The Great Depression was the worst economic downfall in the history of the modern world. On October 1929, the stock market crashed, causing consumer investment to drop. Due to this, many companies have gone out of business and unemployed many. Millions of men had to leave their friends and family to find work to provide for them. Many workers joined agencies where they could provide jobs for them. This means that workers had to migrate across the country in order earn money and many friends would be separated. Through motifs, John Steinbeck develops his theme that loneliness makes people helpless. In Of Mice and Men, the recurring motifs of unachievable dreams and the dogs’ innocence causes the characters in the novella to become helpless through loneliness. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck repeatedly brings up the concept that unachievable dreams lead to loneliness. Crooks “‘[Crooks] ain't wanted in the bunkhouse, and [Lennie} ain't wanted in [his] room.’
‘Why ain't you wanted?’ Lennie asked.
‘’Cause I'm black… I was born right here in California. My old man had a chicken ranch, 'bout ten acres. The white kids come to play at our place, an' sometimes I went to play with them, and some of them was pretty nice. My ol' man didn't like that. I never knew till long later why he didn't like that. But I know now,’” (Steinbeck 78-70). Crooks wants to be accepted, but the men on the ranch exclude him due to his racial difference. He accepts the fact being he will be lonely, which
‘Why ain't you wanted?’ Lennie asked.
‘’Cause I'm black… I was born right here in California. My old man had a chicken ranch, 'bout ten acres. The white kids come to play at our place, an' sometimes I went to play with them, and some of them was pretty nice. My ol' man didn't like that. I never knew till long later why he didn't like that. But I know now,’” (Steinbeck 78-70). Crooks wants to be accepted, but the men on the ranch exclude him due to his racial difference. He accepts the fact being he will be lonely, which