Effects Of Isolation In Of Mice And Men

“A guy goes nuts if he ain't go nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (Steinbeck 72-73). Loneliness has affected everyone at some point. Unfortunately, Loneliness worms it way into everyone's lives through isolation, discrimination, and prejudice. This sentiment was especially true during the 1930s, where the Great Depression had engulfed and ruptured the economy. Many people roamed the country looking to sustain themselves through jobs on ranches or farms. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, we see our main characters, George and Lennie, traveling the country in search of a job, clinging to each other for company. When they arrive on a ranch, we meet …show more content…
Because of Crooks’ skin color, readers of Of Mice and Men can infer that Crooks has spent his whole life enduring prejudice and outcast. Because of this, Crooks is accustomed to being alone and isolates himself. This dark skin has led Crooks to be discriminated against and receive less rights than he deserves. This life he’s had to suffer through is summarized though Curley’s wife in this scene: “I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” (81). After further threats, Curley’s wife warns Crooks to “keep your place then n*****... Nobody’d listen to you and you know it” (81). In this argument, we view a short summary of Crooks’ life, where Crooks is being presented with a threat that could jail or kill him because of the color of his skin. However, he cannot do anything about it since no one would believe him over Curley’s wife because, as a black man, he holds a lower place in society. Due to this life of discrimination and outcast from the normal level of society, Crooks find himself pushing people away out of fear that his skin color could be a target of hate and violence. When Lennie enters his room, Crooks scolds “You go on an’ get outta my room… you ain't wanted in my room” (68). He further complains to Lennie, explaining that “They say I stink. Well, I tell you, all of you stink to me” (68). Crooks has been tormented for his …show more content…
Her name is never revealed, as women were treated as property at the time, and is just referred to as Curley's wife. All the men are weary of her, as she dresses to perfection every day and flirts with just about everyone in the ranch. Because she is the only female on the ranch, readers of Of Mice and Men can assume that Curley's wife is extremely lonely because of the lack of someone to talk too (besides the employees). After readers discover her backstory, where she had many opportunities to gain fame, we realize that Curley's wife dresses so well and flirts so much because she longs for a better life where dresses and a flirtatious attitude would be a normal thing. However, while she is still on the ranch, she is the only women. While she tries to talk with everybody, most men are extremely weary of her. George tells Lennie that “I’ve never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her” (32). We can infer from this quote that many men think differently of her because she is of the opposite gender. Some men even go as far as to tell her spouse to “tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs” (62), because at is this time period, many women frequented at the house to take care of chores. This sexist dialogue directly proves that men on the ranch practice prejudice against Curley’s wife because of her gender and flirtatious attitude. Curley’s wife has a reason for disrespecting her marriage to Curley and her