Of Mice and Men. How Does Steinbeck Create A Sense Of Insecurity In The Novel?

Steinbeck also portrays Curley’s wife as someone who’s insecure. She is completely lonely and we know this because she says “I get awful lonely,” which is another sign of insecurity. She’s very hot headed, she easily lashes out at the ranch workers especially in Crooks room she says "Standin' here talkin' to a bunch of bindle stiffs - a nigga an' a dum-dum and a lousy ol' sheep..." she here preying on the weaker men to gain some satisfaction, power and respect. As Curley’s wife is describe as “jail bait” this is true to some extent as Lennie is lured by her to both their deaths. Also by hearing about Curley’s wife dreams we see that she trust people to easily, which gives her a sense of vulnerability making her insecure. When she dies Steinbeck uses similar language to describe Curley’s wife before and after her death. As her curls are like “sausages” which is childlike and her face is “rouged” with lips “parted”. But after she died she’s now “sweet and young” showing that the hard life made her mean. Like the mask she was wearing has been stripped away and you can see her innocently. There is a big contrast with this section and when she first appeared in the novel, one that shows at the end she was shown innocently by Steinbeck and all the “ache for attention” was gone away from her face or in other words the insecurity has disappeared from her and now she’s at rest.

Crooks is a character that creates a sense of insecurity in the novel. We quickly learn that Crooks is the only black man in the book. He has his own room which is full of his possessions, we see that Crooks as a lot of books which shows he can read and his fully developed character with a background and personality. Crooks hides the fact that his lonely by being perceived as “a proud, aloof man” however Steinbeck shows that Crooks is affected by loneliness. Steinbeck shows insecurities in Crooks by showing what little power he has on the ranch. As Crooks is black, he doesn’t have any power or hope which also optimizes how black people were treated during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. When he hears about Lennie and George’s dream and offers to work there free it shows us that he would gain dignity working on a farm where he has nothing now. However Crooks is very vulnerable and this is shown in Chapter Four in his room. As Curley’s wife threatens him by saying “I could get you strung up on a tree so easily it aint funny” this makes Crooks rethink his position in society at the time and shows us the extent on how Crooks is generally treated badly. Steinbeck creates a sense of insecurity by showing the reader how Crooks is treated and how he is angry that he’s never invited to the bunk house and so he won’t let the other workers come into his room, shows his bitterness which is a sense of insecurity. Crooks has also no self confidence in himself because all the ranchers have no respect for him making him insecure about himself.

In conclusion I think that Steinbeck shows no solution to loneliness, even though Curley and Curley’s wife is married it doesn’t stop them from being lonely, Steinbeck shows that loneliness appears to be in every part of human nature and it’s something that we cannot escape or change. The novel also ends at the pool where it all began, which is shows now that nature is not so tranquil, and the pond is a place of loneliness fear and death hence its where Lennie was shot. Steinbeck uses nature to reflect the mood of the human world and how the structure suggest that of a life of a itinerant worker in the 1930’s in America was a cycle of working and then moving on to the next job. Steinbeck shows the characters as helpless by their isolation and loneliness which leads them being unsecure to one another.