“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted are the most terrible poverty. » - Mother TeresaLoneliness is sadness resulting from isolation or abandonment. Loneliness is almost always directly related to relationships between people, or the lack thereof. Mother Teresa once said: “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted constitute the most terrible poverty. » In John Steinbeck's classic novel, Of Mice And Men, the three characters, Crooks, Curley's wife, and Candy, struggle with loneliness in different forms due to characteristics they cannot control. All three characters deal with their loneliness by seeking companionship with other people on the ranch and it plays out differently for each of them. Crooks is an African-American stable hand on the ranch who, because he is black, is very isolated and lonely. He is the only black man on the ranch and is separated from the others on several occasions. All Crooks wants is to be able to do everyday activities with the other ranch hands, even just a game of cards. However, because Crooks is black, he is not allowed into the dormitory and is forced to live alone in the barn. He wants to feel like someone cares about him. "It doesn't matter who this guy is, as long as he's with you. I tell you, a guy gets too lonely and he gets sick." (80) Lennie finds Crooks in his room one night while he is playing with the new puppies at the ranch. After Crooks tries to play a prank on Lennie, Crooks realizes that Lennie is slow and thinks like a child, so he cannot understand that he is just playing a prank on him. Crooks then invites Lennie to stay with him for a while, and forgets his loneliness for a night. Crooks turns to Lennie for companionship; he sees that if...... middle of paper ...... buy the land. This dream helps Candy distract herself throughout the novel from the harsh reality of her life. Like Crooks, Candy finds companionship and happiness among the other ranch hands. He also finds comfort in the dream which, although unrealistic, helps him forget his lonely life. Loneliness is an important theme in the book, with most characters experiencing it in one way or another; and everyone has a way of channeling it. nevertheless, the only people whose lives really change over the course of the novel are those who make an effort to fight their struggle. Those who do nothing stay alone. Just like in real life, if you don't fight a problem, it will never go away. The old Greek saying "God helps he who helps himself" describes the essence of the novel very well because it shows that perhaps the only thing that keeps us alone is ourselves..