Loneliness In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

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The Lonely Road of Life “Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richest of self”(May Sarton). John Steinbeck presents “Of Mice and Men”, where Lennie and George are close companions that are trying to get through the difficulties of life in order to obtain their dream of owning the ranch of their dreams. Along the way, they meet many new and unique characters who although are very different, many admit to suffering from loneliness. George sets the tone for these confessions early in the novel when he tells Lennie that the life of a ranch-hand is one of the loneliest of lives. As the story develops, three characters, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife, put forth Steinbeck’s idea about loneliness. One of the Characters that displays …show more content…

Steinbeck uses Crooks to illustrate loneliness through discrimination, as it is a powerful thing. Crooks is the only black man on the ranch which leaves him to be lonely because he is not like everyone else and is separated from them in his own room in the barn with the animals. This leaves him to become somewhat angry with everyone and doesn’t know how to handle his emotions when someone that is not of the same racial status let alone comes into his room, but also reacts differently from the others. When Lennie is trying to find his pup, he gets led into Crooks’ room and Crooks reacts with anger. He tells Lennie that, “he got no right to come into his room, and that nobody got any right to come in here but himself”. Lennie was surprised by his reaction, as he was only trying to find the pup and saw Crooks’ light on the way. Crooks soon realizes that Lennie isn’t going to leave, and he enjoys the company, so he begins having a conversation with Lennie, and tells him about all the struggles he has as a black man. Crooks, “was born right here in California. My old man had a chicken ranch, 'bout ten acres. The white kids come to play at our place, an' sometimes I went to play with them, and some of them was pretty nice. My ol' man didn't like that. I never knew till long later why he didn't like that. But I know now.’ He hesitated, and when he spoke again his voice was softer. ‘There wasn't another colored family for miles around. And now there ain't a colored man on this ranch an' there's jus' one family in Soledad.’ He laughed. ‘If I say something, why it's just a nigger sayin' it’"(70). As a black man during these times, he was not able to earn the respect of his peers like the other

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