At one point in everyone's life they will experience the feeling of being alone and this feeling of loneliness can cause anger, depression and melancholy. In this novel Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck examines the theme of loneliness. George and Lennie, two migrant workers who have a dream of owning a small house in California, find work on a ranch where there are several lonely people. Loneliness pervades the lives of many people on the ranch. Three isolated individuals in Of Mice and Men are Candy, the old swamper, Curley's wife, the only female on the ranch, and Crooks, the stable buck and only African American on the premises.
Candy, one of the workers on the ranch, endures many lonely days. One reason he knows loneliness is because he works by himself. Candy's only friend and companion is his dog who was shot by Carlson. He shot it because it seemed old and worthless. Candy worries that the same thing might happen to him because he is old too. Also, when the others go into town, Candy is left behind. Carlson questions Candy about the welfare of his dog, "He ain't no good to you, Candy. An he ain't no good to himself. Why"nt you shoot him, Candy" (pg 44). From this quote the character Candy senses he isn't any good either. These are some of the reasons why he is one of the loneliest people on the ranch.
Another individual, Curley's wife experiences a solitary and secluded life style on the ranch. She is lonely, unhappy and completely controlled by Curley. He feels that she is untrustworthy around the other men on the ranch. The men even refer to her as a "tart" because she dresses in a provocative manner and she flirts with workers. She does these things because she is isolated, lonely and craves attention. She is the only women on the ranch and she seeks companionship. " I can't talk to nobody but Curley or else he gets mad"(pg87). From this quote it is clear that Curley's wife feels isolated and lonely.