He could feel like he’s in unequal marriage, where George has all the responsibilities. Curley’s Wife is definitely no happy and very lonely since she is living in her father-in-laws house. She thinks she has missed her opportunities in life by living with Curley and a ‘band of lonely men’. She even tries to get a bit of companionship by flirting and talking with the men on the ranch but when she does is comes back on her horribly. No one on the ranch can get the key to not being lonely; the men on the ranch use all their money on the brothel every Saturday night but it doesn’t stop them being lonely, Lennie and George think that having their own place would solve ‘everything’.
Crooks is the stable buck. He is lonely because he is racially discriminated, he has no family, and he is bullied. When Crooks was in his cabin Curley’s Wife came in and said “Well keep your place then, Nigger” (81). She is racially discriminating him by his color and telling him to keep his place. This affects his loneliness because he has no one to stand up for him.
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
George is the dominant male in the relationship , because of Lennie’s disability it causes they both very much trouble back in Weed and on the ranch they arrive too after escaping. Also Lennie’s disability causes himself to be put aside from others on big events. While all the other ranch hands go to town, Lennie, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s Wife are left behind. They’re left behind because to all the other strong and healthy men they’re outsiders. Lennie is considered as an outsider because of his mental disability.
Crooks has to go through life on the ranch without any real friends and no one to talk to. Crooks spends his time reading books but this is not enough as he would like someone to talk to. None of the men in the ranch talk to crooks, as he is black. Another example of a character being lonely would be Curley’s wife. She is an example as she is the only woman on the ranch and tries to make friends by flirting with the other men.
Her life on a ranch in the 1930s, during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl is even worse because she is the only woman. Her life is surrounded my men who give her no respect. Throughout the story she is disrespected by them and after a series of events unfold, she ends up caught in a situation that she cannot escape. Curley’s wife is introduced into the book by the men as petty, cruel, and conceited. The men make her seem like she was a bad person, but in reality she was just lonely.
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.
Curley’s wife confesses her loneliness of being stuck in the house all the time and to not liking Curley’s company. She becomes even more angry about the lie of the circumstances of Curley’s hand injury and it is now obvious that her and Curley’s relationship is extremely dysfunctional and probably emotionally damaging to the wife. In this novel Crooks possesses the majority of loneliness and discrimination. He has more possessions than anyone, because he is a permanent worker unlike the other workers who just come and go. Crooks has his own room which is connected to the barn, and is supposed to be a privilege.
Steinbeck masterfully interweaves the dashed hopes and dreams of all his characters to create a community of hopeless ranch hands and regretful wannabe actresses. Crooks, Curly and Candy are among those whose lives are filled with disappointment, for reasons ranging from seclusion and exclusion for Crooks, to physical appearance and handicaps for Candy and Curly, among other things. Curly is the boss’s son, condemned to a comfortable life in high heeled boots, separated from the ranch’s other occupants by a wall of wealth and status. He is insecure with himself because of his small stature and “tart” wife and often lashes out at others, primarily big guys. Candy explains this by saying that Curly is “like a lot of little guys.
In cow towns, the worst problems came when the cowboys came back from the cattle drives as they had been away from civilization for a long periods of time and as a result of this, when they returned, they went to the saloons, with money earned from numerous jobs they had accomplished and it would often lead to a lot of trouble. This happened as so little women were available and men would often fight with other men, as there was a gender imbalance. The Women hadn’t yet come to the newly set up towns and the few who had usually travelled with the saloons. A wagon driver and a gambler shot each other when arguing over a woman in 1879, is an example of this. Violence was often happening in cow towns, this is because when cow boys came back from the cattle drives, they would go to the saloons and have lots of alcohol.