Depression In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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,

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