How Does Steinbeck Present Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck many of the characters exhibit feelings of loneliness due to their age, situation, or race. The story is set during the Great Depression which was a time period in American history where unemployment was high and working men were forced to move across the States looking for job opportunities. Many men were not in a place long enough to form a bond to the place or the residents and despite this being a regular occurrence some never got used to being a lone ranger, with women also suffering. It was common for ranch hands to be by themselves travelling from job to job, but Lennie and George broke this trend and demonstrated a unique relationship that many people at the ranch desired. Crooks, …show more content…
Crooks was the only black man at the ranch but even before he came to work there he felt out of place in the world, as he faced isolation and mistreatment due to his race. He sleeps away from all the over employees, in a barn with the horses, surrounded by well read books that are his only company, but they do not provide him with the social interaction he wants. When Lennie enters his area, completely unaware he is intruding, Crooks attempts to assert some form of authority by stating that if he is not allowed in the bunkhouse, due to him being black, then a white man such as Lennie can not enter into his personal space. Lennie’s childish demeanor and Crooks’ lust for human companionship eventually gets the better of him and Lennie is …show more content…
Crooks substitutes human companionship, that is not available to him due to his race, with his work and books but even he recognizes this is not enough. Candy had his dog to keep him company and distract him but once it dies he relies on George and Lennie’s dream to give him a source of hope, and even once events take a turn for the worst he still clings to it. Curley’s wife hopes to have a breakthrough moment with a ranch hand during her search for acknowledgement and tries to distance herself from her troubled marriage. Crooks and Curley’s wife also have a tendency to put up a facade or prey on the weaknesses of others in order to accomplish what they seek or protect their feelings, as demonstrated in some of their exchanges with other characters in the book, specifically Lennie. John Steinbeck does a good job in his work to give the reader an accurate account of how lonely it could be for a variety of people during the Great Depression and how humans seek or distract themselves from loneliness. Ultimately everybody needs