Of mice and men theme
... is a burden, George accepts their relationship to fight his own loneliness. As he explains to Slim, “I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain’t no good. They don’t have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin’ to fight all the time” (45). George appreciates Lennie’s companionship because he knows that being alone can lead to a more negative outlook on life. Candy is another character who deals with loneliness. He is the oldest man on the ranch and is crippled. The only work he can do is cleaning out the bunkhouse and other odd jobs. His only companion is his old dog who stays by his side. One night however, a fellow ranch hand named Carlson convinces Candy to let himself put the dog out of its misery. “If you want me to, I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with,” said Carlson in persuasion to Candy (52). Candy agreed and so his only companion was shot, leaving him sad and lonely. A few minutes later though, Candy hears Lennie and George talking about the land which they wish to purchase. Candy, overcame with loneliness and seeing no hope for the future, buys himself into a friendship by offering George money to pay for the land. “S’ pose I went in with you guys,” Candy stated, “Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in” (65). Steinbeck seems to be implying that Candy attempted to avoid his inevitable loneliness with the death of his dog, by buying in on a farm with his new found friends. Crooks, a negro stable buck, also had to handle loneliness. Being black, he was forbidden to stay with the other guys in the bunk house, and was instead forced to live all alone i the barn, with only books for company. When Lennie wandered into his room, Crooks talked to Lennie about his loneliness. He described how upsetting it was to not be able to share your thoughts with another person. “A guy sets alone out here at night, maybe readin’ books or thinkin’ or stuff like that.” Crooks explained, “Sometimes he gets thinkin’, an’ he got nothin to tell him what’s so an’ what ain’t so. Maybe he sees somethin’, he don’t know whether it’s right or not. He can’t turn to some other guy an’ ask him if he sees it too. He can’t tell” (80). Crooks also tried to get Lennie to sympathize with his loneliness. “S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk house and play rummy ‘cause you was black. How’d you like that? Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain’t no good. A guy needs somebody to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he with you” (80). The loneliness that Crooks had to face turned him into a very sad man. Crooks last point about it not mattering who the guy is, was illustrated perfectly in his conversation with Lennie. Lennie hardly listened to a word Crooks said, but because of his loneliness Crooks talked anyway. Just talking to another human being br...