Of Mice and Men Inquiry Question

In the novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the readers get a very good look into life for migrant workers in America during the 1930’s. With Steinbeck’s vivid imagery, detailed characterization, and use of dialogue, we are able to get an understanding of the loneliness and isolation people experienced to help us answer the question, ‘What may be the result of isolation and loneliness?’ Though there are many possible answers, the novella gives insight for at least one of them. One of the characters in the book, Crooks, who has been isolated throughout his whole life, helps answer this question in multiple instances in the novella, such as during his conversation with Lennie in his room. While Lennie is worrying about George not coming back, Crooks says, “You know he’s going to come back. S’pose you didn’t have nobody…A guys needs somebody-to be near him. A guys goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody.” (Steinbeck, pg. 72). This quote showcases that Crooks’ loneliness was affecting him very strongly, to the point where he felt like he was going crazy: “A guy sets alone out here at night…Sometimes he gets thinkin’, an’ he got nothing to tell him what’s so an’ what ain’t so. Maybe if he sees something, he don’t know whether it’s right or not.” (Pg. 73). A result of his isolation was that he craved human company because he didn’t have anybody to keep him occupied or sane, which is why he spent so much time reading books when all he wanted was to have someone else to talk to: “S’pose you had to sit out here an’ read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you gotta read books. Books ain’t no good.” (Pg. 72).
Another character that exemplified the idea of loneliness is Curley’s wife, who went around to all of the men in the stables to compensate for the fact that she wasn’t happy with Curley. The difference between Crooks isolation and Curley’s wife’s is that Crooks didn’t have anybody at all which was the cause of his loneliness, but Curley’s wife, even having Curley, felt lonely because he never made time for her: “’I get lonely’ she said, ‘You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley, else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to nobody?’” (Page 87)
She feels the need to find company from others because what Curley gives her is not enough, so her isolation pushes her to flirt with everyone else, resulting in all the man calling her a tart.
Looking at these two examples, the inquiry question can be answered by saying that the result of isolation and loneliness may be self-doubt, like in Crook’s case, where he didn’t know what to believe when he saw things. Another result may be desperately trying to distract oneself through other human connection, such as Curley’s wife.