of mice and men...theme of lonliness in the book :: essays research papers

Of Mice and Men Literary AnalysisOf Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is a book that can be analyzed and broken down into a vast majority of themes. One of the predominant themes found in this book is loneliness. Many characters in this book are affected by loneliness and they either demonstrate it in one way or another throughout the book. Examples of these characters are Curleys Wife, Crooks, and Candy.All through the book Curleys Wife is real open to everyone she meets. The reason for this can be interpreted by her and Curleys so-called marriage. The relationship between Curleys Wife and Curley seems to be somewhat parlous as he is always asking Any you guys seen my married woman? (pg. ). This also shows how protective Curley seems to be as he is always checking up on where his wife is. Curleys insecurity seems to cage in his wife from having any kind of a friendship with any other men. In turn, the wife gets so stray of being isolated like this and relieves her loneli ness by conducting secret conversations with many other men on the cattle farm. As a result many of the ranch hands see her as a tramp but it can be viewed that all she really wants is a person to talk to.Crooks also feels a great deal of loneliness, as he is an outcast on the ranch. He lives in his own room where hardly anybody ever bothers him. He is never invited to see cards or do anything fun with the other guys. One day a curious Lenny asked, Why aint you wanted? Crooks replies Cause Im black. They play cards in there, but I cant play because Im black. They think I stink. Well I tell you, you all stink to me (pg. ). Crooks attitude towards this is shown when he saw Lennie playing with his puppy out place of Crooks quarters. Crooks states that if me, as a black man, is not allowed in the exsanguine quarters, then white men are not allowed in mine (pg. ). However this is merely a front as the more open side of Crooks is shown later on in the book.Candy also feels the burden o f loneliness and shows it by his relationship with his sheep dog. The dog, being described as ancient, stinky, and half-blind, had been in Candys life for a very long time and Candy had grown attached to it.