Loneliness is the central theme in the novel Of Mice and Men. Many of the characters show signs of being lonely, some more than others. Loneliness haunts Crooks deep inside. Crooks accepts things the way they are though. Crooks does not talk to the other men and they do not talk to him. This causes the greatest amount of loneliness in Crooks out of all the characters.
Rejection can cause most people to become crazy, as it did to Crooks. Other characters on the ranch show signs of loneliness also. But what makes the others different is the fact that Crooks does not have anyone to talk with, the others at least have one person to talk to. Crook’s actions along with not having any friends show why he must be the loneliness character. Not having any friends is one of the reasons why Crooks is lonely. The other workers on the ranch take place in fun activities, such as horseshoes and card games.
Crooks never gets invited to play. This resentment is due solely to the color of his skin. The other characters all have someone to talk to. George and Lennie have each other, Candy had both his dogs. The other workers are friends with one another.
Curley’s wife is also lonely, but still has Curley. The men sit in the bunk house, talk and have fun on occasion. Meanwhile Crooks is in his shed all alone. Crooks tries to explain to Lennie in the shed why he is lonely. ‘ A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you…
The Essay on Analysis of Crooks from ‘of Mice and Men’
Crook Analysis The old stable-hand admits to the very loneliness that George describes in the opening pages of the novel. ‘Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’’ Crooks speaks these words to Lennie in Section 4, on the night that Lennie visits Crooks in his room. His resentment typically comes out through his bitter, caustic wit, but in this passage he displays a sad, touching ...
I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick’; (80).
This is showing Lennie exactly how Crooks is feeling. Also, it explains what Crooks has to deal with. He is trying to scare Lennie. Crooks is forced to explain that he needs someone to talk to. The reader now becomes aware of Crooks terrible loneliness Readers can infer Crook’s loneliness by the way he acts.
There are many signs throughout the novel that support this. Because Crooks stays in the shed all day one can detect a sense of loneliness. Since Crooks does not ever talk to anyone his social life is all in books. Crooks reads very much to suppress his loneliness and to When Lennie comes into the shed a conversation arises between the two. Crooks tries to get Lennie to see what it is like to be lonely. ‘s ‘pose George went into town tonight and you never heard from him again.
S’pose he took a powder and just ain’t coming back. What ” ll you do then? … Le’s say he gets hurt or killed and he can’t come back’; (78).
Crook’s face lighted with pleasure in his torture.
This shows that Crooks is trying to make Lennie feel lonely because he is lonely himself. Crooks is also trying to make him feel the hurt that he feels everyday. By recognizing these actions taken by Crooks anyone can tell he is a lonely guy. Crook’s actions along with not having any friends show why Crooks must be the loneliest character.
After looking closely at these examples one can conclude Crooks was the loneliest in the novel. The most significant point why Crooks was the loneliest was that he had no friends. Everyone else on the ranch had someone to talk to except Crooks. The readers come to sympathize with Crooks throughout the novel. This is because most people know what it feels like to be lonely.
