The Great Depression was very crucial in history with some of its major events: The Stock
Market Crash of 1929, and the Dustbowl of 1934 which caused many droughts and affected farms causing food shortage and major migration. Therefore, it seized about 3.2 million farmers to lose their livelyhoods and become known as migrant workers.. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men it portrays the hardships of the depression and how it affected the characters, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife. In this piece, Crooks is darker skinned, so he has to be separated from the others in his own room. Candy is an old man and has lost family, friends(his dog), and is working as a Swamper . Other Characters Curley’s wife is discriminated because of looks and gender. However,
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The reader is led to believe this through the author's quotes when Lennie asks, "Why ain't you wanted?”, and Crooks responds, "Because I'm black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me.” (P. 68). The reader understands that Crooks is not accepted by the other workers on the ranch because of his race. Crooks feels discriminated against and is defensive and angry with the other men for not including him. Another quote which displays Crooks's loneliness is, "S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black. How'd you like that? Spose You had to sit out here an read books. Books ain't no good.” (P. 72). Here Steinbeck lets the reader know that Crooks "has nobody”. He has no family left and no friends on the ranch. He reads books to fill his time and keep him company because the other workers do not want him in the bunkhouse to simply play a game of cards, but a book cannot compare to a human being. It is obvious through these quotes that Crooks feels isolated and lonely throughout the novel because of his
(Steinbeck 68). This quote shows that Crooks was set aside from everyone else because he was different. Loneliness gets to some people when they are left alone for too long. Crooks says, “... Maybe if he sees somethin’, he don’t know whether it’s right or not.
As a black man in the 1930s, Crooks is treated as less than because he is black, despite having worked at the ranch for a significant amount of time. Crooks is lonely and does not have much of a chance at communicating with others since he is separated from everyone else. The text states, “They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I'm black. They say I stink” (Steinbeck 68). This quote shows how discriminated against Crooks is.
Crooks is isolated because he’s a black man that has a crooked back and that doesn’t have that much rights so he will spend most of his time in the bunkhouse reading books. Steinbeck used crooks in this story because so they can show that African Americans are lonely.
Jada Burnette Ms. Mann Honors English 3 October 2022 Of Mice and Men Final Essay Everyone struggled in some way or another during the Great Depression, it was the worst economic disaster in US History. During such a challenging time racism was still prevalent. African-Americans suffered immensely and were treated very poorly by others.
Lennie walks into Crooks’ room wonders why Crooks isn’t playing cards with the others and Crooks explains why he’s not wanted. Stenbecks writes, “...ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse… cause I’m black… They say I stink” (Steinbeck 68). This proves Crooks becomes reconciled to discrimination by his peers because of his own race. Back then, men and women in color were mistreated so Steinbeck is giving a good idea on how people abused the basic human rights to hurt others physically and mentally.
Steinbeck displays through the dialogue and characterizations that these characters experience isolation because of both social barriers and personal choice. Crooks being an African-American on the ranch, full of whites, struggles racially which causes his withdrawal from the society. Crooks explains to Lennie his when he’s accompanied by him “ A guy goes nuts if he ain 't got nobody. Don 't make no difference who the guy is long’s
After being judged and treated terribly for so long, he is racist to himself. This act of self-racism/self discrimination shows the reader how unequal Crooks feels. Another key factor is that he is not born into slavery like most African-Americans at the time. This quotation shows that Crooks is not like what he calls the “southern negro.” Now at the ranch, he is looked at like a southerner, being the only black man on the ranch.
Crooks is mostly lonely because he's black and blacks back in the time of the book were disrespected. “He reads a lot. Got books in his room.” (Second page of chapter 2). This passage suggests that Crooks is a lonely man and based off of that shows when he is lonely he reads his books and isolates himself.
Crooks is a black man who has been given the nickname because of his crooked back. He is another character in the novel that is discriminated against. Similarly, as Lennie and Candy are discriminated because of their weakness, Crooks is discriminated because of his race. For example, he says how he “ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse… can’t play [cards] because I’m black” (68). His race causes him to be separated from everyone else and be isolated in his own room.
Crooks is constantly being discriminated against which is the effect of being colored at this time. During the book talks to Crooks about the farm he desires, Crook says to Lennie, “S'pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like that?” () Crook is at the bottom of the social hierarchy because of his race. This inequality is the barrier to his dreams of being
This showed that even though she doesn’t have any power she still has power over African Americans. She can even threaten to have Crooks killed because he talked to her. After she said that “crooks seemed to grow smaller, and he pressed himself against the wall. ‘yes, ma’am’” (80). This shows that the words Curley’s wife has a terrible effect on Crooks.
They say I stink. Well I tell you all of you stink to me.” ” (65) Crooks was shunned because his physical appearance and wasn’t treated the same as the rest of the men. This makes Crooks a key character that informs us of the social injustices that where prominent during the time period of the novel.
Imagine if you were working very hard on a ranch and you only got paid $50 a month. Well, this was the life during the Great Depression. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, George Milton, a ranch worker and one of the main protagonists, is a small, wiry, quick-witted man. He has to take care of his friend Lennie Small, a mentally disabled man who has the perception and social skills of a 5-year-old. However, Lennie is exceptionally strong and he is very hard-working on the ranch.
Crooks being the only black person on the farm, there was a lot of racism towards him. He had been isolated, and got threats because of his skin color. Though sometimes he thought it wasn't all that bad. He had also been accepted by Lennie. Crooks never really left his room because they had kept him isolated because he had a different skin color than the rest.
Lennie asked Crooks “Why Ain’t you wanted?” Crooks replied “Cause I’m black” he also told Lennie, “I tell ya a guy gets lonely and he gets sick.” The explanation supports the fact that Crooks was plagued by loneliness and alienation and he wanted