Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

1050 Words3 Pages

Everyone’s felt like an outsider at some point in their lives. Because they are different in one way or another. That is why John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is an easy story to empathize with. It tells the story of two men, George Milton and Lennie Small. Having found work on a ranch, they form friendships with other men there, try to keep out of trouble until they receive their pay at the end of the month and work towards bringing their dream of owning and working their own piece of land into reality. Several characters including Candy, Lennie, Crooks and Curley’s wife are the outcasts of this story. Which in turn also makes them the most relatable. Steinbeck,through the story of Crooks and Curley’s wife,explains the relationship between the causes of loneliness, how it affects characters who suffer from it and how they strive for acceptance from or with other characters. To start off, Crooks is a character who thinks very low of himself because he knows his skin color separates him from everyone else and puts his value lower than anyone else on the ranch. He shows this after Curley’s wife reprimands him for telling her to leave his room and threatening to tell the boss not to let her come in the barn anymore. He becomes powerless against her when the text shows him to “grow smaller and smaller as he pressed himself against the wall” (Steinbeck 80). He reduces himself to nothing when reminded that he’s a ‘nigger’. He thinks what he says does not matter because “This is just a nigger talkin’, an’ a busted-back nigger. So it don’t mean nothing, see?” (Steinbeck 71). He knows no one wants him around so he keeps his distance and demands people keep theirs. He’s hesitant about letting others into his bedroom and only does it when th... ... middle of paper ... ... it can be concluded that though both characters had very different methods of facing it, one being to push everyone away and the other to force their company on others, both Crooks and Curley’s wife had the same objective: to feel that somewhere, in someway, they belong. There’s lot to be learned from this story and it’s characters because, again, they all experience the emotions everyone has had to or will have to face. This story should teach us to be more empathetic, considerate of others feelings and above all to accept that everyone is unbelievably similar in some aspects and incredibly different in others but that none of their flaws, faults or quirks should make that big a difference in one’s approach to that individual. Works Cited Steinbeck,John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin, 1993. Print. Letter. Steinbeck, John to Luce, Claire. Los Gatos. 1938.

of mice and men...theme of lonliness in the book
558 Words | 2 Pages
Crooks also feels a great deal of loneliness, as he is an outcast on the ranch. He lives in his own room where hardly anybody ever bothers him. He is never invited to play cards or do anything fun with the other guys. One day a curious Lenny asked, “Why ain’t you wanted?” Crooks replies “Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They think I stink. Well I tell you, you all stink to me” (pg. ). Crooks’ attitude towards this is shown when he saw Lennie playing with his puppy outside of Crooks’ quarters. Crooks states that “if me, as a black man, is not allowed in the white quarters, then white men are not allowed in mine” (pg. ). However this is merely a front as the more open side of Crooks is shown later on in the book.
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Racial Diversity in Of Mice of Men by John Steinbeck
536 Words | 2 Pages
Crooks, the most isolated character, is treated differently by everyone on the ranch. They treat Crooks with less respect than they do each other. They call him names, which might not have caused uproar, but still disrespectful. In fact, when Curley was looking for him, he demanded to know where Crooks was. Curley asked, "'Where the hell is that god damn nigger?'" (Steinbeck 29). Curley's harsh words, are some of the reasons Crooks...
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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
1081 Words | 3 Pages
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Hopes and Dreams Help People to Survive, Even if they can Never. Become Real How is this true for George and Lennie/ the characters in ‘Of Mice and the.. Men’. An important theme in ‘Of Mice and Men’ is that of hope and dreams. The main dream is that of George and Lennie to own a smallholding and work self-sufficiently.
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The Role Of Racism In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
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The conversation on page 68 of the book perfectly explains the discrimination against Crooks: “‘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. They say I stink.’” (Steinbeck, 68). Crooks is unfairly treated solely based on his skin color, and the other men only say that he stinks to avoid dealing with him. In addition, Crooks displayed his need for attention when, on page 69, after Lennie had walked into his room, he states, “Come on in and set a while.” (Steinbeck, 69). 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.
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Friendship in Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men"
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"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.
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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
4582 Words | 10 Pages
By then there was no more land to be claimed and America had built up
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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
835 Words | 2 Pages
What is it that makes people want to scream, or snap at anyone who tries to talk to them when they are lonely? How can prolonged loneliness change a person? In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, several characters face this problem. The story is about two men, living in Salinas Valley during the Great Depression. The two men, George Milton and Lennie Small, travel from ranch to ranch as migrant workers looking for work, after having to leave their previous job due to Lennie getting in trouble with the law. George has made many sacrifices for Lennie, but anything is better than the loneliness they see in other ranch workers. Steinbeck argues that when people are lonely, they become mean, and act in desperation.
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Of Mice And Men Discrimination Quotes
474 Words | 1 Pages
First and foremost, Crooks is a person who gets treated with discrimination, much more than anyone else. Simply because he is black and has a crooked back, from which he received his name from. People continuously treat him horribly, one person being Curley’s Wife. “Well you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even
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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
1369 Words | 3 Pages
Life is not a bed of roses. People use this expression to stress the fact that there are and will be difficulties in life. John Steinbeck, in his novella Of Mice and Men, does not fall short of the same views. It takes place in the year 1937, a period associated with the Great Depression, and illustrates the hardships of the time, and more so those that laborers such as George and Lennie experience. Life proves to be full of disappointments for both men who are victims of harsh circumstances in more ways than one. The two have a dream to own a farm of their own but circumstance and fate robs them of their dream for a better life. This is a depiction of the lost American Dream during the Great Depression which lasts between 1929 up to the 1940s. The poem titled “This Is Not The Life” further depicts the hardships found in life. It clearly portrays the uncertainty and struggle associated with living during the Great Depression. Thus, both the novella and the poem explain that human dreams for a great future are subject to circumstance and fate, which most of the time collude against human success in life leaving only a trace of broken dreams, pain and misery.
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Curley's Wife Loneliness Analysis
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My introduction : Throughout the novel, many are lonely. Of the characters, Curley's wife, Crooks and Candy all show signs of desperate loneliness, though they respond quite differently. Each is isolated because of special mistreatment. Because Crooks is black, he is shunned and separated from the other men. He spends most of his time in his room, alone and bitter. Curley's wife also spends her days hounded by her mean, spirited husband; her attempts to reach out to the other men backfire and win the the undeserved reputation of a flirt. Candy has a disadvantage being handicap, and he has an unconditional love for an old and feeble and after his dog is shot he looks for new companionship. Throughout the characters of Curley's wife, Crooks and Candy, Steinbeck proves that one can be lonely, even if he's constantly surrounded by people.
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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
9607 Words | 20 Pages
dream; that one day they may buy a farm, and Lennie will be able to
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Natural Order In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
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He portrays that the survival of the fittest is a just rule, with using a weak character’s weakness to dominate them. In the book it is shown that you have to be physically, emotionally and mentally strong to withstand the pressures. In the story we see a character that is weaker compared to everyone on the ranch, that is Crooks. He is weak because of the color of his skin. The moment when Curley’s wife enters Crooks room and starts talking with the men, Crooks is scared that Curley himself might see them. So this leads Crooks to talk against the woman, but the woman threatens to lynch Crooks. The author illustrates the woman using a weakness such as color to threaten Crooks with “Well, you keep your place then, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.”(p.81). This perfectly shows how in the real world a black man is not able to rebel against a woman or any other character. Steinbeck shows this as a universal truth. Crooks faults are unable to compete with a woman who is stronger than him. In other words the african american is weak and in his relationship with the woman, he is unable to compete with her as she possesses power that dominates and threatens him. Although both characters similarly face isolation and loneliness or have lost something, the
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Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
780 Words | 2 Pages
During a time of hardship or of economic difficulties, each person draws back into their personal space and takes no notice of others. Ignorance often leads to misunderstandings. In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, two men went go a new farm in search of new opportunities and a chance to fulfill their dream. Of Mice and Men is also a heartbreaking story of how such misunderstandings can lead to unfortunate events. John Steinbeck uses a disapproving voice to criticize the mistreatment of social rejects and show that misunderstanding can lead to adverse outcomes.
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Black Americans In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
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Historically, the black American solution to racially imposed loneliness and homelessness was to embrace the structure of family. White characters in the novel appear without families, for whatever reason. However, black Americans were compelled to come together as a people despised by others, to shelter and protect, even to the point of the creation of extended families, much as George assumes a protective all four. Significantly, Crooks does not receive an invitation to join George, Lenny, and Candy on the farm, even though he broaches the subject. Racial and ethnic minorities in America in the 1930s understood the importance of this strategy for survival because otherwise they would not have survived. Crooks gets described by Curley’s wife as “weak” because he is crippled and a Negro, two conditions which Steinbeck conflates into being synonymous in the novel. He functions in the role of a victim-savant. Acting as an insightful thinker and clarifying the meaning of loneliness for the reader, he remains an “outsider,” someone for whom the reader feels more pity than respect.246 By remaining on this ranch, experiencing unfair treatment, Crooks chooses his own racial victimization each and every day.246
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The Loneliness Of mice and Men
401 Words | 1 Pages
“’I get lonely’ she said ‘You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley, else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to nobody?’” (Page 87) This quote is said by Curley’s wife when all the men went to town, including her husband. It shows that she spends all her time alone, in her house as the men work in the fields. She is also not allowed to talk to anyone but her husband who spends all of this time in the fields, so she feels like she is living alone all her life. This forces her to talk to anybody she finds. This shows her case of loneliness, and Crooks almost has the same situation.
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Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

of mice and men...theme of lonliness in the book

Racial Diversity in Of Mice of Men by John Steinbeck