Maybe if he sees something’, he don’t know whether it 's tight or not. He can’t turn to some other guy and ask him if he sees it too. He can 't tell. He got nothing to measure buy”(73). Crooks badly wants someone
The novel is set during the Great Depression, which was “a time of great economic turmoil and disaster” (American History), in Soledad, California. Before the characters are fully introduced, there is a sense of isolation already because the name of the town literally translates to loneliness in Spanish (Study Spanish). Most of the characters experience loneliness. The reader quickly learns that Lennie is a lonely character when George reminds Lennie: "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 15). As the novel continues, the reader quickly learns that the workers are not the only ones who are lonely; Crooks, Candy and Curley's wife also confess their loneliness. Candy experiences loneliness due to his disability and his age. Candy lost his hand after an accident involving machinery, which ultimately forces him to stay behind. His age also causes Candy to feel a sense of loneliness because he is...
Crooks. loneliness is caused because he is black, at the time the story took place there was racism. Since Crooks is black, he wasn?t able to socialize with the white men. When Steinbeck describes all of Crooks? possessions, it shows that Crooks has been at the ranch a long time and that his possessions are all the he cares about.
“A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. ‘I tell ya’ he cried. ‘I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.” (Page 72-73) As you can see, Crooks also spends most of his time alone because he is black. He is not allowed to enter the bunk house nor go to town with the guys. He is not allowed to enter the bunk house, he is not allowed to go to town with the guys and nobody likes him because he is black. This shows that he has no friendship and his whole life is filled with loneliness. His case is different from Lennie’s.
If George wouldn’t have met Lennie, he would be a drunk in a whorehouse dying of cirrhosis. If Lennie didn’t meet George he would of died soon after his aunt did, because he would either have got himself in a bind with no one to help him or he would of simply wondered off and died of loneliness. & nbsp ; & nbsp ; & nbsp ; & nbsp ; & nbsp ; Crooks suffers from loneliness, because he is black, not because he is an unfriendly person. Crooks, though, may seem mean, but he is just tired of being rejected and disrespected by everybody around him. Crooks has a horrible life. He will never have a companion or anybody that will respect him unless he meets another black person.
Racial discrimination has been around for a long time, judging people for the color of their skin. Crooks is affected by this because he is black. Blacks in that time were thought as lesser than the white people. The racial discrimination affects Crooks' life in only negative ways. He is plagued by loneliness because of the color of his skin. His lack of company drives him crazy. Only when Lennie comes in to his room does he feel less lonely. He talked of his loneliness using a hypothetical scenario of George leaving Lennie. Crooks' responds to this discrimination by staying in his barn and being secluded. He doesn't want anyone to be in there but deep down he does so he can have some company. He isn't wanted in the bunk house or to play cards with the others because he is black. This effected the story by letting people walk all over him, letting them think they can do whatever they want, and ultimately making the people think they have a lot of power when really they do not.
"Were born alone we live alone die alone. Only through love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that were not alone” Orson Welles. In this novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck focuses on the loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930’s. One of the most important things in the life is to have a friend, without friends people will suffer from loneliness like in this novel, not everyone in the novel has the same connection and special friendship like George and Lennie’s. Of Mice and Men is the story about lonely men who travel from ranch to ranch not really communicating with other ranch hands. Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife all were lonely and dealt with their loneliness in different ways.