Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

During the Great Depression, migrant workers were subjected to low wages for hard labor and women were discriminated against and forced into traditional gender roles. Mentally impaired people were subjected to prejudice and were forced into mental hospitals so they would not reproduce. Three characters in the novel, Crooks, Curly's wife, and Candy, are examples of minorities during the Great Depression. Faced by relentless prejudice, the three characters experience a constant state of loneliness and a lack of trust in others. In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Lennie and George are migrant workers trying to survive until they can accomplish their shared dream. Lennie's mental impairment causes many problems in the story and George has to protect him from the consequences. Despite being surrounded by others, Crooks, Curley's wife, and Candy’s actions, lack of trust, and belief in society’s prejudices keep them in a state of loneliness.

Crooks confides in Lennie about his loneliness saying, “S’pose you didn't have nobody. S’pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse… cause you was black” (Steinbeck 36). Being the only disabled black man on the ranch he has nobody to confide in. Trying to describe his own problems to the other men on the ranch would not work because they do not have the capacity to understand what it is like to be disabled and black. Another contributing factor to Crooks' loneliness is the men segregating him from themselves. Crooks has his own room because he is not allowed in the bunkhouse so he has to sit in his small room in his free time and read books for fun. Being black, Crooks is subjected to blatant racism and segregation which results in Crooks' extreme