Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya,’ he cried, ‘I tell ya a guy get’s too lonely an’ he gets sick” (69). Crooks’ illustrates that his lack of companionship manifests itself physically and emotionally. The only alleviation of these symptoms for Crooks occurs when he offers to work on Candy, George, and Lennie’s farm (Steinbeck 76). Similarly, Curley’s wife seeks out other people as a way to cope with her loneliness.
Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya, a guy gets lonely an' he gets sick." (Crooks) Steinbeck also portrays loneliness through characterisation. He uses sexism, racism and ageism to get him message across. Of Mice and Men is filled with characters such as this, which are unable to find a way out of their lonely lives.
‘Of Mice and Men’- Crooks essay In this section Lennie, Candy and Crooks are in Crooks’ room. Crooks lives by himself because he is the only black man on the ranch. He is bookish and likes to keep his room neat, but he has been so beaten down by loneliness and prejudicial treatment of that he is now suspicious of any kindness he receives, when Lennie enters his room, he soon realizes that Lennie is mentally disabled and find pleasure in tormenting Lennie about what would happen if George didn’t return, this reveals a mean streak in crooks that he developed from being alone. Candy then comes in and he and Lennie accidentally reveal to him their dream of the ranch. In the extract we see that Crooks is very cynical towards the American dream, “‘you guys is just kiddin’ yourself.’” Crooks dismisses the dream as nothing more than something that is just in the heads of these workers.
There are many themes raised in Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’, such as justice, equality, poverty and deprivation, but loneliness is probably the most universal theme. This is illustrated in most characters and events throughout the novel, overall portraying loneliness as the dominant theme. ‘Of Mice and Men’ is set in the mid 30’s, during the Great Depression, as is depicted throughout Steinbeck’s novel, showing that loneliness was a significant factor of the depression as people were isolated from their families and from one-another in the competition for work: “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place.” Migrant workers would commonly spend many months on the road, traveling from town to town, farm to farm in a bid to find employment, which mostly resulted in men moving and working alone.
In 'of Mice and Men', Steinbeck presents George as an extremely lonely character. George is lonely because he is constantly attached to Lenny and cannot leave him as he is completely dependant on George, due to the fact that he is mentally disabled. This also means that George has no other friends in case Lenny tells them something about their past lives by mistake. Despite this, when George complains about what having to take care of Lenny does not allow him to do, such as, “ Get a gallon of whisky, or set in a pool room and play cards or shoot pool”, and Lenny offers to leave him alone and 'go off in the hills and find a cave' to live in, George replies, "No—look! I was jus' foolin', Lennie.
This highlights the main theme of the novel: loneliness. Living alone in his room Crooks craves the company of others but, because of his coloured skin and the era he lived in, he is shown to be separated from the other ranch workers and thus suffering from loneliness more than his colleagues. Because of his skin colour, Crooks is shown to have “kept his distance and demanded that other people kept theirs.” Steinbeck describes how crooks wants others to stay away from him and reciprocates their feelings towards him but, later in the novel, he reveals that he is very lonely all by himself and would like to have someone to talk to. However, because he is so used to being shunted away by society, he pushes everyone away from him before they have the chance to do the same, portraying him as a “proud, aloof man”. Again, this fact highlights Crooks' loneliness and, even though he has convinced himself he doesn’t need anyone else, he knows the pleasure of having company and this is something that can’t be replaced by the many possessions he has acquired.
George needs to blame somebody for his mediocre life; the truth of his mediocrity, however, lies in his enjoyment of alcohol and prostitutes, vices that prevent him from ever raising enough money to finance his dream of owning his own farm. George from Of Mice and Men, despite his shortcomings, acts admirably towards his helpless friend. • Lennie is big and dumb. His childlike innocence allows him to take an active role in George's dream of owning a farm. Lennie loves soft things and animals, which he accidentally kills because of his strength.
The gang is the only family he has. Terry is not confident, as his body language displays rounded shoulders and hands in pockets. When Joey is crucified he is upset and feels that the gang mislead him, “I thought they was just gunna rough him up a little but’ he said with his had over his heart, whilst showing signs of guilt. “He could sing but he couldn’t fly” a gang member said, they all laughed as if the tragedy meant nothing to them. When he meets Edie he is obviously attracted to her, the more time he spends with her you see his loving, protective side.
He is ignored by everyone on the ranch because he is black , this makes his character bitter and mean"Books ain't no good . A guy need somebody to be near him . "Crooks mainly keeps his distance between himself and the other men at the ranch to ensure he doesn't cause any problems . When Lennie approaches him in his bunk house his first reaction to him is fuelled by envy by his and Georges friendship .Crooks teases Lennie and makes out that George wont be coming back for him *quote*. He only does this to Lennie to show him what it like for him having nobody there and how he needs a companion , like Lennie and George ."
1 Explore how Steinbeck develops the theme of loneliness in Of mice and Men. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck expresses the theme of loneliness through key characters throughout the novel. Steinbeck leaves the message that loneliness is an everpresent problem for people in that time frame and ultimately, people of the present day. In the novel, some of the key characters this message is shown through is Candy, Curleys wife, Lennie and Crooks. Candy is lonely because of his old age although it is somewhat helped by the fact he has a dog but as we know, he is left high and dry after the residents of the bunkhouse choose to eradicate it for it was in pain and also smelling.