Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men Loneliness is the main emotion in Of Mice and Men.

When we meet "˜George' and "˜Lenny "˜ in "Of Mice and Men" they already knew each other and "˜George "˜has already saved "˜Lenny "˜from getting into trouble. "˜Candy' too lonely because he has a dog he can't bear to part with. "˜Crooks "˜was lonely because he doesn't live with the white people and is usually alone all day. "˜Curley's' Wife is also lonely, she's always around the guys, looking for Curley or looking for something that she left there as an excuse to talk to someone. At one time "˜Slim' and "˜Whit' must have been lonely, but they're friends when we meet them. As you can see, loneliness is one of the key factors to this story. Everyone in this story was or is lonely.

Loneliness affects a lot of the characters in this story. One of the lonely characters is 'Crooks'.

Lenny Henry

Lenny Henry

Lenny Henry

"˜Crooks' is lonely because he's black and no one wants to be near him. During this time, black people were segregated from white people, mixing, no one ever taking the time to visit him. "˜Crooks' room was located out in the stable with the horses, this making him feel very isolated. The other (white) guys have their bunks in a shack with dorm style accommodation. Loneliness affects "˜Crooks' in a negative way, he is usually seen retreating to his room where he reads. He also rubs his own back with liniment because as a young child he was kicked or thrown form a horse in an accident. Another thing that showed his loneliness is that he has his personal belongings scattered around the room. "˜Crooks' could afford to scatter his belongings around his room, because he was the most permanent resident, as he was a cripple who spent his time as a stable buck, and never had the need to move onto another location.

Another character that's lonely is "˜Lenny'. "˜Lenny's' lonely because "˜George' is usually yelling at him. "˜Lenny' and "˜George' are friends, but "˜Lenny' tries to talk with other people to make friends new friends leaving "˜George' behind. "˜Lenny' doesn't like to be around "˜George' after he gets mad at him. "˜Lenny' would try to make or be friendly to anyone. He makes friends with "˜Crooks' when nobody else would. "˜Lenny' also shows loneliness, but also is constantly seen showing affection to animals as he is drawn to pat creatures with fur. This shows that he needs a friend who understands him. "˜Lenny' wants to have a friend that will understand him, too. One character that's lonely but does not outwardly show this is "˜George'. "˜George' is lonely because he's always yelling at "˜Lenny'. He's also lonely because he can't talk to "˜Lenny' the way he wants to in an adult manner.

Usually when the two have a conversation, "˜George' has to repeat everything he says two or three times to "˜Lenny' so that "˜Lenny' understands and doesn't forget. "˜George' makes friends with "˜Candy', "˜Slim', and "˜Whit' to hopefully have a conversation with someone with his own level of intelligence. He puts up with "˜Lenny' because he knows that if he's left alone, "˜Lenny' will probably die.

Another lonely character is "˜Curley's' wife. "˜Curley's' wife is found running around looking for "˜Curley'. Mostly, she's trying to find someone to talk to. She would usually only see "˜Curley "˜after he was done with his job and for her this too long to go without talking to someone. Instead she hangs around the guys and tried to start a conversation with them. The guys didn't talk to her because "she's nothing but trouble." When "˜Lenny' shows up, "˜Curley's' wife tries to make friends with him, and succeeds. However "˜George' chooses to stay away from "˜Curley's' wife because he knows that she's "nothing but trouble." She's trouble because if "˜Curley' finds her flirting with the other guys, "he raises hell about it." Thus, many of the characters in this book all express at one time or another a sense of loneliness, each one searching endlessly for a friend, a companion, someone to talk to. Some of the characters succeed in their pursuit and others fail, however the lesson than can be learned is that everyone should be careful who the interact with, as some are there to be the greatest of friends but others, to sabotage, causing great injury and pain.

Of Mice and Men

George Street, Sydney

George Street, Redfern