Candy is lonely because of his age, he lost his dog, and his physical disability. Candy’s age is one of the reasons that affect his loneliness, “I ain’t got the poop no more” (20). He said this when the others go to town on Saturday night because he is too old to go out with them, and he thinks he would not fit in. Secondly, after Candy lost his dog he was lonelier, “Candy lay still, staring at the ceiling” (49). When Carlson asked to take Candy’s dog to kill it, Candy would not answer and just lay still and stare at the ceiling because he was sad that he would lose his only friend.
He comes across as being very gossipy and nosy. He bears a great resemblance to his dog, which is so old that it "wasn't any good to himself or anyone else", so it gets taken off and shot. I think that Candy is one of the loneliest ones as he has no-one very close to him and I feel sorry for him because I think he feels left out because of his disability and the fact that he is a lot older. Curley's wife also voices her loneliness. She says, 'I never get to talk to nobody.
Crooks, named for his crooked back, is one of the most vulnerable characters on the ranch, mostly due to his race combined with general racist attitudes at the time. He lives by himself because he is the only black man on the ranch, and he has been so beaten down by loneliness and prejudicial treatment of that he is now suspicious of any kindness he receives. Crooks is painfully aware that his skin color is all that keeps him separate in this culture. This outsider status causes him to lament his loneliness, but he also delights in seeing the loneliness of others, perhaps because misery loves company. When Lennie arrives at his room, he turns him away, hoping to prove a point that if he, as a black man, is not allowed in white men’s houses, then whites are not allowed in his, but his desire for company ultimately wins out and he invites Lennie to sit with him.
George stated at the beginning that Lennie always gets into troubles. “You do bad things and I go to get you out,” (Steinbeck, 11). When Lennie held Curley's wife tighter and tighter we all knew whats going to happen because first he killed a mouse and he thought he will not do the same thing with a puppy. John Steinbeck used his creativity use of foreshadowing to make the book more enjoyable to read. Lennie seems to be very strong, but in reality he is the weakest character in the novel “Of Mice And Men”, because of the lack of his mentality ability and the missing characteristic to think for himself and make his own decisions.
Everyone on the ranch is lonely; George says ranch guys ‘are the loneliest in the world.’ Crooks says ‘A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long as he’s with you.’ This implies that everyone in the ranch is lonely since all the bunk house men are single so they have no one to comfort them. They have no family to go to or to speak to, they have nothing to look forward to except work for the rest of their lives. George even plays solitaire which is a one player game which implies that even though he has Lennie he still feels alone since Lennie is so immature that he cannot speak to him about the real problems he has. He could feel like he’s in unequal marriage, where George has all the responsibilities.
The bunkhouse is where most of the conversations happen. Loneliness is a key theme which occurs inside the bunkhouse because this is where Carlson bullies candy into allowing him shoot his ageing, smelly, crippled dog. Candy is dependent on his dog as the dog has been with him for a long time but also there are similarities between candy and the dog they can be both labelled as useless because candy lost his hand whilst he was working on the ranch so there aren’t much work for him to do, the reason he still is on the ranch is so that he could claim his compensation that he deserves, the dog is also useless because his old and tired and wouldn’t be able to herd the sheep as before. So when Carlson does shoot the poor dog candy feels alone with no one to be there with him. Dreams is also linked in with the bunkhouse because this is where George and Lennie discuss their dream ‘of living on the fat of the land’ ‘ Lennie tending the rabbits’ but candy over hears their conversation and wants to be part of their dream.
One of the characters who proves this is Crooks. Crooks is the stable hand who works with the ranch horses. He lives by himself because he is the only “nigger” on the ranch. Crooks is a bookworm who likes to keep his room neat, but he is constantly beaten down by the never-ending loneliness and prejudicial treatment he receives because of his skin color. Because of this inhumane treatment he is now suspicious of any kindness he receives.
“You seen a girl around here?”(37). Being the only girl on the ranch she gets mistreated by many of the men, including Curley. If she is ever doing anything wrong, Curley gets really mad and yells at her. Curley’s wife is always complaining about how much she does not like him. “Well I ain’t told this to nobody before, maybe I ought to.
Lennie is considered as an outsider because of his mental disability. Crooks is considered an outsider because he is an old black man whom back is hurt and can’t really stand up straight the reason why he’s even working in the ranch is because he’s the only one who knows how to keep the stables in control. Candy is considered an outsider because he’s an old man with one of his hands disabled. Curley’s wife was considered as an outsider
Especially is the different shades of the theme clear when it involves old and weak ones: those, who already have worked hard for many years and done their duty in life. Jody’s father’s first horse has become old, and the old stranger, Gitano notices that. “No good now,” Gitano said. “Too old to work. Just eats and soon dies.” (…) Carl hated his cruelty toward old Gitano, and so he became cruel again.