Emily Corning, Keita Kobayashi, Tynan Pratumwon, Tata Santaputra
English 9: Period 5
February 3, 2009
Isolation: The Highway to Cruelty
Thesis Statement: In the classic American novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses
characterization to illustrate how society’s isolation of individuals leads them to cruel behavior.
I.
During the Great Depression in the 1930’s, the United States of America was crippled by
economic hardship and social inequality.
A. As millions of Americans lost their jobs, men struggled to put food on the table
for their families, and were forced to leave their homes and venture west in look
for work, spending weeks at a time alone.
B. Racial prejudice was also widespread; African Americans were treated as an
inferior race, were denied many of their rights, and were segregated from the rest
of society.
C. Furthermore, women were also considered inferior in American society. They
were not granted the same rights as men and were powerless over their own lives.
II. The character of Curley’s wife clearly demonstrates how forced isolation and oppression
eventually results in cruel and vindictive behavior.
A. Curley’s wife is physically separated in the house: “‘Well I ain’t giving you no
trouble. Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while? Think I like
to stick in that house alla time?’” (85)
B. Curley’s wife also feels lonely in her marriage to Curley, a harsh and violent
man: “‘Well, I ain’t told this to nobody before, Maybe I oughn’t to. I don’ like
Curley. He ain’t a nice fella’” (97).
C. Curley’s wife’s isolation results in a fervent desire for companionship
demonstrated by her flirtatious behavior towards the workers: “‘Oh!’ She put her
hands behind her back and leaned against the doorframe so that her body was
thrown forward. ‘You’re the new fellas that just come, ain’t ya?’” (34)
D. The loneliness Curley’s wife experiences lead her to lash out at the one person
who is weaker than her and who cannot retaliate, Crooks: “‘Well you keep your
place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even
funny’” (88-89).
III. Because of his race, Crooks is isolated from the other men on the ranch, and as a
consequence of the loneliness that he too experiences, Crooks eventually resorts to cruelty.
A. Crooks is separated from the other men on the ranch because he is black:
“‘S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk house and play rummy ’cause you was
black. How’d you like that?’”(80)
B. Crooks does not have close friends or companionship: “‘A guy needs somebody
to be near him.’ He whined, ‘A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody’” (80).
C. The white men on the ranch do not interact with Crooks socially because of his
race: “‘Guys don’t come into a colored man’s room very much. Nobody been
here but Slim. Slim an’ the boss’” (82-83).
D. The loneliness that Crooks feels as a result of the racial segregation on the ranch
leads him to cruel behavior: “‘…s’pose George went into town tonight and you
never heard of him no more.’ Crooks pressed forward some kind of private
victory… [his] face lighted with pleasure in his torture” (78).
IV. For the reason that he is crippled, Candy is separated from the other workers on the ranch
and the loneliness he feels leads him to act maliciously.
A. His disability forces him to work separately from the other men: “I ain’t much good
with on’y one hand. I lost my hand right here on this ranch. That’s why they give me
a job swampin” (65).
B. Candy’s separation from the other men is exemplified by his exclusion from group
activities. In the evenings he does not play horseshoes with the other men and when
the workers go into town, Candy is left behind (43, 76).
C. Candy is so lonely that he is eager to join George and Lennie on their dream farm:
“Maybe if I give you guys my money, you’ll let me hoe in the garden even after I
ain’t no good at it” (66).
D. Candy’s isolation and loneliness causes him to bully Curley’s wife: “But a change
came over old Candy. He stood up suddenly and knocked his nail keg over backward.
‘I had enough’ he said angrily. ‘You ain’t wanted here. We told you you ain’t. An’ I
tell ya, you got floozy ideas about what us guys amounts to…So maybe you better
jus’ scatter along now, ‘cause Curley ain’t gonna like his wife out in the barn with us
‘bindle stiffs’’” (86).
V. Through characterization in the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck exemplifies how
isolation and forced segregation often leads individuals to act cruelly and relish the pain
they cause.
A. During the time period in which the novel was written, the Great Depression in
the United States, millions of people were faced with extreme poverty and
thousands of men wandered across the United States looking for work.
B. These traveling men spent long periods of time alone with very little human
interaction. The result was a change in society; people were less compassionate
towards others and behavior became more inhumane. John Steinbeck wrote the
novel Of Mice and Men to serve as a commentary on the changes in American
society.