Loneliness

Loneliness

1. George

   • George is not lonely during the novel, as he has Lennie. He will be lonely afterwards, without his best friend
   • "Guys like us, that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world"
   • George recognizes that Lenny continually gets him in trouble; however he is most nervous of loneliness. His life would be so easy without Lenny, but also very solitary

2. Curley's Wife

   • "Think I like to stick in that house alla time"
   • Curley's wife gets "awfully" lonely partly due to no attention from her husband and being the only women on the ranch
     • Despite being a constant flirt, she is also fearful of living the rest of her life as a lonely women surrounded by men

3. Crooks

   • "Books aint no good. A guy needs someone- to be near him"
     • Crooks wants the others to feel the pain of having no-one , books are his only companion
     • "A guy needs somebody to be near him"

4. Candy

   • Candy lives in perpetual fear of outliving his usefulness on the ranch. This is exhibited by his desire to keep his dog alive, despite the fact that the dog is old and serves no purpose.

5. Lennie

   • Lennie is the only character who is innocent enough not to fear loneliness, but he is angry when Crooks suggests George won't come back to him
   • Lennie and George seek companionship from each other

6. "soledad" means loneliness in Spanish - reference to the ranch and the people