To gain emotional stability in life, you need friends. Without friends, people would suffer from loneliness. Loneliness leads to low self-esteem and depression. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the characters, Crooks, Candy, and Curly's wife all experience some form of loneliness. They are driven towards the curiosity of George and Lennie's friendship because they do not have support in their life. Throughout his novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck demonstrates that, a person in isolation will have a never-ending quest to fulfill a friendship. .
" "A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody". Crooks is a black man that experiences isolation because the society in which he resides is racist. Crook's is rejected from every group of people and cannot socially interact with others. Although discrimination is present throughout the ranch, Crooks still attempts to make friends. Others treat Crooks unfairly because he is different from others given that he is black. He does not know how to treat others because of the way others treat him with disrespect. Crook's does not know how to rid his frustration and as a result, he lashes out at others because they are cruel to him. Crook's is not allowed to participate in daily events with white people. He is treated unfairly and therefore acts the same way toward the white people. .
Candy is an old, physically disabled worker, who has worked on the ranch practically his whole life. When Candy was on the ranch, he got into an accident that cost him a physical handicap. Farm machinery took away his hand, leaving him disabled. As a result of Candy's age and disability he has a feeling of uselessness. He is often afraid of losing his work, but try's to get involved in work with the other ranchers. Since Candy feels that he is old, he places himself in a state of mind that handicaps him more than his missing hand ever will. He looks down on himself as an old worthless man wasting away his last few years.
