Almost all the characters, including George, Lennie, Candy, Crooks, and Curley's wife, admit that everyone desires the comfort of a friend, but will settle for from the attentive ear of a stranger. The characters are rendered powerless by their isolation and yet, even at their weakest, they seek to destroy those even weaker than themselves. Perhaps the most striking example of this cruel tendency is when Crooks criticizes Lennie's farm dream and his dependence on George. After admitting his own vulnerabilities – he's a black man with a crooked back who longs for companionship – Crooks focuses on Lennie's own weaknesses. Most of the characters in Of Mice and Men admit that at one point, they too dreamed of a different life. Before her sudden and surprising death, Curley's wife confesses her desire to become a movie star. Crooks indulges in the pleasant fantasy of one day hoeing a plot of garden on Lennie's farm, even with his bitter attitude, and Candy clings to George's vision of owning a few acres as if it were her lifeline. However, before the action of the story begins, circumstances deprived most of the characters of these wishes and all hopes were lost.