The Effects of Loneliness and Isolation (Of Mice and Men Literary Analysis Essay)

The author of Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck, uses dialogue to showcase the idea of loneliness and isolation  throughout the story in  different characters. Of Mice and Men takes place in the 1930s, and begins with two protagonists Lennie and George who are white and had quit their former jobs on a ranch. They are heading towards a new ranch where they hope they will get hired. Lennie is physically large and has an issue with remembering things and grasping the situation around him. George is the opposite; he is small and quick and takes care of Lennie. After getting to the ranch a day later than scheduled, the boss gets frustrated but they still get hired, and are settling in in the bunkhouse. 

In Chapter 3, Candy is isolated from the other characters when it comes to the treatment of his "ancient" dog. Other characters, notably Carlson and Slim, decide it is best to kill the dog, which breaks Candy's heart. For example, Other workers grow to be increasingly annoyed by the dog’s foul smell, and suggest that it should be killed. Candy initially objects, but because there are so many other workers who long for the dog to be put to death, he is peer pressured into letting it go.  According to the text it says, “      ” (   ).  He was still dealing with the shock of losing his dog when George and Lennie mentioned the thoughts of saving enough money to buy their own ranch and live off of the land in front of him, which they had kept as a secret. So it was only natural that “When Candy spoke they both jumped as though they had been caught doing something reprehensible. Candy said, “You know where’s a place like that?” (58-59). Candy is a very prominent symbol of loneliness in the book as he is very old unlike others, and he doesn’t have a right hand. He proceeds to suggest the idea of him living on the ranch and working there with the two which shows signs of a hopeful future he is imagining. He has found people whom he can comfortably talk to and has begun to see what he wants to do with the rest of his life. 

Later in the book all of the workers on the ranch go to a wh*re house except for Lennie and Candy who joins Crooks, a black stable buck in his room, who was first very reluctant at the idea of letting white men into “his place”. He has a crooked back from when a horse kicked him there, which is where he got the nickname. He is the only black man on the ranch and is often called the n-word, so he feels lonely and isolated all of the time. Along with many other men on the ranch Crooks originally finds it curious for Lennie to be traveling with George, and wants sympathy from people like Lennie who undoubtedly always has someone by their side. He also opens up to Lennie about how if he says anything, “it’s just a n****r who is saying it,” (__) and therefore has no significance. To receive compassion from Lennie he suggests the idea of George not coming back. “His voice grew soft and persuasive. “S’pose George don’t come back no more. S’pose he took a powder and just ain’t coming back. What’ll you do then?” (71). Lennie does not realize that Crooks is just saying that for empathy, takes it seriously and denies everything, saying that George would never leave him. Crooks then directly lets Lennie know that “You know he’s goin’ to come back. S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black.” (72) Crooks gives Lennie a hypothetical situation of George not coming back because it reveals how desperate Crooks is to have someone who relates to him. Crooks mentions the bunkhouse and playing rummy as examples where he is deliberately excluded because of his race. Crooks is not given an opportunity to make companions; he never had anyone  which is why he feels alone.. He also says to Lennie that he knows George will come back, which  highlights that it is not enough to have someone in your life, but someone who can be there for you. This further demonstrates that Crooks is missing, and even longing for this type of relationship with someone. 

Steinbeck includes a lot of dialogue in every chapter frequently for readers to be able to feel the characters’ emotions and to be able to put themselves in the character’s shoes. These pieces of dialogue reveal how the emotion and feeling of loneliness can take over and dictate a person and their personality, and finally shape their future. The dialogue feels like a natural and realistic conversation between the characters, further deepening the connection that people can perceive towards the feeling of loneliness.