Of_Mice_and_Men

899 Words Loneliness in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men Loneliness is prevalent in John Steinbeck’s, “Of Mice and Men”. George and Lennie are friends, but they both struggle with feelings of loneliness. Curley’s wife is looking for attention to deal with her loneliness. Candy is an old and crippled man that has lived a lonely life working as a ranch hand. Crooks is a black man who is discriminated against because of his color which causes him to be lonely. Loneliness drives George and Lennie to commit murder in hopes of avoiding further isolation. In John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men, both major and minor characters are affected by loneliness. Loneliness has affected the lives of George and Lennie, the major characters in Steinbeck’s story. George and Lennie are going to work on a ranch in Soledad. George who is the protagonist in the story feels a sense of responsibility to care for Lennie, because he is mentally disabled. George and Lennie have known each other for many years for they were both born and raised in the town of Auburn. George who knew Lennie’s Aunt Clara, offers to take care of Lennie after her death. George and Lennie are friends, but they both feel a sense of loneliness. George tells Lennie, “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place” (13). George does not have any family; he spends the majority of his time with Lennie. George can’t have an intelligent conversation with Lennie, because he has the mind of a child. This is a contributing factor of why George is lonely even in his company. Lennie is lonely, because of his intelligence level. Lennie also has a fear that George will not want him around anymore. Lennie says to George, “If you don’ want me I can go off in the hills an’ find a cave. I can go away any time” (12). George doesn’t want Lennie to leave for fear that he couldn’t take care of himself. George tells Lennie, “Your Aunt Clara wouldn’t like you running off by yourself, even if she is dead” (13). Like the major characters in Steinbeck’s story, there are three minor characters that are affected by loneliness. The first of these characters is Candy. Candy is an older man who also works on the ranch. He has been working on the ranch for a long time. Candy has a dog that is his only companion. The dog is old; it doesn’t have many teeth, and it has arthritis. The other farm hands complain about his smell. One of the men tells Candy the dog is no good to him. The man encourages Candy to put the dog out of its misery, by shooting it in the back of the head. Candy tells the man “Well-Hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup” (44). The man becomes more instant that the dog needs to be put down. He offers to kill the dog for Candy. Feeling pressured, Candy allows the man to take his dog and shot him. After the dog is shot Candy is very upset. Candy tells George, “I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog” (61). The second of the minor characters is Crooks; he is a black man working as a stable buck. The other workers refer to him as a nigger, which is discriminating and leaves Crooks feeling alone. Crook’s has a room in the stable. This Green 3 makes Crooks seem no better than an animal to the reader. Crooks is not wanted in the bunk house with the rest of the farm hand, which causes Crooks to be bitter and live a life of isolation. Crooks spends most of his free time reading. Crooks shares his emotions when speaking to Lennie about being alone and having no one to talk to. He talks about being lonely to Lennie when he says, “A guy needs somebody – to be near him” (72) and “I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (73). The last of the three minor characters that is affected by loneliness is Curley’s wife. She is married to Curley, the son of the owner of the farm. Curley does not pay attention to his wife and is often mean to her. This lack of attention has left Curley’s wife looking at men to ease her loneliness. She dresses inappropriately and behaves flirtatiously. One example of her flirting is when she went to the bunk house, “She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward” (31). The ranch workers do not want to talk to her, they fear it will cause them to lose their job, which increases her feelings of loneliness. Like the major characters in the story, the minor characters are also affected by loneliness. Loneliness has affected many lives. Loneliness can cause a person to behave in unimaginable ways. In John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men, both major and minor characters are affected by loneliness. Works Cited Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. 1st ed. New York, New York: Penquin Group, 1993.