Of Mice And Men

".....Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody to be near him," mutters Crook explaining to Lennie the extent of his loneliness. This is one of the many instances throughout Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men where the characters voice their loneliness to others. The theme of loneliness is a very dominant theme in the book. This theme is illustrated in a variety of ways from Crooks not wanting Lennie to leave his room, to Curley's seemingly dull marriage, down to Candy and his dog and the relationship between George and Lennie.

Crooks is condemned to loneliness because of the color of his skin. When Lennie enters Crooks room, Crook expresses his anger because of the invasion of his privacy. He is actually really happy to have company because he is very lonely. Crooks says to Lennie "S'pose you could'nt go into the bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was black... a guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody". This is the reason Crooks is so pleased that Lennie will talk to him despite his race, and desperately wants Lennie to stay and talk to him. Crooks has been isolated for a long time because he is black, but is delighted to know that Lennie is willing to talk to him.

Curley's wife is a prime example of a person who tried to avoid being lonely by doing something she knew she really didn't want to do. She married Curley because she realizes that there isn't anyone else in town and that she would be alone without him. Her decision is an odd one because it seems that she has an even lonelier life with Curley and his jealous ways. In the novel she doesn't even have her own name which suggests that she isn't an individual by herself, but Curley's possession. Curley's wife married Curley to prevent from being lonely, as a result she found herself to be lonelier than she was before.

In Steinbeck's novel he displays how loneliness can tempt people to become selfish and harm another being for companionship. Two examples he uses is