“For Crooks was a proud, aloof man. He kept his distance and demanded that other people keep theirs.”
He probable didn’t want any trouble.
“I aint wanted in the bunkhouse, and you aint wanted in my room”. “Why aint you wanted? “ Lennie asked.
“Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me”
He is an out going person and would like to play with the other ranch men.
Crooks also talk to Lennie about his loneliness, which were his hopes of having some one to talk to.
“I tell ya a guy gets too lonely, an’ he gets sick.’
Lennie became a new friend to Crooks, and Crooks is excited about his new companionship. Crooks however did not have a dream because he was afraid of disappointments, and was basically treated like an outcast. However he get caught up in working with George and Lennie in the dream farm. His hopes are shattered by Curley’s wife rude racist attitude.
Secondly Steinbeck presents the theme of loneliness through Curley’s wife. She doesn’t get attention from her husband so she goes elsewhere to seek attention. She is the only woman on the ranch and has no identity because of people’s perception about women in that era. She was Curley’s possession.
She likes to dress up and wear a lot of make up, to attract the men on the ranch, but they turned a blind eye to her, as they were afraid of what Curley would do.
‘She had full rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red.’
Her loneliness leads to the sad ending of the story, which is her being strangled mistakenly by Lennie. She confides in Lennie and tells him about her dreams of becoming a movie star. Steinbeck uses Lennie as a voice to the reader; it is because of him that the reader finds out about Curley’s wife’s dreams and feelings are.
She is infatuated by her appearance; she wants the fame and glamour.
‘Could been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes – all them nice clothes like they were.’
She appears to have given up her dreams as she married Curly. She feels as though her dreams have been shattered and that she can no longer achieve her goals.
Thirdly I am going to talk about Candy. He is described as a nice man with one hand. His dog is his closest friend and he has no one else to play with. Also the fact that he is old and disabled separates him from the younger men. He was extremely lonely after his dog was shot. This shows through his effort to persuade Carlson not to kill his old dog.
‘He ain’t no good to you Candy. An’ he ain’t no good to himself. Why’n’t you shoot him Candy?’
His suggestion is reasonable for the other men in the bunk- house but he seems unaware to the strong attachment between Candy and his dog. Candy tries to say the reasons for keeping his dog.
‘I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him.’
Candy feels like he has betrayed his dog and he joins in with George and Lennie`s dream. However the dream is shattered when Lennie is killed after he kills Curley`s wife and therefore he is completely alone again.
In the end, his dog is shot because of his lack of power towards the other men. Candy is left lonely and deserted after he loses his lifetime companion.
Lastly I am going to explore how Steinbeck uses George and Lennie to present the theme of loneliness. George and Lennie are close friends. These two are always together because Lennie thinks like a child and he needed someone to look after him. George also described themselves as the loneliest people in the world. He said, `Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They belong to the place.” The fact that Lennie`s aunt Clara died signifies that he has been very lonely and had no one in the world except George. George often tells Lennie that he wouldn’t be that lonely without him and that he would easily find things to do. This is demonstrated when he says “God Almighty. If I was alone I could live so easy.” However, George also relies on Lennie for companionship in the unfriendly and lonely environment for the migrant labourer. When they arrived at the ranch, both Slim and the boss were baffled at seeing George and Lennie travelling together. In fact the boss even thought that George had “a stake” in Lennie.
Structure
Steinbeck wrote the story so it would be a lot like a play. He made sure he used a lot of dialogue, and not a lot of description, and the action took place in only a few locations and ended in four days. The book opens and closes in the same location. The changes in the description of that setting show us just how much has changed in the lives of George and Lennie since the beginning of the story.
Language and Style
Steinbeck's style in the novel is direct. People talk throughout the story. They talk in the usual language of the ranch, there’s lots of swearing, name calling, and slang. Steinbeck's language and style are normal and simple, his sentences are carefully constructed. Another aspect of Steinbeck's style is that he lets the story develop one step at a time. But Steinbeck lets each of these scenes start off slowly then builds quickly. We are kept in suspense all the time and looking forward to what is coming next.
The story of mice and men teaches us that human beings needs friendship to survive.
