Loneliness in Of MIce And Men by John Steinbeck

What is loneliness? Is it feeling alone? Is it wanting someone, but knowing you can never have it? I don't know what your definition of loneliness is, however I do know what it is to me. to me loneliness is the feeling that you have no one and or nothing that is of value to yourself. In the literature feat known as Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men a picture of loneliness and of loneliness yet to come. Candy loses his dog, Curly’s wife feels alone, which is why she searches for affection from Slim and Lennie. Looking at the book many might not see the loneliness, however I think that loneliness is everywhere in the book. Although the book is flooded with images of loneliness the person who in my opinion of the book’s most lonely person is Crooks however Candy is likely the second most lonely person in the book. Crooks is not the most important part of the book, however he is certainly the loneliest person in the book.
Crooks is not one who talks much. He is a black injured man and the only person who really talked to him was Lennie. When Lennie asked him why he is so angry crooks says”... 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, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick" (80). This is a major demonstration of how Crooks feels. Crooks is not someone who has a lot of friends because he really can’t he is alone in more ways than most of us couldn’t even imagine. If you dissect the book and look at loneliness, especially of Crooks you would see that the people that live alone like crooks have a hard time and not only is this evidenced by the first quote but also by the quote, "S'pose you didn't have nobody.... A guy need...

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... much money is a very obvious example of loneliness. I feel that Candy is lonely and there are a few ways that a person can interpret what Candy says when he says “Come on in and set down a minute...” (24). You could interpret as he is just a friendly guy or you can interpret it as him wanting to have a human connection. I think that it is showing his loneliness from the get go. Loneliness is a powerful pain and Candy is feeling the full brunt of it.
Of Mice And Men is an amazing feat of literature and there are a lot of ways that the book can be looked at. It can be looked at as a book of friendship. Perhaps it is a book of love. But to me this book is a book of loneliness, a loneliness that not only Crooks feels but Candy feels as well. Loneliness is a powerful pain and is evident in a lot of ways through the book.

Works Cited

Of mice and men By John Steinbeck