Of Mice and Men: Lonliness
In terms of emotional stability, there is only one thing in life that is really needed and that is friends. Without friends, people would suffer from loneliness and solitude. Loneliness leads to low self-esteem and deprivation. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the characters, Crooks, Candy, and Curley's wife all exhibit some form of loneliness. They are driven towards the curiosity of George and Lennie's friendship because they do not have that support in their life. Through his novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck demonstrates that often times, a victim of isolation will have a never-ending search to fulfill a friendship.
"Crooks is a black man that experiences isolation because the society in which he resides is racist. As a result, the previous quote was his means of finding a personal connection to Lennie. Like Lennie, Crooks has a "relationship" with loneliness. He knows that when people get lonely, they tend to get sick. Crooks is rejected from every group of people and cannot socially interact with others.
Although discrimination is still present during the time period of the book, Crooks still attempts to make friends. Others treat Crooks unjust because he is different from others given that he is black. He does not know how to treat others because of the way others treat him; with disrespect. Furthermore, he does not know how to vent his frustration and as a result, lashes out at others because they are cruel to him. Crooks is not allowed to participate in daily events with white people. He is treated unfairly and therefore acts the same way toward the white people (the ones who offended him.)
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.
Loneliness has made Crook's a very bitter and isolated man. He is truly not able to leave this situation because of his race. The other men at the ranch do not communicate with Crooks unless he is working because he is black. Other than when they are working, the other men ignore Crooks off all of their activities. Crooks is very isolated, and doesn?t seem to want any company. He has become bitter and known to lash out at people because of the loneliness that he has. Crooks's emotions are showed to the reader when he talks to Lennie in his room about having no one to relate to and communicate with. "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 bunk house and play rummy `cuase you was black...A guy needs somebody--to be near him." Crooks has never been treated well by anyone because he is black. This has affected Crooks. Crooks's was shocked when...
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.
the shed why he is lonely. “ 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 a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick'; (80). This is showing Lennie exactly how Crooks is feeling. Also, it explains what Crooks has to deal with. He is trying to scare Lennie. Crooks is forced to explain that he needs someone to talk to. The reader now becomes aware of Crooks terrible loneliness
Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men Conveys loneliness throughout the story by the events like loss of hope, loved ones, and past events. This reason is explained by the lives of these three characters, Lennie, by him being alone in the barn, Curley’s dislike for him, and him killing Curley’s wife. Candy, by his dead dog, insertion of George and Lennie’s dream and the death of Curley’s wife, and Curley’s wife by messing with the men, unable to be an actress, and her own death.
An example of how the men are discriminative towards Crooks is that he is forced to live in a shack away from the bunkhouse and also Crooks says that "They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say "I stink" and "I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse." An example of when Curley's Wife is critical towards Crooks is when she looks into his room to see what Lennie and Crooks are doing and then she states, shaking her head, that they left the weak ones behind. Also, she threatens to have Crooks hanged because a black man should never talk to a white woman the way he just had. As a result of all of these discriminatory acts against him, Crooks feels unwanted and lonely because of his color and placement on the farm.
Crooks is the last and final character shown in the novel Of Mice and Men and, shows that dreams don’t always come true. This novel took place back when race was a huge thing back in the day. He was treated much different than the other workers, in the novel. The different race affected his dream in the story he was treated like a nobody, because of his race. “I ain't wanted in my bank house, and you ain’t wanted in my room. The quote shows that crooks is treated different, by no one wants to be around
In his conversation with Lennie, Crooks spells out what it is like to be alone. He is unsuccessful in being accepted as equal, because of his social status, and the racist views of the men on the ranch. Crooks tells Lennie, “‘A guy needs somebody to be near him’ He whined, ‘A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody’” (Steinbeck 72).
Crooks's anger, though, is really just a cover for the pain he experiences from constant isolation. "A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody ... A guy gets too lonely and he gets sick."(73) This desire to have a connection is apparent later in the scene when Crooks hears Lennie and Candy's plan to buy a little ranch.
As a result, Crooks and Curley’s wife present loneliness in Of Mice and Men because they are unwanted. Their environment and different backgrounds affect how they are treated. This empty feeling makes them get sick, driving them to find a friendship to escape the loneliness. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck suggests that everyone needs a friend to talk to, no matter what age, race, or gender, to prevent from suffering
Loneliness is the sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned. John Steinbeck brought up the theme of loneliness in many characters in Of Mice and Men. Crooks, Curley?s wife, and Candy expressed the theme of loneliness in many different forms throughout the story. Early in the novella George said, life working as ranch hands is on the loneliness lives to live, for these people finding friendship seems to be impossible.
In the touching and gripping tale of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, he explains many themes throughout the books. One of the major themes is loneliness, which is shown throughout many different characters, for example, Curley’s wife, the stable buck (Crooks), and Lennie.
Crooks is a character who is mistreated in many ways because he is black. Crooks is the stable buck of the barn. It’s not certain whether Crooks is his name, or his nickname, but we know he got kicked in the back by a horse and had a crooked back ever since. Nevertheless he gets yelled at by the boss every time something’s wrong. " ‘The boss gives him hell when he’s mad. But the stable buck don’t give a damn
He is proving how extreme isolation can cause one to crave human interaction. Although Crooks acts like he is reluctantly inviting Lennie in, he was truly excitedly welcoming Lennie, who stopped to talk in Crooks’ own house where no one else ever goes. Today, racism is still around, even though it is not as prevalent as it was when this book was written. For example, there is still unjust crimes toward African Americans, which have sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.
Other than when they are working, the other men shut Crooks out of all of their activities except the horseshoe games. Crooks are very isolated and not welcome in leisure activities. Crooks’ emotions are displayed to the reader when he talks to Lennie in his room about having no one to relate to and communicate with. He says: "Maybe you can see it now. " You got the George.
A quote on page 68 shows us that Crooks isn’t the only one being ostracised. “Ever’body went into town… George says I gotta stay here an’ not get in no trouble.” (Steinbeck 68) This shows that Lennie is also being ostracised because of his disability. Even though it seems like he isn’t being ostracised because they are being mean, unlike what they are doing to Crooks, it is still ostracism and makes Lennie feel lonely. Lennie though doesn’t really care about being ostracised as much as Crooks does because he doesn’t understand it fully due to his