Of Mice And Men Theme

?A guy goes nuts if he ain?t got nobody. Don?t matter no difference who

the guy is long as he?s with you. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an? he

gets sick.? A major theme in Steinbeck?s novel, Of Mice and Men is how

people suffer from loneliness. The characters, Crooks, Candy, and Curley?s

wife each suffers the severity of their own seclusion. Crooks, the stable buck,

forced to live alone in a separated room, in the barn. ?[Crooks] had his bunk

in the harness room; a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn?.

Because the setting of this book takes place during the 1930’s discrimination

unfortunately still existed. The farmhands feel that, since he is black he is

not worthy of living with the rest of them and as a result, they would – if ever

- come into his room and talk to him. ?He [Crooks] kept this distance and

demanded that other people keep theirs?. Furthermore, his separation from

others causes his severe loneliness. He spends his nights reading and his days

alone in the barn looking after the horses. Crooks? distance from others

eventually causes his downfall. We find discrimination being the major cause of

this character?s loneliness. Crook is treated as an outcast and an underling

and is forced to find friendship in the only thing he can, the books he reads.

Therefore, the emotional pain of Crooks is evident of him suffering from his

loneliness. Candy, the old swapper, was also victimized by isolation as a result

of two main factors: his disability and his old age. Throughout the book he was

secluded from the rest of the people on the ranch. For instance, when the

farmhands are out bucking the barley, Candy is left behind to sweep and clean

the ranch. He lost his hand after getting it caught in a piece of machinery and

as a result, he is forced to stay behind. This is one of the major factors that

leads to his loneliness. Furthermore, Candy’s age adds to his feeling of

uselessness. He looks down on himself as an old worthless man that is wasting

away his last few years. Not only is it the way that others think of him, but

also the way Candy thinks of himself that forces him to find solitude. The most

evident case of loneliness in this novel is Curley?s wife. No matter how hard

she tries she can not fit in. For example, when she tries numerous times to talk

to George and Lennie, she either was ignored or told to leave because she was

going to cause trouble. ?I ain?t gonna cause you no trouble. Think I don?t

like to talk to someone ever? once in a while, think I like to stick in that

house alla time?? Because of her reputation for being a flirt, none of the

farmhands wanted to talk to her. It was the threat of getting in trouble with

Curley that caused many workers to avoid her. In addition, because of Curley’s

insecure feelings, he neglected her and forced her to seek attention anyway she

could, even it meant flirting. She was ignored by both the farmhands and her own

husband and because of her incapability of supporting herself, she was being

forced into loneliness. The pain of loneliness is so disabling that not even the

strongest can avoid it. Throughout the story, Of Mice and Men, alienation from

discrimination and prejudice leads to the emptiness of the soul. Crooks, Candy,

and Curley’s wife all suffer from this pain which leads them to their

loneliness. The severity of consequences for each character?s loneliness are a

result of the intensity of their desolation.