Loneliness In Curley's Wife, By John Steinbeck

“Guys like us, that work on ranches are the most loneliest guys in world” (Steinbeck 13). Loneliness is one of the most cruelest emotions. Loneliness doesn’t necessarily mean you are alone. Like Crooks and George, many feel isolated even when surrounded by others. A person can be in a marriage and still feel unloved and unworthy like Curley 's wife. The book is placed in Soledad, California. Two men named Lennie and George are trying to find a job so they can make their dream come true. They finally end up getting a job at a ranch. They sleep, eat and work at the ranch.At the end of the week they get payed about ten dollars. A man named Curley is in charge of the ranch. He has a wife, but they do not talk or see each other a lot because they …show more content…
In this quote Curley’s wife walks into the room wanting to talk to someone, but all the men are afraid they will get in trouble if they talk to her. The men are afraid that if they talk to her then she will say something to Curley about how the men were bothering her. “ Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awfully lonely.”( Steinbeck 86) Curley’s wife has no one to talk to except for Curley. She doesn’t even like him because he is rude and careless. Curley’s wife is upset that she has to live at the ranch. She has nobody to have a conversation with. Another example of Curley’s wife being lonely is when she shares her dreams with Lennie “ I gotta live. I tell you I ain’t used to livin’ like this. I could of made something of myself” ( Steinbeck 88). She doesn’t like the lifestyle she is living right now. She wants to have friends, be an actress. Loneliness affects Curley’s wife by her wanting to express her emotions to others. She wants someone to talk to her because she is tired of being bored, being so quiet. Curley’s wife is desperate for someone to talk to her. If she could find someone to talk to she wouldn’t be as lonely as she …show more content…
In this quote George “ I ain’t got no people “ ( Steinbeck 41). George only has Lennie in his life. Lennie doesn’t really talk to him other than about his dreams, and how he is so excited to tend the rabbits. Another example of George being lonely is “ You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get” ( Steinbeck 11). George blames Lennie that he can’t ever keep a job.Lennie is always getting into trouble wherever they go. At one point in the book Lennie sees this girls dress and thinks that it could be soft. He loves to touch soft items. He goes over there to see if he could feel this girls dress. She allows him to but then she tell him to stop and he then he doesn’t know what to do, so he he holds on. She starts to scream asking for help and then George and Lennie have to run away because she told the police that he was going to rape her. George couldn’t keep the job because they had to escape from the town. He never gets to settle at a place and get to know new people. George has no family nor someone to really talk to, he is very lonesome.
Curley’s wife, Crooks and George all have one thing in common which is loneliness. Curley’s wife is desperate for someone to talk with. Crooks is discriminated because of his color, and not being able to talk to anyone. George has no family and is always traveling and isn’t able to get to know people. Loneliness is one