Curley's Wife Loneliness Character Analysis

Of Mice and Men is the classic novella written by John Steinbeck. The book’s prominent theme is loneliness which it uses to provoke many emotions and feeling in the reader and show them many different types of loneliness. Three central characters in the book, who were considered minorities at the time, display loneliness in different ways, Lennie shows intellectual loneliness as he is mentally slower than the other characters, Curley 's wife is lonely as she is isolated from the others because of her gender, and Crooks in alone due to racial segregation. The novella has sparked many of my own thoughts and opinions on the topic of loneliness.

Lennie is a central character in the novella, he is the best friend of George. The friendship of Lennie …show more content…
She is the only woman on the ranch and is viewed as a possession of Curley, hence never being given a name. Curley’s wife does not want to be lonely, but she has been isolated and rejected by the men on the ranch. She is married to Curley and it is quite an unhappy marriage, it is mentioned that Curley is often rude and abusive towards her, but the time period and social normality prevented her from leaving him. Curley 's wife tries to befriend the other men of the ranch but is immediately rejected and closed off as the men don’t want to cause “trouble”. She attempts to find conversation wherever she can and with whoever she can. In a conversation with Lennie, Curley’s wife begins to disregard Lennie 's end of the conversation and vent about her past and her feelings, this showed me that Curley’s wife was a greatly misunderstood character who simply needed someone who would listen to …show more content…
Crooks is African American and therefore segregated from the other men on the ranch. Crooks struggles with being a minority in many ways, his race and his disability. He sleeps in a small room next to the stable and away from the others because they complain that ‘he smells’. Crooks keeps to himself throughout the novel, I believe he does this out of fear as the other man are much stronger than him, he calls Slim ‘Mr Slim’. This shows that he is very much treated as below the other men. Crooks is shown to also be rather vengeful towards the men. This was most evident to me in the section of the book where Lennie and Crooks are conversing and Crooks begins to use Lennie 's disability to belittle him, Crooks taunts Lennie in a similar way that he is taunted. This scene is very important in showing the nature of Crooks character, later in the scene Crooks begins to rant to Lennie in a similar way Curley’s wife does later in the novel, as he knows that Lennie isn’t really taking in the information. Crooks reveals his background and his true feeling about the ranch and the way he is treated, Crooks comments on loneliness and his own