" 'Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black."
the repetition of "I'm balck" by Crooks shows that he is almost angry because of the reason and he longs to be different so he
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can be accepted. Crooks tells Lennie about his background and how he used to play with white kids and how they used to be nice to him. He also says that his Old Man didn't like him doing that an now he knows why. Crooks then begins to talk about George ang Lennies friendship and even though Lennie is the way he is George can still talk to someone,
"George can tell you screwy things, and it don't matter. It's just the talkin."
he gets excited by this and the fact that George and Lennie have got each other, so theres still hope about him finding someone. Crooks also teases Lennie, he relizes that Lennie isn't that bright and begins to question him about what he would do if George didn't come back. By doing this to Lennie, Crooks is getting back at him for having a friend because he is lonely and is also a bit jealous of Lennie. Crooks backs off as Lennie gets mad. Crooks loneliness is revealed again through his words because he repeats himself and says,
"Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you."
Another person in 'Of Mice and Men' who is lonely is Curley's Wife. Curley's Wife is the only female character in the novel, this is one of the reasons why she is lonely and she can't relate to any of the other characters. Curley's Wife is always running around the ranch by herself looking for her husband. She doesn't have a job on the ranch and all the way through the novel she is never called by her name. Curley's Wife never dresses in suitable clothes for a ranch and is always heavily made-up. Steinbeck goes into detail about the way she presents herself, the way she stands, her body language and the way she says her words. She plays with her hair and the time she is talking to the men she stands in a seductive manner as if her aim is to tese the men,
"She puts her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so her body was thrown forward."
every little detail by Steinbeck about Curley's Wife shows how desperate she is for attension, she is longing for people to be with or around even if it is the men on the ranch. Not only does the reader get an understanding of her character through the description and narrative but Curley's Wife also says it through her dialogue.
"Well, I ain't giving you no trouble. Think I don't like to talk to someone ever' once in a while?"
The structure of section four is important to the loneliness of Crooks. At the begining of the section Crooks is alone in his room rubbing liniment in his spine. The idea of a man sitting alone having to rub the liniment into his own
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spine gives the reader the idea of the loneliness of Crooks and how he has nobody else. At the end of the section Crooks is back to rubbing liniment into his
spine while everyone else has gone. The same description is used and this emphasises how Crooks is lonely. He has gone in full circle, Crooks had company but like at the start of the section he is alone again. This represents everyone else in the novel who think they have found someone but as always they end up alone again.
Not only is loneliness a major theme in the novel, Steinbeck shows violence in the characters lives on many occasions. The fight between Lennie and Curley is very violent. The way that Curley strikes out at Lennie for no reason and because Lennie is defenceless it emphasises the violence. The description of the attack is very violent, Steinbeck uses very violent language like "explodeed", "slashed", "smashed" and "slugging". The violence of this section is also intensified by the fact that Lennie is so defenceless and Curley lashes out for no reason. Another violent part of the novel is when Lennie is murdered. George is put in a very difficult situation and forced to make a decision. When George actually kills Lennie he does it to protect Lennie from what might happen to him.I think it was better that George killed Lennie, the other men might have tortured him and it was better the way he did die. The way George killed Lennie wasn't very violent compared to the language when Curley attacks Lennie. George calmes Lennie down and Lennie suspected nothing at all. I think that Steinbeck showed his viewpiont to Lennies death by the way he was killed. It is clear that Steinbeck wants the reader to agree with what George does by showing that Lennie would have died anyway and may have been tortured. Steinbeck also shows his point of veiw through Slim's character. After Lennie is dead Slim says that he agrees with what George has done,
"You hadda, George. I swear you hadda."
Steinbeck is represented through Slims view, this is because Slim has been respected throughout the novel and everyone agrees with what Slim says. Violence is also shown through the language of the characters in the novel. George speaks very violently to Lennie. Even whe talking to Lennie, George uses words like "bastard", "god damm" and "Jesus Christ". George not only uses violent language he is angry. The reader knows this because of his diologue and the descriptive words like "angrily", "sharply" and "hopelessly" which are used before and after he says something. George gets frustrated with Lennie and gets mad. Steinbeck manages to show violence through the characters actions, language and body language. One of the best examples of Steinbeck showing violence through a characters body language is Curley. Steinbeck goes
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into detail about the way that Curley presents himself. When we first meet Curley, Steinbeck reveals his character,
"He stiffened and went into a slight crouch", "His arms bent gradually at the elbows and his hands closed into fists."
the description of him shows that Curley might be preparing or a fight or is getting aggresive. This also gives the reader a clue of his charactre.
Throughtout the novel Steinbeck has gone into great detail of different aspects like violence and loneliness. Steinbeck also goes into great detail about the begining of each section. He gives you detail of the natural world and other things connected to it. Violence is also shown in the natural world which he describes. While describing the settings Steinbeck includes detail of the time of day and always mentions the sun. The mood he creates is calm and gentle, he uses words like, "slipping twinkling" and "fresh and green" even when there is a calm and gentle mood Steinbeck includes violence. An example of the violence in the natural world is when a water snake is eaten. The watersnake is mentioned in two sections and the same description is used in both sections,
"A water snake glided smoothly up the pool"
when the watersnake is killed it is very sudden.
Even when Steinbeck creates a peaceful mood he manages to show violence in the natural world through the killing of the watersnake and the two similar descriptions of the watersnake in the two sections. The sudden killing of the watersnake prepares the reader for the killing of Lennie and shows that even in a beautiful world there is still death and it is the way of life. The themes of violence and loneliness all together add to the feeling and drama conveyed in the novel.