Lennie has a surge of insecurity when he’s talking to Crooks. Crooks is making fun of him, and asks what Lennie would do if George wasn’t in his life anymore. “’I said s’pose George went into town to-night and you never hear of him no more.’ ‘Just s’pose that,’ he repeated.
‘He won’t do it,’ Lennie cried.” This shows that Lennie needs George so much that he can’t bear to think of life without him. This thought troubles Lennie so much he gets very angry at Crooks, which is not normal behaviour for him as he is usually kind and gentle to others. “He stood up and walked dangerously towards Crooks. ‘Who hurt George?’ he demanded. Crooks saw the danger as it approached him. ‘I was just supposin’,’ he said. George ain’t hurt.’” In the end, it is George’s fear of Lennie’s insecurity that leads him to shoot him, because he knows Lennie will be taken away from him and that he could not live without him.
Crooks’ Insecurity stems from his loneliness. Because he is a black man and has a crippled back (hence the name ‘Crooks’), he is excluded from the rest of the workers on the ranch because that is the way that black people were treated in those days. Because of this, he is apprehensive when Lennie comes into his barn the night when the others have gone to town, because he is not used to visitors so he is suspicious that Lennie might be up to something. “’Crooks said sharply, ‘you got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.’” However, his suspiciousness of Lennie wanes, as he is secretly happy to have someone to talk to for once. He says to Lennie, “George can tell you screwy things, and it don’t matter, it's just the talking. It's just being with another guy, that’s all.” This shows that he is grateful to have someone, if anyone, to talk to.
Curley is easily the most insecure character in the book. He represents his insecurity in many ways. The first we encounter is when he first meets Lennie and George. “He glanced coldly at George and then at Lennie. His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his closed into fists.” He does not take warmly to the new workers, and Candy explains why. “Curley’s like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys.” “Kinda like he’s mad at ‘em because he aint a big guy.” This newfound tension between Lennie and Curley is a great worry for George, because he thinks Lennie will do something they will both regret, like in Weed. Sadly, he turns out to be right, but it only results in a fight between the two, and the fact that Lennie kills Curley’s wife is unrelated. Still, George is right that Lennie and George will not get along, so he warns Lennie to try and not get in any trouble with Curley. “Look, Lennie! This here ain’t no set-up. I'm scared. You gonna have trouble with that Curley guy.”
Another thing Curley is insecure about is his wife. He is always storming around the ranch, demanding people to tell them if they’ve seen his wife. Ironically, she is often seen wondering round asking if they’ve seen Curley. He is suspicious that she is going with another man on the ranch behind his back, which causes him to be embarrassed by Slim when he accuses him of sleeping with his wife. “’Well, I didn’t mean nothing, Slim. I just ast you.’ Slim said, ‘Well, you bin asking me too damn often. I'm gettin’ god-damn sick of it.’”
Curley’s wife is a very lonely person. She has to stay at home all day while the men go out to work in the fields. She does not see Curley much, and she doesn’t particularly like him either. She tells Lennie, “I get lonely.” “You can talk to people, but I cant talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad.” This is the reason why she is often found wandering round the ranch. She says that she is looking for Curley, but really she is looking for anyone else but Curley. She wants to talk to other people that him. Ironically, the reason she dies is because she went to talk to someone, and that someone was George, who was the last person she spoke to.
Candy is an old, lonely man who does not have many friends except for his faithful dog. This is because he is forced to do the cleaning around the ranch, due to his age and lack of a hand. This means he doesn’t often get to talk to people, like Curley’s wife, because most of the workers are out during the daytime when he has to stay behind. This is the reason why he is very upset when Carlson shoots his dog. They convince Candy that his dog is very old and must suffer due to it's numerous illnesses and blindness. Although Candy realises he has a point, he does not want his dog to die because it is his only true friend left in his life.
Candy is insecure about his future. He knows he is getting older, and he fears that soon the boss will throw him out because he is of no use to him anymore. This is why he is very keen to be part of Lennie and George’s plan to this farm that they are dreaming of. He tells them he will be able to pay for most of it because he has compensation money from when he lost his hand. This is the reason why Lennie and George let him into it, because if they put their combined money together at the end of the month, they can afford to buy it. Now their dream has become a reality, and Candy thinks he is assured of living the rest of his life somewhere he will be happy. Unfortunately, this will never happen, and we don’t find out what happens to Candy.
