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Of mice and men john steinbeck theme analysis
Of mice and men characters strengths and weaknesses
Of mice and men john steinbeck theme analysis
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There, they encounter many different characters with their own shortcomings, whether mental, physical, or social. Each character and their handicap together represent a specific theme in the novel. Crooks is the African-American man who works in the stables of the farm. He got kicked by a horse many years ago, resulting in his crooked back. While his back is indeed a physical defect that hinders him, but the thing that segregates him from the others is his race.
Crooks (named crooks after being kicked in the back by a horse) is a very controversial character as he is the only black member of the farm and doesn’t actually feature to much in the book. When he is in it though most of what we find out is when Lenny walks into his room. From the start its clear that crooks is a very abused and defensive because he says “You got no right to come in my room” as soon as he notices Lennie stood in his room even though Lennie doesn’t really see any difference between skin colour and doesn’t understand why this is happening. Most of what can be known about Crooks is from the items in his room. His room is actually connected to the barn showing they do not value him as a person but only as a stable buck.
In the story Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the author emphasizes a main character, Lennie, as unworldly and ignorant. Throughout the book Lennie gives the impression through his unobservant innocent acts as a childlike character. For example, Lennie endeavors to create friendships as though a child and does not know how to make friends in the manner of an adult. When Lennie tries to make friends with Crooks, Steinbeck describes Lennie smiling at Crooks in attempting to be friends.
“(Candy) said miserably, “You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me. But they won’t do nothin like that. I won’t have no place to go, an’ I can’t get no more jobs.”’
In the book “of Mice and Men”, Crooks works as a stable buck on the ranch. Crooks is an older man as textual evidence states “His lean face was lined with deep wrinkles”,pg.67, paragraph 3. I can surmise he is an angry man because on page 73, paragraph 3 it states ‘A guy sets alone out here at night, maybe reading books or thinkin’ or stuff like that! Crooks is a very lonely man out in the barn. Based on pg.74 paragraph 1 Crooks states ‘’ Your nuts I’ve seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’’ on ranches, with their bindles on their back on that same damn things in there heads.
Steinbeck explores discrimination in the novella by using multiple characters to show different views. Crooks, Lennie and Curley's wife are all used as vehicles to demonstrate Steinbeck's message, opposing views in 1930s America. Steinbeck uses crooks to explore the racism experienced by African Americans in 1930s America. He is used as a vehicle to oppose racism, showing Steinbeck’s message. One way in which Steinbeck does this is by having Curley’s wife say, “I could get you strung up on a tree so easily it ain’t funny,” in chapter 4.
Of Mice and Men “listen, nigger,” she said. “you know what I can do to you if you open your trap?” (pg.80). This shows how the word “nigger” is used to control a black person. In the book of Mice and Men the word “nigger” is used quite often but towards crooks, since he is the only black person in the book.
Crooks is the stable keeper in the book. Crooks is the only “negro” on the plantation. He is excluded from everyone else on the plantation. In pages 66 and 67 it talks about Crooks’ bunk that he has all to himself. None of the other men want to share a bunk with a man of different race.
The definition of a sympathetic character is one whom the writer expects the reader to identify with and care about, though not necessarily admire. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife, a main character in the book is blatantly portrayed as an unsympathetic character. This is because they only see her through the men's eyes, who only see her as a tiresome object, owned by her husband. Steinbeck’s portrayal of Curley’s wife is unfair and misogynistic because he only displays her as unintelligent and promiscuous, never has a character have a turning point where they realize she’s more than an object, and he never reveals her true name. The first reason that Steinbeck's portrayal of Curley’s wife is unfair is that he never gives Curley any redeeming personality traits, he only depicts her as unintelligent and promiscuous.
However, Steinbeck also uses light and darkness to show the hidden sides of neglected characters such as Crooks. Crooks, the negro stable buck, is portrayed to have died from the inside and is living merely as a breathing corpse. Not because of the fact that he could not achieve the American Dream or live a lavish life. But, simply because of the fact that he is a negro who is surfeited of being ill treated and discriminated. “His eyes lay deep in his head, and because of their depth seemed to glitter with intensity.”, give the impression that inside Crooks is full of anger and indignation.
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.
Crooks is an African American farm worker that works with horses on the land. Being a colored person in this era was harsh, and the color of your skin automatically determined the amount of power you would have, so African Americans did not have power compared to everyone else in society. “Lennie watched her, his mouth half open. Crooks had retired into the terrible protective dignity of the negro.” (79;ch.4).
Crooks was the stable-buck. A stable buck is a black man who works in a stable, but now it is considered very offensive. The only time Crooks really gets human interaction is when he is getting food, or when the boss gets angry enough to the point where he beats Crooks. He has a hunched back so the boss is beating on an already crippled, defenseless black man. Crooks tells Lennie, “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody.
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.
To begin, Crooks is an outsider as he is not of white descent and the only colored man that works on the ranch. Crooks is discriminated upon by the workers on the ranch and sleeps in a room segregated from the others that sleep in the bunkhouse together. Moreover, he is not allowed to play cards with the men who live in the bunkhouse because in their words, he “stinks”; it is not the fact that Crooks stinks, but the fact that he is black. In section four of Of Mice and Men, Crooks’ character says, “‘S’pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black,’” (Steinbeck 72).
