When she first walks into Crooks" shed with Candy, Lennie and Crooks inside, she is annoyed by the fact that no one will talk to her. She questions them about this, asking them if they "Think I don't like to talk to somebody ever" once in a while?" (p 77), which once again raises the issue of loneliness, and triggers the reader's social consciousness. This also manipulates the reader to sympathise with Curley's wife, as it isn't the life she wanted or pictured that she would end up with, but ended up with it anyway. Steinbeck creates a mental picture in the reader's mind through the use of writing techniques, together with descriptive language, in the text to put forward the issue/theme of loneliness in society in the Great Depression in the 1930s-40s.
The use of conflicts within the novel presents the theme of friendship to the reader. When George and Lennie arrive at the ranch, they are taken to the bunkhouse. The conflict between Lennie and Curley then begins. AS Curley starts to pick on Lennie due to his physique, George stands up for Lennie. This shows the reader the bond between the two, and their tight friendship. This conflict between Lennie and Curley comes up a number of times in the text, as Steinbeck has used repetition for a number of things in the novel, including this particular conflict. At each conflict, even when Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife, George sticks up for him and protects him, even at the resolution of the novel when he kills Lennie to let him die painlessly and with dignity. The reader is once again presented with the strength of Lennie and George's friendship. Steinbeck also uses repetition when George retells the story of their dream on their farm. After explaining "how it is with other guys", George and Lennie state that "with us it ain't like that. Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you" (pp 15-16). Right from the start the reader's attention is drawn to their strong relationship.
