The loneliest person on the ranch has to be Crooks, who suffers from extreme loneliness because he is black and he is living in a ranch and the surrounding area which is very racist. He lives by himself, because the other men do not like him. He does not take part in any of the social activities in the ranch and is left out completely. He is so lonely that he turns to books, which soon becomes boring and
Sarah James Mrs. Lewis AP Lang. October 21, 2013 Isolation of Crooks In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men isolation is the central theme throughout the text. Many of the characters are alone and have no one who truly cares about them, but the most isolated character is the stable hand, Crooks. Crooks is black, which sets him apart from all other characters, and is looked down on by almost everyone due to this. He has his own room in the barn because he is not permitted to sleep in the same room as a white person.
What is loneliness? Loneliness is when you have nobody there for you when you feel like it’s only you in the world and you keep everything inside you. Of Mice and Men, a novel by John Steinbeck, relates to loneliness because of the character Crooks. Crooks is discriminated against everyday. Everyone stays away from him because he’s black.
As the novel goes on we see that Crooks accepts things the way they overall are. Crooks doesn’t talk to the other men and they don’t talk to him. This causes the greatest amount of loneliness in Crooks out of all the characters. When Crooks states “I tell ya a guy get to lonely an he gets sick” ( Steinbeck; 73). This quote shows that rejection can cause most people to become crazy, as it did to Crooks.
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.
Crooks, a black stable-hand, is segregated because of the pigment of his skin. Steinbeck depicts discrimination through Crooks’ isolation from other men, his desire for friendship, and his way of turning his vulnerability into a weapon. First, Steinbeck demonstrates Crooks’ loneliness through his separation from the other men on the ranch. Initially, the other ranch hands discriminate Crooks because of his disability that sets him apart from them. Steinbeck describes Crooks’ living condition to be, “For being alone…Crooks could leave his things about, and being a stable buck and a cripple, he was more permanent than the other men” (67).
Everyone gets lonely now and then for reason maybe even unknown to ourselves. In the story "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck, 3 characters face being lonesome throughout the book. Candy, Crooks and Curley's Wife are the ones facing this problem. Candy feels like he's not useful and he's a burden to other and Crooks says he's being discriminated against for be black. Whereas Curley's wife feels lonely because she IS alone with nothing to but sit in her house and has no one to talk to and gains sympathy based off that.
Silvana Delgado Roberts Structure in Language and Literature II 04/05/2013 Of Mice and Men Essay The characters in Of Mice and Men have a feeling of loneliness and dissatisfaction throughout the book. Loneliness affects the life of Curley's wife, she has a desperate need to talk to anyone that is not her husband, and he's also the reason she is stuck at the ranch. Candy's loneliness comes from losing his pet that he has had for so many years, and he also fears that he will get fired. It also has an effect on Crooks, who does not spend time with people because he is judged and mistreated by the workers in the ranch. John Steinbeck creates the characters in Of Mice and Men with a theme of loneliness
Crooks is a man, supposedly young but disabled, that likes books and keeps his small room neat, but has been so beaten down by loneliness and prejudicial treatment of that he is now suspicious of any kindness he receives. Racial discrimination is part of the microcosm Steinbeck describes in his story. It reaches its height in the novel when Curley's wife puts Crooks "in his place" by telling him that a word from her will have him lynched. Interestingly, only Lennie, the child-like character, does not see the color of Crooks' skin. Crooks isn’t ashamed about his inheritance but has pride and tells Lennie he doesn’t descend from slaves but from landowners.
‘Crooks said sharply, “You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.”‘ This passage from the text illustrates what loneliness has done to Crooks. Just like Crooks Curley’s Wife and Lennie are both lonely too. The barn is where they all feel safe.