Of Mice And Men Crooks Discrimination

John Steinbeck, the author of Of Mice and Men, uses the character of Crooks to represent the racism and discrimination towards the black community, that was so prevalent in the United States of America at the time of the book’s setting in the 1930’s. The more substantial themes of the book are detailed through Crooks’ life as well as providing an insight into the reality of other poor ranch workers: their longing for the ‘American Dream’ and continuous need for interaction and attention derived from their immense loneliness.

When we first hear of Crooks, he is referred to as a ‘nigger’ by Candy. This, today, would be a white insult and is considered unacceptable and racist. However, within the context of the book, of the 1930’s Great Depression

Era, this is commonly how black people were socially referred to as. Crooks has obviously suffered from long mental abuse as we always see him in isolation- this being the main theme of the book. We can deduct that he is lonely, because of his social standing as a ‘nigger’ and that he is the only black man on a white man’s ranch. Moreover, he is the target of racial discrimination amongst the majority of white workers; exacerbating his loneliness and sadness.

When Steinbeck first describes the appearance of Crooks he uses imagery to portray his sadness, ‘his lean face was lined with deep black wrinkles and he had thin, pain tightened lips, which were lighter than his face’.

It very quickly becomes apparent the unhappiness associated with Steinbeck’s adjectives used, such as ‘deep’, ‘’lean’ and ‘pain-tightened’. ‘“pain-tightened’ particularly implies of Crook’s lips being so thin they are painful to look at. Steinbeck may have chosen to describe Crook’s lips as ‘thin’ and ‘pain-tightened’ to represent the physical effects of his loneliness. Lips can be seen as an insight into the soul: what a person thinks and how a person feels. Picturing lips as thin and dry signifies of how rarely they are used, drying out after long days working in the searing heat, causing them to lose life and almost making Crooks mute. Pain is heavily associated with Crooks- Steinbeck also uses his crooked spine to metaphorically personify his inescapable pain that can be interpreted as the mental pain he experiences through the racial discrimination of 1930’s

society.

DONT KNOW IF I SHOULD DO ANOTHER PARAGRAPH crooked spine

RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT PARAGRAPH Y- got to mention how he talks

The American Dream is a major theme in Of Mice and Men.

It becomes clear that Crooks was living the American Dream when he talks of his ‘his old man’s ranch’ and ‘how he played with the white kids’. Crooks talks about this dreamily, as Lennie listens. However, Crooks very quickly loses hope, and says, ‘nobody gets to heaven and nobody gets to land’. Steinbeck chooses Crooks to reminisce of having lived the American Dream; this being ironic of how the stereotypical black man was seen as an animal that never could amount to anything. Steinbeck simply tries to convey a new view, at the time, that a black man could achieve the American Dream, unlike a ranch full of American, white men. Nonetheless, due to the Great Depression,he has since lost the ranch, which reminds the readers that no matter your race, the American Dream will only ever be a dream- this emerges a theme of lost hope at that time. This is the lost hope towards the land that is subtly compared to heaven said by Crooks. Crooks justifies his revenge against white men, by abusing Lennie on something that is not physical, by dismembering Lennie’s hopes. This contrasts with how the white community would always discriminate Crooks on his physicality. This is his only way of revenge being so helpless as a poor black man in a white dominated

society.

Crooks is portrayed as an educated man through his possessions as he has a ‘tattered dictionary’ and ‘gold rimmed spectacles’. This implies to readers that he is intelligent and excessively reads reads as his dictionary is described as ‘tattered’. Crooks owns a lot of books, unlike the other ranch men, as this is inconvenient for all the travelling they do. Nonetheless, Crooks doesn’t travel due to his spine and is one of the loneliest characters, because of his race. I believe that Steinbeck tries to convey Crooks as intelligent, because books are his only companions. Steinbeck emphasises how Crooks’ only form of dialogue is through books, as every other character can interact with other members. This only highlights his isolation and his reassurance in books.
Furthermore, I think Crooks is attacking his stereotype black man of being stupid. Making Crooks intelligent is ironic of the typical image of a black man in the 1930’s. Steinbeck passively attacks the prejudice and stereotyping in the 1930’s through a black character. This being the reason for the books ban in America, because Steinbeck used Crooks loneliness and confinement in books to embody the hurt caused by the white public.

At the start of chapter four, we see Steinbeck use imagery to describe Crooks’s room and subtly compare him to an animal. Steinbeck describes crooks’s bunk as ‘a long box filled with straw’ and later goes on to reveal the ‘manure pile under the window’, of which he sarcastically describes as ‘swell’. To be sleeping on straw, unlike the white ranch workers who were sleeping on ‘bunks with blankets’, highlights Crooks’ animalism, because animals only sleep on straw. It also implies of how the Boss of the ranch mist consider him as low of a standard as animals. This connects back to the racism suffered by black men, because they were perceived as animals. This strong image of his unhealthy environment leads the reader to think of Crooks as lazy, polluted and disheveled; these are strong and powerful words associated with such a minor character. Steinbeck may have wanted to show how black people were being stereotypically perceived in the 1930’s. He wanted to identify how humiliating low they were in society, by comparing black people to animals. The reader feels sympathetic as we sense how powerless Crooks is.

Crooks’ disappearance through chapters 1 to 4 establishes the minority he is as a man and signifies his isolation as a character. When we first here of Crooks, he is referred to as a ‘nigger’ by Candy and isn’t seen until chapter 4, where readers can fully interpret him. I believe Steinbeck, purposely, with drawled Crooks to signify how

Being the wife of the son of the boss, Curley’s wife feels free to treat others any way she wants. This is most illusive in Chapter 4 when she threatens Crooks with death if he challenges her: “I could have you hung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.”