Crooks Struggles

In his novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck outlines many corrupt societal structures intended to exploit and demean individuals based on their perceived value: the inherent exploitative nature of the American Dream, the hierarchy of power in America based on an individual 's ability to work, and the way in which oppressive systems are maintained through a mis-projection of anger of the oppressed.

The idea of the ‘American Dream’ motivates workers without giving them any actual gratification; individuals are led to believe that success is inevitable and thus abstain from carrying out the necessary work to achieve their long term goals, preventing lower class individuals from entering positions of power. The American Dream is the concept that

The setting of this novel is the great depression, a time period of tremendous economic turmoil in which labor was seen as a necessity in order to revive the American economy. Steinbeck presents a plethora of disabled characters. Crooks has a crooked back as a physical handicap; however, this aspect of Crooks character does not deter his working ability (Steinbeck 76). Steinbeck does not include any moment in which Crooks is discriminated against for his disability, making the point that society isn’t prejudiced against individuals for the mere fact that they are disabled but rather that their disability prevents them from working; Crooks can work, and thus members of society do not feel the need to treat him unfairly due to his disability. To contrast Crooks, Steinbeck includes Both Candy’s dog and Lennie, whose disabilities impairs their capacity for work in some manner. Candy’s dog’s disability stems from age, as Carlson says, “ain’t bein’ kind to him keepin’ him alive [...] That dog ain’t no good to himself. I wisht somebody’d shoot me if I got old an’ a cripple.” (Steinbeck 45). Unlike Crooks, Candy’s dog’s handicap limits his ability to work and thus he is seen as undesirable. The manner in

The 1930s were not a time of racial equality nor gender equality. There was a sharp increase in racial violence, and because there was a severe lack of jobs, african americans were often fired to ensure jobs were available to white men. Women 's working opportunities were also severely limited and much of the progress made by women towards gender equality was erased. Steinbeck includes Curley’s wife to demonstrate the gender inequality in this time period. Curley’s wife is so overlooked that she is barely even given an identity. Curley’s wife and Candy’s dog are the only two characters in the novel that don’t have names, through this parallel, Steinbeck brings to light the fact that women were treated no better than animals in this time. The other characters think of Curley’s wife as nothing but “jailbait” (Steinbeck 32) and isolate her because of this. Often one of the most detrimental effects of oppression on an individual is the isolation that comes with it. Humans are naturally social creatures, when isolated they grow resentful and angry, and often this anger is misplaced. Curley’s wife, for example, uses what status she does have in society to say to Crooks “I could