Steinbeck presents isolation alongside race . The racism factor is evident in the quote” cause I’m black , says crooks they play cards in there , but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well I tell you, you all of you stink to me.” This quotation illustrates Steinbeck showing the isolation of crooks because of his race. The reason the reader gets this impression is because Steinbeck writes “they play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. The impression Steinbeck conveys of crooks is a sympathetic character. Steinbeck writes about racism because it was one of the biggest causes of the great depression in the 1930s.
“the door opened quietly and the stable buck put in his head; a lean negro head, lined with pain, the eyes patient.”
The words ‘lean’ and ‘lined with pain’ suggest that this is a person that has suffered tremendously. The word ‘patient’ is significant as this is the first time the reader meets crooks, which gives us an insight to his personality and characteristics. Steinbeck writes about him as a hard working character; although crooks’ life is difficult, he appears to remain dedicated to his job. The fact that he opens the door ‘quietly’ is perhaps an indication of crooks respect towards the other men on the ranch. Steinbeck wants the reader to feel apologetic for crooks, given that this book was aimed at a 1930s’ audience; maybe he wanted the reader to query their ideas about race. The way Steinbeck picks and orders the language effectively shows crooks’ qualities and how hard-working he was. Steinbeck does this to show 1930s’ America and how migrant and itinerant workers acted on ranches.
Candy is isolated and has no friend’s apart from an animal. His dog is his company and his sole equivalent to a friend. “I had him since he was a pup.” This quotation shows the loneliness and effects of the great depression in the 1930s. The workers didn’t have friends or family around them so they turned to other things to keep them company and entertained. Steinbeck states this clearly when he writes “I had him since he was a pup.” This illustrates the love that candy has for his dog to have kept him all these years. I think that it was a devastating situation for candy to be in when his dog dies as he felt that the dog was his family and he treated him like his family. So when the dog died candy became very alone and isolated like all the other itinerant workers. The fact that candy had a friend, which was his dog, made him differ from all the other men and now he is just the same as the rest of them.
The itinerant workers are another major part of living in a ranch. The characters in ‘of mice and men’ all have different attitudes towards each other and portray different social lives. This describes the different problems present during the time of 1930s. In addition, cold attitude is shown towards candy by the workers. Candy gets mistreated because of his age and disability; he is discriminated against by the other workers. They use the word ‘crippled’ to explain his condition “wisht somebody’d shoot me if I got old an’ a cripple.” This shows a negative atmosphere at the ranch. As well as having a poor social life at the ranch, the workers also have to deal with a poor environment. They lived in a bunk house which was a ‘long, rectangular building’’ that had ‘whitewashed walls’ and ‘’unpainted’ floors. This shows that they live in an uncared and unstable habitat. The Soledad ranch represents the poor conditions that people in ranches were living in during the 1930s.
The American dream was an opportunity for every American to have a dream about fame, money and peace. Steinbeck uses the dream as a goal that all the characters want to aim for.
George and lennie have a dream: their dream is to work get money and live the American dream. Steinbeck shows this when George and lennie are talking by the brush. “With us it aint like that. We got a future. They hold on to their dream as it gives them something to look forward to.
Curley’s wife also has a dream: she wants to be a movie star “he says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soon he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it. This also shows that Curleys wife is a 1930s unconventional housewife which Links back to sexism, as Curley’s wife is shown to be holding on to a dream that is unlikely to happen.