loneliness in of mice and men

Another character who is excluded by everyone else and thus longs to speak out is Crooks, the crippled black stable-buck. Crooks is excluded by everyone at the ranch because of his race, a common form of discrimination in the 1930s in America. Steinbeck uses the extreme segregation faced by Crooks as an opportunity to express a combination of thoughts on the theme of loneliness. Crooks, too, has become cruel and predatory due to the discrimination he has faced. When Lennie tries to "make friends" with him, Crooks' initial apprehension is "defeated" by Lennie's "disarming smile"—a sign that a small act of friendship from someone as simple, unselfish like Lennie is a great relief after years of isolation. But Crooks' response to this act remains very cruel; he frightens Lennie with suggestions that George may never return from his trip to the town and takes "pleasure in his torture"—he certainly has become nasty because of prolonged alienation. Nevertheless, Crooks warms to his companion and starts to express his long-suppressed feelings: "I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick." He also describes how he is from a landowners' family and lived and played with white children when he was a child—these times of companionship seem to have sustained him his whole life and have allowed him to live with relative dignity. When Candy enters and discusses the dream farm with Lennie, Crooks also becomes tangled in the dream, after criticising it first. His little interaction with sympathetic listeners has returned him a dream and dignity—so much so that when Curley's wife enters and threatens his interaction, Crooks has the confidence to stand up to her: "You got no rights messing around in here at all. Now you jus' get out an' get out quick." This state of self-assuredness doesn't last long, as Curley's wife lashes back at Crooks and his two companions leave him in his room. In a circular ending, Crooks is back where he began—a lonely black stable buck who dare not have dreams or confidence.            

In conclusion, Steinbeck has crafted a detailed map of the roots and results of loneliness in Of Mice and Men. Through the characters of George, Lennie, Candy, Curley's wife and Crooks, Steinbeck discusses many issues connected with loneliness. He shows how in the Great Depression, itinerant workers were "crazy with loneliness for land" and how the dream farm is just a way of putting down roots and forming lasting bonds, so that their purpose and meaning in life can come from people appreciating them, not from their usefulness as workers. Steinbeck shows how such bonds are impossible to make in the dog-eat-dog world of the Great Depression, because trust and loyalty are not easily earned from wandering men. On the other hand, animals like rabbits, dogs and even Lennie, are possible companions, since their vulnerability and dependence allows people like George and Candy to make them 'their own'. But again, this companionship is doomed because of one of the partners' vulnerability. Steinbeck also shows how prolonged loneliness makes people cruel and how a temporary, friendly reception can make people expressive and hopeful. Loneliness makes life a futile circuit of cheap, carnal attempts at human contact, which can constitute the petting of creatures, going to brothels or flirting with men. In the cyclical fashion of the novel, the result of these attempts is just more loneliness and the resulting indifference. The novel concludes with Carlson remarking on Slim and George's grief by saying, "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?"—Steinbeck's final comment on how a life without any emotional link to anyone has completely destroyed a man's ability to empathise and value another's life.