Loneliness in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men Essay Example

Curley's wife was afflicted by the predominance of loneliness. Curley is her husband, but she despises him. She dislikes talking to him and has never been in love with him. Nobody on the ranch speaks to her, so she has descended into a void of loneliness. Her loneliness had a significant impact on her behavior toward others. She craved attention so much that she might act overly flirty, malevolently harsh, or even outwardly insecure. She frequently wandered around the property, asking various guys whether they had seen Curley. She acted seductively while always ensuring that she looked her best. When Curley’s wife comes into the barn, she finds Lennie by himself and tells him“'I get lonely' she said 'You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley, else he gets mad. How'd you like not to talk to nobody?'” (Steinbeck 87). She feels the need to seek company with others because what Curley provides is insufficient, thus her loneliness drives her to flirt with everyone else, resulting in all the men labeling her a tart.

One of the loneliest characters in the novel is Crooks, the black stable buck. His immense loneliness was due to the white ranch hands’ prejudice and discrimination against blacks. Crooks, unlike the other guys, was obliged to sleep alone in his own room, while the other men slept in the bunkhouse. Furthermore, the guys never invite Crooks to play cards with them or go out the town with them. Crooks' forced solitude and deep loneliness are the result of no one ever being kind enough to him to let him feel comfortable enough to speak out. Because of his loneliness, he frequently lost sight of who he truly was, so he adopted another identity instead. When Lennie goes to meet his dog, he spots Crooks' light and walks in to investigate. Crooks becomes enraged because he feels he isn't desired by the other guys in the bunkhouse, so he refuses to let any of them inside his room. Crooks said sharply “ You got no right to come in my room. This here is my room. Nobody got any right in here but me” (Steinbeck 68). Crooks has been treated poorly due to his race his whole life; he knows he is unwelcome by the other guys, and they are unwelcome by him. Lennie doesn't comprehend prejudice, therefore he doesn't understand why Crooks isn't permitted to stay in the bunkhouse with the rest of the people.  Crooks openly admitted that he gets tired of being alone, and just as soon as he managed to open up and expose himself to the outside world, he emotionally withdrew back within himself, because having permanent company and a real chance of emerging from his abyss of loneliness was too good to be true.

The gloomy depths of Curley's wife and Crooks in John Steinbeck's compelling story, Of Mice and Men, properly expressed the ubiquity and pervasiveness of loneliness. Loneliness is a particularly terrible emotion that radiates an atmosphere of emptiness and bothers its victims. Loneliness is such a powerful emotion that it may jade individuals and have a negative impact on one's emotional state, just as it did for Curley's wife and Crooks. Loneliness pulled Curley's wife and Crooks even further into their abyss, driving them to emotional ruin.