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Lack Of Freedom In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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A hundred-dollar bill does not change if you put it in a paper sack or Gucci wallet, the value is going to be same. The same idea can be applied to people; it doesn’t matter what color their skin is they are same inside. In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the character of Crooks is unable to achieve his dream due to racism. Steinbeck shows the theme that a lack of freedom prevents people from being able to achieve their dream is exhibited by Crooks. Race plays an important role in John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, which includes the character Crooks who illustrate how being a different race is often harmful to survival in a hostile and racist world. In the story, Crooks is a victim of racism, his life choices are limited, and …show more content…

In The Key Reason Why Racism Remains Alive And Well In Americatalks, by Colbert I. King talks about how some people treat others differently due to their race. King also talks about white student using offending words against African American in this article. King shows that by using this quote “Epithets, chants and derogatory language about African Americans are indicators of an underlying problem within the offending white students, namely an antagonism against blacks based upon feelings of white superiority” (King). This quote also connects back to Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, and the character Crooks because of his race other workers on the ranch treat him differently. He is separated from other workers, and he also can’t go in the bunkhouse where all the other guys stay. Other workers on the ranch use offending words to describe him. In Chapter 2, Candy describes Crooks using this quote “The guys wouldn’t let him use his feet, so that nigger got him. If he coulda use his feet, Smitty says he woulda killed the nigger” (Steinbeck 20). Steinbeck shows that everyone tried to put Crooks down and they use offensive word “nigger” to describe him. The worker name Smitty, even tries to kill him. Crooks have harsh life on the ranch. This quote reveals about social injustice in society during the 1930s that being from different race at that time was harmful to survival. Along with being a victim of racism Crooks also has limited life

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561 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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544 Words | 3 Pages

Crooks confines himself in solitude. Crooks, a colored man, was situated along the horse stables, in a shack, by the commander. For his skin color complexion, Crooks suffers from discrimination, leading to isolation. Declaring his loneliness, Crooks proclaims, “ … there ain’t a colored man on this ranch an’ there’s jus’ one family in Soledad… If I say something, Why it’s just a nigger sayin’ it” (Steinbeck 70).

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584 Words | 3 Pages

He has this big dream of living at a ranch, with his own family, and what a typical ranch has. Unfortunately, he cannot pursue his dream. Crooks is African American. The setting of the novel is during the 1930s which is America's time of the Great Depression. Therefore racial equality by law has a long way to go.

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877 Words | 4 Pages

He is given his own room to live in since he is unwanted in the bunkhouse, which is where all the other men sleep. He resents the other people working on the ranch because of how they treat him. Crooks is marginalized because he is an African American and this causes him to push other people away from him. Crooks is marginalized

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639 Words | 3 Pages

Unlike the other ranch hands, Crooks has his own version of a bunkhouse suite in the stables of the barn. During the time period of this story, slavery had somewhat recently been abolished, which led to segregation in the south. This is the reason Crooks is alone in comparison to the other men, forced to sleep with “a manure pile under the window”. Remaining separate, but equal in the eyes of the people who don’t allow him in the bunkhouse. Crooks is also mentally outcasted in the eyes of the racist members of the ranch.

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598 Words | 3 Pages

Steinbeck uses the historical setting of the Great Depression to help characterize Crooks as hopeless. First, the disdain with which the other men show towards Crooks. When George and Lennie first arrive at the ranch Candy introduces Crooks by saying, “Ya see the stable buck’s a ni***r” (Steinbeck 20). Crooks is generally referred to only as the n-word, as seen in this quote.

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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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1378 Words | 6 Pages

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.

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400 Words | 2 Pages

Contrasting Crooks’ somber attitude with Lennie's undying innocence makes it clear where Steinbeck stands on the matter. For example, Crooks is temporarily seduced by the idea of Lennie and George’s farm, but is almost immediately brought down by reality, and Curley’s wife. She brings him back to the reality of a black man at the time, saying: "Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny" (39). After this event occurs, Crooks disregards his rare idealism, saying that he “wouldn’ want to go no place like that” (41).

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435 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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745 Words | 3 Pages

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).

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561 Words | 3 Pages

Mice and men essay Our society tends to disregard the need to have an open mind. This has caused our current perspective to be tainted with discrimination. In the novel Of Mice and Men, Discrimination is present when an individual accepts appearance rather than personality. This present through the character of Crooks, who choose to comply to racism.

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698 Words | 3 Pages

Crooks is a black man who isn’t allowed to be in the house with all the men. The men won’t allow him to come in because of his color. Crooks is lonely and he doesn’t bother the men. One night Lennie came in and was talking to Crooks and telling them about the farm that they were going to get. For once Crooks thought well maybe I won’t be lonely I could go with them and don’t have worry about none of them.

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282 Words | 2 Pages

Crooks is a black man who has been given the nickname because of his crooked back. He is another character in the novel that is discriminated against. Similarly, as Lennie and Candy are discriminated because of their weakness, Crooks is discriminated because of his race. For example, he says how he “ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse… can’t play [cards] because I’m black” (68). His race causes him to be separated from everyone else and be isolated in his own room.

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513 Words | 3 Pages

Crooks was forced to sleep in a separate room next to the stable, apart from the bunks where the rest of the ranch workers resided. Crooks was unable to participate in anything that the rest of the ranch workers did. All of this was a result of his ethnicity. “ “Cause I’m black. They play cards, but I can’t play because I’m black.

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