Throughout the many themes in the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, most people would agree that the common theme is loneliness. I believe that it is equality because most, if not all, of the characters are treated differently. Crooks endures racism, Lennie deals with being called names, and Curely’s Wife cannot speak with anyone else.

To start, Crooks was an African American stable buck who was quite a punching bag for his boss. Not only that, but he is completely isolated from the other workers, so he receives little to no contact with other humans. Things were still very segregated in this story because it took place in the 1930’s. While he spoke with Lennie in his room, he explained how a man gets sick if he’s too lonely. To me, this is cruel and unusual punishment.

Next, we have Lennie, who is mentally handicapped and suffers from short-term memory loss. His companion, George, gets angry with him often throughout the novel about forgetting things and acting childish. Though I can relate why George is frustrated with him, it is still not Lennie’s fault because he can’t help it. At one point of the book, Lennie was challenged by Curley and was forced to break his hand. He was then frowned upon even though he tried to resist fighting. Today, many people, even though they won’t admit it, look at handicap able people differently than “normal” people.

Last, there was Curley’s Wife, who doesn’t receive a name in the novel. She was a beautiful woman who was, basically, forced into marrying her husband because she couldn’t become famous. In the past, women were viewed as either movie stars, or wives who stay at home and raise children. She wasn’t allowed to speak with anyone besides Curley, and later on she admits that she doesn’t even like him.

In conclusion, I think that the overall theme of the story Of Mice and Men, is equality because most of the characters are treated differently based on their physical and mental attributes.