Loneliness in Of Mice and Men
Loneliness in Of Mice and Men Loneliness is an experience that many people experience in their lives. In Of Mice and Men, Loneliness is a key factor in why many of the characters are characterized the way that they are. John Steinbeck makes most of the characters seem lonely. Most of the ranch hands travel alone except for of course George and Lennie. Crooks, the only African American on the ranch, is always in the barn away from the others, and is not allowed in the bunkhouse because the color of his skin. Old Candy, the oldest person on the ranch, experiences loneliness because his dog, his only companion, had just been shot. Candy’s wife, being the only woman on the ranch, is always seeking someone to talk to. A crippled African American that lives isolated from the others, an old swamper who just lost his companion forever, and the only woman on the ranch are all desperate to find someone to talk to, and suffer from an acute loneliness that leads to many different consequences. Crooks is the stable buck for the ranch. He was kicked in the back by a horse and now has a crippled back; that is why his nickname is crooks. He is also African American, and, at the time, African Americans were still perceived as lesser than the whites. Because of his skin color he is not allowed to stay in the bunkhouse with the rest of the ranch hands, but instead, has his own room in the barn. Being the only colored person on the ranch, he does not really talk to the other workers that much. This leads to him getting lonely all the time. He does not take part in any of the social activities on the ranch, except for the occasional horseshoe game, and then turns to reading books. This gets boring and he gets more and more lonely. When Lennie comes to talk to Crooks, Crooks tells Lennie “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t matter no difference who the guy is, longs he with you. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an he gets sick” (Steinbeck 105). This shows that he