I feel that Steinbeck describes the loneliness of the place well, for example, he simply calls Curleys wife Curleys wife throughout the story, showing that no-one ever stays long enough to get close enough to her to find out her real name. Candy, Crooks and Curleys Wife seem to be the loneliest people on the ranch.
Candy is an old man with only one hand. He had an old dog but agreed to let Carlson kill it. Candy was very attached to his old dog, as he had been with the dog since it was a pup. He reacts badly to the dog’s death, and feels guilty that he let a stranger kill it. Candy is afraid that he will be sacked when he is no longer any use. He knows that he will have nowhere to go when he gets fired, so when he hears George and Lennie talking about getting their own place and live off the fatta the lan, (P. 32) he is compelled to ask them to take him with them. After his dog’s death, Candy seems desperate to leave the ranch. (P.87) He feels as though he can’t go on living on the ranch anymore especially the way the others treated his dog, and sees this as a new start in life. For what life he has left in him.
Crooks is a black man with a crooked back. He is the only black man on the ranch and is not allowed in the bunkroom because of his colour. This is typical of 1930s America, as back then black people were thought of as inferior. Crooks knows that black people are thought of as such, as when Curleys wife tells him that if he tells the boss to ban her from the barn she would get him hung, he simply replies “yes ma’am”. (P.113)
Crooks spends his time alone reading and is a fairly knowledgeable person, as he owns a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905. This in itself tells us that he is quite a lonely sort of person. He also plays horseshoes until dark, but is not allowed into the bunkhouse to play cards, as the others claim he stinks, but he tells Lennie “you all stink to me”. (P.100) He is nasty to Lennie at first, as he thought Lennie shouldnt be in his room, as he is banned from the bunkhouse. When he finds out Lennie is harmless however, he lets him stay for some company. He hasnt really spoken to anyone for a long time, and is eager for Lennies company. He shows this when he claims, “Books aint no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him.” He whined “a guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody”. (P. 105) He wants to join in with George, Lennie and Candy to get the place as he is discriminated against at the ranch.
Curleys wife is possibly the loneliest of the characters, as she is the only woman on the ranch and the men are all afraid to talk to her. Steinbeck deliberately doesn’t give her a name, as it shows that there isnt anyone on the ranch close enough to her to know it. This shows she must have a really lonely life. Curleys wife only flirts with the workers because it is the only way she knows to get her attention. All the men on the ranch think that she is a tart, however, she is actually just an insecure, lonely woman, and this is shown when she tells Lennie “I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” (P.122) And when she asks what’s the matter with me? And Aint I got a right to talk to nobody? Life on the ranch must be very lonely for her, but her cruelty as a result of loneliness comes out in chapter 4. “Sat’iday night. Ever’body out doin’ som’pin’. Ever’body! An’ what am I doin’? Standin’ here talking to a bunch of bindle stiffs - a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep – an’ likin’ it because they ain’t nobody else.” (P.111)
The reason Curleys wife wanted to speak to Lennie in chapter five is that she doesn’t have anyone to talk to. She tells Lennie this, saying “you can talk to people, but I cant talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. Howd you like not to talk to anybody?” (P.123) Loneliness is not a problem to George and Lennie, as, like Lennie loves saying to George, Ive got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you. George says about ranchers that travel alone, “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family, they dont belong no place.”(P.31)
One of the things that bind George and Lennie together is that they share a common dream, to buy their own land, and live off of the “fatta the lan.” The fact that they travel together makes them believe that one day they will really get enough money together to do this, and they nearly had the chance. The reason loneliness was such a problem in 1930s America is that no-one ever settled anywhere long enough to make any ties or get to know anyone. I feel that Steinbeck portrayed this fairly well.
