1. Tim Kelley
Mrs. Lah
English10, Pd 4
4 Dec. 2009
Of Mice and Men Essay
Have you everread Of Mice and Men?Didyou notice the “outsiders”inthe story?Inthe story
Of Mice and Men,the three charactersthat were the biggest“outsiders”were Candy,Crooks,and
Lennie.All of three of these characterswere “outsiders”due totheirrace or disability.Thismade these
characters eithernotlikedornotsocial withthe otherguyson the ranch.
To start, the biggest“outsider”inthe storywasCrooks.The thingthatmade Crooks the biggest
“outsider”fromthe beginningwasthathe wasthe onlyAfricanAmericapersononthe ranch. To add to
his“outsider”status,he alsohad a crookedback.The crookedback messeduphislife andkepthim
frombeingable todo anythingbutprettymuch be a stable buck.One can tell that he wasleftouta lot
because of where he lives.Crookslivesinasqualid,tinyshacknearthe barn.The onlytime he is ever
includedinagroup activityisonSunday,whenall the ranchersplayhorseshoes.The bookneverreally
saidany dreamsCrookshad before Lennie startedtellinghimabout“the farm”.So,afterhe is toldby
Lennie aboutthe dreamfarm,hisdreamwas to workon that farm.He toldLennie thathe can’t do
much,but he will workthere forfree.
Anothermajor“outsider”wouldhave tobe Candy.Candywasthe lonelyoldmanwholivedon
the ranch withhisolddog. Afterhisdogwas shotby Carlson,that is whenhe became verylonely.This
was because hisbestfriendwashisdog. The biggestandprobablythe onlyreasonCandywasan
“outsider”wasbecause he losthishandinan accidentonthe ranch. The onlythinghe doesandcan do
issweepthe floor.He can’t buckbarleyfora living,andhe isafraidthatsomedaytheywill lethimgo.So
hisdreamwas that he couldlive withGeorge andLennie on“the farm”as a cook andcleaner. He also

2. saidthat he wouldhelppayforthe ranch withall of hislife savings.Asone maysaythat he really
wantedhisdreamto come true and to feel wanted. UnlikeCrooks,Candyliveswiththe otherguysinthe
bunkhouse.One maythinkthathe isnot that bigof an “outsider”due tohimnot beinganti-social.
However,afterGeorge andLennie came tothe ranch he became more social.George andCandystarted
to become betterfriends.
Lastly,anothermajorcharacter that was an “outsider”wasLennie.The onlyreasonLennie
wouldbe consideredan“outsider”wasdue tohismental disability.Since people thinkhe isdumb,they
thoughttheycouldpickon him.LuckilyforLennie,he hadGeorge tohelphim, eventhoughGeorge also
usedto pickon him. Lennie isprettymuchlivinginhisownlittleworldandcan’trememberanything.If
not forhismental disabilityandhislove of rabbits,Godonlyknowswhatwouldhappentohim.As
alreadymentionedLennieissort-of an“outsider”.
In conclusion,three randomcharactersfromthe story Of Mice and Men that are “outsiders”
were:Crooks,Candy,andLennie.All three of these people are treatedbadlyandhave amental/physical
disability.Also,all threepeople are treatedaslessof a humanandare separated fromthe regular
society,butthese guysall have dreamslike everyoneelsedoes.Dreamscanhelppeople getthrough
toughtimesto getto that dream.