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How Is Crooks A Scapegoation Presented In Of Mice And Men

398 Words2 Pages

In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses Crooks as an example of minorities, marginalization, and scapegoating by highlighting the specific treatment of black men in the 1930s. One example of this is George and Candy’s conversation at the beginning of the story. In this conversation, Candy gives George a run down of where George and Lennie will stay and what the workers are like on the ranch. He states with a bit of pity, ‘“Yeah. Nice fella, too. Got a crooked back when a horse kicked him. The boss gives him hell when he’s mad. But the stable buck doesn’t give a damn about that. He reads a lot of books. Got books in his room. ‘’ (Steinbeck 20). This quote emphasizes the harsh and unfair treatment Crooks faces not just because of his race, but also because of his disability. …show more content…

This quote also hints at the upsetting idea that Crooks is so used to this treatment, seeing that it's been his reality his whole life that he's given up trying to defend himself. Another quote from Steinbeck’s book that emphasizes how Crook’s are affected by minorities, marginalization, and scapegoating is when Lennie and Crooks have a conversion in the barn. Later in the book when Lennie decides to visit the pups in the barn, he runs into Crooks, Crooks and Lennie end up discussing how Crooks is treated. Crooks tries to help Lennie understand his situation by saying, ‘“Maybe you can see it now. You got the George. You know he's goin' back. S'pose you didn't have anyone. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you were black.”’ (Steinbeck

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