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Comparison Of John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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The essence of humans’ true desires are three simple, alluring words: power, riches and fame. Three words, which put together sound dark, yet enticing. Take that away, and humanity is left with nothing but the company of one another. No heterodoxy exists, and everyone is left contented. This, however, is impossible in reality. Through the characterization of George, Crooks, and Curly’s wife, in his novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck reflects on the impending doom humans face due to their insufficient hopes blinding them from what truly matters. Curley’s wife plays a crucial part in asserting the theme, as she is a paradigm for someone whose loneliness and dreams drive them in a search for happiness somewhere they will not find it. Her …show more content…

Steinbeck purports this by dedicating several paragraphs to the description of Crooks and his lifestyle, and taking great measure in illustrating his possessions, “Crooks possessed several pairs of shoes, a pair of rubber boots, a big alarm clock and a single-barreled shotgun. And he had books, too…”(67). The rationale for the aforementioned details is so that the counteraction between Crooks’ life and the life of the his coworkers can be known. He possesses way more than any other worker on the ranch. Based on the ideas of everyone in the book, Crooks is supposed to be jubilant, when in fact, he may be more afflicted than anyone else. In an interaction with Lennie, Crooks explains, “Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he's goin' to come back. 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? S'pose you had to sit out here and read books. Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody—to be near him.’ He whined, ‘A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody.' " (72). Crooks does not acknowledge his own assets and rather gives example of his exclusion on the ranch, and targets the emotions of readers by uncovering his inner turmoil of not having anyone to hinge onto. His words confirm the proposition of company being the only source to true

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610 Words | 3 Pages

While alongside Lennie and Candy, Crooks’ fellow ranchers, a woman who is commonly known as Curley’s wife, interrupts their cordial conversation and snootily insults each of the men to which Crooks righteously defends them. However, primarily due to his skin tone, Curley’s wife threatens to “‘get [Crooks] strung up on a tree’” which is seemingly “‘so easy it ain’t even funny’” (Steinbeck 80). Subsequently, Crooks has “reduced himself to nothing” and his solitude is even more pronounced as society repeatedly illustrates his differences. Although quite untrue, Crooks feels that he is not even an equivalent of a person, more of a machine whose only usefulness are his inadequate working

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799 Words | 4 Pages

In the Book Of Mice And Men You will read about a lot of characters who deserve sympathy. Although Curley’s wife and Lennie are characters who deserve pity, Crooks is the most sympathetic character, his race, bad back , and is very lonely. He's not the only sympathetic character in the book pretty much every character deserves some pity for example Curley’s Wife and Lennie deserve some pity. One of the reasons the reader feels bad for Crooks is because he is separated from the rest of the ranch workers because of his race. The narrator explains, ¨Crooks, the Negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room: a little shed that leaned off the barn.”

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503 Words | 3 Pages

Crooks is subjected to living amongst animals, meaning that his entire space is shared from the building that he sleeps in to his possessions, “His apple box…in it a range of medicines both for himself and for the horses” (66). Having Crooks live among the animals is something that stands out, symbolizing his value as a black man in that day and age, however, this is further exacerbated by the verity of his having to share everything with the animals. Being a black person during this time period means that he “kept his distance” from the other men, while also keeping his own area “swept and fairly neat” (67). Since he is banned from the bunk house where the men all sleep, Crooks is forced to keep his own area as nice as possible so that he can be content with his space. This may seem like a healthy alternative to being among the other men, although the reality is that a clean and neat space is still empty without company.

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860 Words | 4 Pages

In Crooks’ room Crooks converses with Lennie about his feelings. Bothered, he laments over how he can “play horseshoes til it’s dark” with all the other workers, but then he has to go “read books” all by himself(72,72). While Crooks does not despise reading books, he wishes that he had a companion to confide in. The deep mistrust that Crooks feels towards others, though, is one of the reasons he does not have a friend to talk to. Lennie creates excitement in Crooks because Crooks can trust Lennie since he knows that Lennie will never repeat what he says .

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1725 Words | 7 Pages

Crooks is excluded and abused, because he is African American. Candy is continuously rejected, and made to feel helpless and unworthy, because he is old and only has one hand. These traits have singled out Crook and Candy, and left them in a state of hopelessness and misery. The awful way that these characters are treated on the ranch embody how those who are different are treated in a uniformitarian society. Steinbeck exposes the horror of a exclusive society through the heartbreak that his characters go through.

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769 Words | 4 Pages

Crooks seen as inferior because of his race. He already is considered different from the rest of the farmhands, and not in a good way. He is secluded in his own room, sleeping with the animals where he is both being isolated and demeaned at the same time. He has had a back injury after working with the horses as a stable buck. When he is alone in his private room, he soothes his back aches with a bottle of liniment.

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813 Words | 4 Pages

Early in the novel, Crooks acts bitter towards all of the farm hands because he is the only black person on a ranch and everyone discriminates against him. This causes him to stay secluded to his own sleeping quarters and causes his dreams to die also. Later on, Lennie and his friend George arrives and Lennie attempts to befriend Crooks and get to know him. Crooks though, has no intention to befriend Lennie because he is suspicious of any kind of kindness due to his loneliness. Crooks then responds by telling Lennie that George will never return, upsetting him.

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880 Words | 4 Pages

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

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493 Words | 2 Pages

First of all, Crooks is forced to live separate from the other men on the farm solely because he is a different race than his boss. He is treated like an animal and is forced to sleep in the stable. He has a collection of books which shows a grasp on humanity, but “[Crooks] had his apple box over his bunk, and in it a range of medicine bottles, both for himself and the horses”(66). This shows that even though Crooks is trying to hold onto his humanity, he is being forced to slip away from it. He has almost come to terms with being treated like an animal as a result of continuous emotional abuse.

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435 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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702 Words | 3 Pages

Crooks is very sealed of the author had described him as the following. “Crooks kept his distance and demanded others keep theirs,” (Steinbeck 67). Crooks has trust issues because of how sealed of and private he is. His

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1111 Words | 5 Pages

A well-written story causes us to think about life increasing our understanding of the world and giving us insight into how people think feel and behave. This insight into life in a novel is done through themes, ideas that recur throughout a text, and comment on such aspects of human experience. Therefore, through our exposure to texts, we learn about human experience using the themes, aided with literary techniques and features, explored within such texts. John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men explores themes which directly relate to the own authors experience during the 1930’s Great Depression where there was mass unemployment and extreme poverty. This led to homelessness which led to ‘every man for himself’.

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533 Words | 3 Pages

Of Mice And Men Struggles were afoot among the American population during the depression, once again, leaving the woman without choices. John Steinbeck demonstrated the restrictions and life of women within the great depression through Curley’s wife, her mother, society, and her own American dream. Curley’s wife has no choices in what she can do or her future. Her power is limited to the men working at the farm, and even then she can barely control their jobs.

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931 Words | 4 Pages

Crooks is the only black man on the ranch and this is the era of when racism was at it’s highest. Because of this, he might fear that problems with others would occur and the fear of being misunderstood and further abused. In addition, before coming to the ranch, he might of had trouble finding a job and a place where people would accept him. This causes him to be isolated from others, making him feel lonely. For instance, in the text it states, “‘I was born right here in Southern California.

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282 Words | 2 Pages

Crooks is very lonely and solitude for being alone every day. As a result, he wants to have friends who he can communicate with. No one has come into his room except for Slim and the boss, so when Lennie and Candy come, it is difficult for Crooks to “conceal his pleasure with anger” (75). Although he wants to express anger about people coming into his room, inside he is happy about it and enjoys it. This instability and loneliness that he has leads him to say how he could work for George, Lennie, and Candy on their farm.

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