Theme Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

Imagine standing in a crowded room filled with people who think know you, but don’t. You’re surrounded, and yet you are absolutely alone. One of the key aspects of loneliness in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is that the characters are all surrounded by people who know them, but are also entirely alone. In the few relationships between characters throughout the novel, it is clear that one part of the relationship is more dominant than the other. One half of the relationship is more important, which doesn’t qualify as a real relationship. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the reader follows three relationships, Curley and his wife, George and Lennie, and lastly Crooks with all the other workers, which are defined as relationships but …show more content…
In the book, Curley and his wife are constantly together, but their relationship is an unhealthy one, built off of secrets and mistrust. In a vulnerable moment, Curley 's wife says " '--Sat 'iday night. Ever 'body out doin ' som 'pin '. Ever 'body! An ' what am I doin? Standin ' here talkin ' to a bunch of bundle stiffs--a nigger an ' a dum-dum and a lousy ol ' sheep-- an ' likin ' it because they ain 't nobody else '" (Steinbeck 78). Curley and his wife are the epitome of bad marriages. They are always looking for each other, but can never truly find each other both physically and mentally because of their differences. In a similar illustration of their displeasure with each other, Curley’s wife opens up about her marriage to Lennie saying, “’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 anybody?’” (Steinbeck 87). The most important part of this quote is when she says that Curley gets mad. This is very in line with what the reader sees of his anger issues previously in the book. It helps the reader understand that this could be a very antagonistic relationship, if not an abusive one. Curley’s wife clearly knows her husband’s rules, which is why she only talks to the rest of the workers when she’s looking for Curley, but the place she is looking never seems …show more content…
Crooks is the stable hand, and he also happens to be African American. During the time the book is set in, racism was still very prevalent and had yet to be dealt with in its entirety. So Crooks is mentally and physically separated from the rest of the people on the farm because of it. For what seems to be the first time ever, someone (Lennie) tries to befriend Crooks, which shows part of his mental separation. He views himself as different, so even when someone is trying to be friends with him he puts up walls to keep them out: “Lennie smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends. Crooks said sharply, ‘You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in her but me’” (Steinbeck 68). This is Crooks’s space, and while Lennie may not be doing anything wrong Crooks just naturally views him as a threat. He isn’t used to white men being kind to him, so he assumes the defensive position just to be safe. While Lennie is very persistent and unaware of how unwanted he is, it is possible that Crooks’s isolation is partially his fault for pushing everyone away. However, his physical separation is entirely not his fault. The rest of the workers accused him of smelling, much like Candy’s dog, and forced him to live separately from the rest of them. So he lives in his own house, and in a moment of pure susceptibility, he tells Lennie how he really