Furthermore, when Candy’s dog is shot, Candy gets upset as he is losing his long-time companion, “He was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen”, which also shows, that he has lost his sense of worth, and dreaded losing it. Without his dog, Candy is worthless, he is crippled and old, which increases the reason for him being lonely. One of the strongest statements in Of Mice and Men is that such people are worthy of our attention.
However, Candy is trying to divert his loneliness, or he is trying to recover his loneliness by wanting to be a part of George and Lennie's plan of owning a piece of land, as he says, “Suppose I came in with you guys”, which shows that he is desperate, as once he has got the piece of land with George and Lennie, he can have good company, and be his own boss. This also shows the basis of the American Dream – chance of opportunity.
Like Candy, Crooks is an example of Steinbeck’s compassion and a further illustration of the way in which loneliness can corrupt and destroy a man, as he says, “Nobody gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land,” which shows his cynicism about the world. He also gets this knowledge from reading books and grows his intelligence by doing so. He has been segregated from the white people because he is black.
Being black in the 1930’s was a very depressing time in life, so Crooks wasn’t just separated from the whites, but he had an excuse of the white people being kept away from him, as, “He kept his distance and demanded that other people kept theirs”, which shows that he is proud of being alone, but in most cases, he is a loner and feels injustice as he misses the companionship of others. This also illustrates the racism in 1930’s America. Crooks is intelligent, reads books and, like any other human being, he needs warmth and companionship, however, being black he was deprived of these rights and hence becomes lonelier.
As Crooks is exiled from the others, he has been given a room of his own, mainly because of his colour, where he says “I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room… They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink”, which shows that Crooks himself feels that he is unwanted. He is also partly disabled in a society that values human beings simply on their ability to provide a service. He also emphasises the word, “stink”, which makes us think of Candy’s dog, who is allowed in the bunkhouse.
However, when Lennie enters Crooks’ room, Crooks starts to become miserable, as he says, “You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me”, which shows that Crooks doesn’t desire Lennie’s company, as he is used to his loneliness, and even prefers it. It also shows that he’s a, “proud, aloof man”, whose eyes seem, “to glitter with intensity”.
A little later as Lennie and Crooks were discussing and interchanging their opinions, Lennie brought out a friendly side of Crooks, as, “he spoke in a friendlier tone”, which shows that Crooks enjoys Lennie’s company, after all the times Crooks has been isolated, and not been with anybody.
Adding on to the previous point, Crooks can at last have the upper hand over simple-minded Lennie, as he tells Lennie that, ”George isn’t going to come back”, which tells us about 1930’s America; where black people, especially Crooks, get no praise from the other ranch hands and Crooks never gets the chance to be above another person, so he starts to tease Lennie, when he sees his child-like nature.
Suddenly, when Candy tells Crooks, about his, Lennie’s and George’s dream, Crooks wants to join in, as he says, “If you … guys would want a hand to work for nothing – just his keep, why I’d come an’ lend a hand”, which shows that he doesn’t want to stay at the ranch and be all alone for the rest of his life, so he can go somewhere else and work with somebody. Both Candy and Crooks are workers who will never see the benefits of their labour. This book has three social and political evils: racial discrimination, the treatment of old age and the plight of the farm worker who are never appreciated for their labour.
Another victim of loneliness, is Curley’s Wife. Straight away from the name, you can tell that Steinbeck hasn’t given her a real name, but she has been named as an object, which emphasises the fact, that women don’t have an importance in 1930’s America. Curley’s Wife is described as a “tart” and may well be “jail bait” in the eyes of the ranch hands as she flirts with them, but she is never really evil as we know that she is just lonely as she says, “I get lonely… You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How do you like not to talk to anybody?”, and the only way to get their attention, is to be attractive to them.
Furthermore, George considers Curley’s Wife as a threat, especially to simple – minded Lennie, when he says, “Well you keep away from her cause she’s a rat trap”, which shows he despises her, as she is out of place on the far, and everyone is aware of Curley’s Wife to be dangerous and they know, that they will suffer extremely big consequences if Curley sees anyone talking to her.
Following on, from the previous point, George thinks that she is a tart, as she keeps on flirting with him, and other people, as he says, “I ain’t to have nothing to do with you – talk to you or nothing”, which shows that George doesn’t want to be with her, as he doesn’t want to cause any trouble.
Adding to the last point, Crooks also considers her to be dangerous for several reasons (female, “tart”, white, boss’s daughter – in – law), as he mentions her to be “trouble for the ranch”, which shows that all of the ranch hands are aware when she is around and avoid talking to her so as to not to offend Curley.
Curley’s Wife’s unhappy marriage to Curley emphasises her loneliness more, as she explains, “I get lonely… You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How do you like not to talk to anybody?” this also shows that no one seems to love her – Curley’s certainly not very affectionate, and his glove is very seedy, which also explains that Curley’s Wife is a woman in a man’s world (in this case Curley’s) where woman don’t have a higher hierarchy than men in 1930’s America.
She was glad to leave home and prove that she could be of value, “Well, a show come through, an’ I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show”, which shows her dream of becoming an actress and going in to the movies, and she only married Curley on the rebound from losing her dream. However, Curley’s Wife’s dream was not the Classic American Dream of having a smallholding or a small farm, and living “the FATTA the land”, but her dream was the Modern American Dream, of owning money and fame. With this quote, it also shows the author’s style of using pathos – writing something, without the reader believing in it. (In this case, believing in her dream of going to the movies).
Curley’s Wife is lonely and seeks company as, “She knelt in the hay beside him, ‘listen’”, which shows that she can be a big attention seeker, and only wants to have a conversation with other people apart from Curley, as she gets bored without socialising with anyone and tries to seek for some companionship.
George and Lennie are examples of the migrant or itinerant farm workers who fuelled and made possible the intensive farming economy. They travel together because they are lonely, as they say, “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world … Lennie broke in. An’ why? Because… because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.” This phrase also shows that they are together, as they seek company of each other. George admits this, when talking to Slim, as he says, “I turns to Lennie and says, ‘Jump in’, an’ he jumps”, which shows Lennie’s simplicity and naivety. George has the job of looking after him.
Leading on from the previous point, the companionship with Lennie staves off loneliness, but it also gives George a role in life, a clear task, looking after Lennie, as George says, “we kinda look after each other”, which shows that now it is just making him different, even gives him a status.
Carlson is also a mean character, as he objects to the smell of Candy’s dog, pressurises Candy to have it, as he says, “The way I’d shoot him, he wouldn’t feel nothing. I’d put the gun right there”, which shows his insensitivity, and does the business himself with evident satisfaction, using his own Luger pistol. His mean attitude refers to Slim’s suggestion that loneliness makes a guy mean.
Another perfect example of a man, who is mean, caused by his loneliness, is Curley. He also gets lonely because no one respects him. He is incapable of meeting someone bigger without taking a dislike to them, as Candy explains, “He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys”, which also shows that, all he wants to do is prove to the world that he is a big man in all but size.
Curley possibly just wants to start a fight, the reason being that he has no friends. So he picks on Lennie and says, “By Christ, he’s gotta talk when he’s spoke to”, which shows his pugnacious attitude towards people who are smaller than him, mentally, as he is not a big man himself, physically.
Curley’s Wife’s death was caused through loneliness, as she was bored and restless, enters and talks about her life, as, “She knelt in the hay beside him”, and told him to, “Listen”, to her, which shows that she is enjoying
Lennie’s company whilst talking to him.
As evident from many of the statements in the novel, Steinbeck offers no answers to loneliness, merely a graphic and moving portrayal of the problem. It confirms the impression of him as a writer who observes and brings things to life through the printed word. He is not someone writing with a grand game plan for how to change things. Indeed, some of the sadness and emotional power of the novel comes from our realisation that things cannot and will not change.
Loneliness is a major theme in “Of Mice and Men”. George and Lennie stave it off by their relationship. It embitters Candy and Crooks. It kills Curley’s Wife. Steinbeck sees loneliness as part of the human condition, something we are born with and something we either fight or succumb to all our lives.
