While talking with Lennie, Crooks brings up the topic of George. “I said s’pose George went into town and you never heard of him no more”. (Page 103). His loneliness makes him envious of George and Lennie's close relationship. Therefore to wind Lennie up, he tells him that George may not return; he clearly does this to frighten Lennie. Crooks wants Lennie to sympathise with him, how it feels to not have someone with you; he does this by taunting Lennie. “Crooks’ face lighted with pleasure in his torture”. (Page 103). When he is bullying Lennie we see a darker side to his personality. He is obviously seizing the opportunity to punish another human for the cruel way in which he has been treated. All of what has happened is due to Crooks being lonely. His isolation and loneliness is mainly due to his racial background. However in the novel, crooks isn’t the only lonesome character, the next character I will be looking at is Candy.
Candy is lonely because he is old, and different to the other hands. His only comfort is his dog, which keeps him company and reminds him of when he was younger. We know this because in the novel he repeatedly says, “I had him since he was a pup, I herded sheep with him”. (Page...). Candy has no relatives, furthermore when his dog is killed his isolation increases. He delayed killing the dog, even though he knew deep down that it was the best thing, as he dreaded losing his long-time companion. “No, I couldn’t do that. I had ‘im too long”. (Page 71). This shows that Candy has nothing else, he doesn’t want to let the dog go as then he knows he will have no one to fall back onto. He cannot work with the other men and now he has lost his one friend in the world. “He rolled slowly over and faced the wall and lay silent. (Page 76).
Candy is lonely even more now, especially because he let an angry stranger shoot the dog instead of doing it himself, lovingly. The person who shot candy’s dog done it without any remorse, nevertheless Candy deep inside knows he should have shot the dog himself. “I ought to of shot that dog myself, George I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog”. (Page 89). Thinking this, Candy feels even more upset and solitary.
Candy knows that there's nothing for him at the farm much longer, with his dog killed. When George and Lennie offer to let him in on the dream, he eagerly clutches at the idea. He jumped at the dream the first chance he could and held on because he wanted to have somewhere to go, as he knew soon he would be canned. However when the dream failed, Candy's disappointment is expressed in the bitter words he utters to the body of Curley's wife, whom he blames for spoiling his dream. “You ain’t no good now you lousy tart”. (Page 132). Curley’s wife, even though is a trouble maker, is also a lonely character.
Curley's wife is perhaps the loneliest person of all on the ranch. Since she is the only woman on the ranch, she is set apart from the others; she is not wanted by society. This shows how little women mattered in America in 1920/1930s. Curley, her own husband, ignores her. He does not regard his wife as a person needing love and companionship, but rather as an object which can be put aside. The fact that she doesn’t a have her own name explains alot especially that she is a property of Curley. Instead of being attentive to his wife, Curley is frequently going out with "the boys" instead of with his wife. Therefore Curley’s wife is always on the lookout for him. “Any you boys seen Curley?” (Page 109).
She wants someone to talk to, but she doesn't know how to approach a man without being provocative. She is always labeled and ignored by everyone on the ranch. “Well I think Curley’s married...a tart”. (Page 50). No one wants to talk to her as they consider her as a trouble maker and promiscuous. In addition they fear that if they are caught associating with her, they will lose their jobs. She tries to gain attention from the men with her feminine charm only to find she gets pushed away. Her husband doesn't trust her or the men on the ranch, so she is constantly watched. “You seen a girl around here?’ he demanded angrily”. (Page 59).
Curley’s wife has had her dream of being a starlet. She missed her chance, but now she holds on to the memory of the chance she COULD have had. Curley’s wife was ignored and used from early on, when she was given false intentions on being a movie star. Curley's wife's loneliness finally becomes so severe that she resorts to fantasizing herself as a famous actress just to feel wanted and more popular with others. “I tell ya I could of went with shows. Not jus’ one, neither. An’ a guy tol’ me he could put me in pitchers”. (Page 111). This unreliable hope has led her to become lonely as the result of her not being in the “pitchers”. This is because after her ‘American dream’ failed, she decided to marry Curley. This was a contributing factor to her loneliness, as on the ranch Curley’s wife doesn’t have anyone, as she doesn’t really love Curley. Curley’s wife is stuck on the ranch with no hopes, desires, and people to talk to.
Lennie's loneliness chiefly stems from the fact that he is both mentally slow and very big and strong. Lennie is just like a big baby; he refuses to defend himself and often cannot be held responsible for his actions. “George snapped, ‘You ain’t gonna put nothing over on me”. (Page 31). This irresponsibility, combined with Lennie's abnormal size and strength, causes many of the other ranch hands to shy away and fear him. Since Lennie cannot think as quickly as the other men, he is often set aside and isolated from them. He is unable to take an active part in conversations because George, Lennie's best friend and travelling companion, is the only one who can understand him. “He ain’t no cuckoo’ said George”. (Page 65). Moreover Lennie is an itinerant worker; this means he is caught in the trap of loneliness. Being an itinerant worker, you never stay in one place long enough to form permanent relationships. However even though Lennie doesn’t have relationships with the other workers, he does with George as they travel around together. Although, this does add to his loneliness.
Lennie is frequently off in his own dream world and is constantly preoccupied with dreams of the farm which he and George someday hope to buy. As a result, Lennie is unable to face reality at times, a fact which puts him even more out of touch with the real world and with other workers. “No place for rabbits now, but I could easy build a few hutches and you could feed alfalfa to the rabbits”. (Page 84). This shows Lennie and George’s dream, and for Lennie this dream is all about “tendin’ the rabbits”. This indicates that Lennie does live in a different world; sometimes what he dreams about isn’t realistic. This constant rejection by others increases the depth of Lennie's loneliness and adds to the theme of loneliness running through the novel.
