Otherism In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Otherism as a great way to show how differently people are treated depending on how they look, or how they act. Steinbeck uses this concept as a huge factor in his book, Of Mice and Men. some characteristics he focused on for otherisation are mental illness, disability, sexism, race, and age. Someone who fits under a lot of these categories is crooks. Crooks is a handicapped older black man That works on the ranch with a bunch of white men.. In the book he is isolated away from the white people and taken advantage of, causing him to act cruelly. When someone is isolated from others and taken advantage of, it can cause them to act out in a cruel and unpleasant manner.

Crooks is used to show how racism was during the depression. Crooks is first

introduced to crooks through the quote; “ ‘sure, ya see the stable buck’s a ni**er’ ‘ ni**er, huh?’ ‘ yeah, nice fella too. Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him. The boss gives him hell when he’s mad. But the stable buck dont give a damn about that. He reads a lot. Got books in his room.’ ” (Steinbeck;2.15) This makes crooks out to be someone who you can take anger out on, because if he react negatively he could get fired of punished. It also says he reads a lot, which means he has a lot of time on his hands, and is very lonely.

Loneliness is a sense of isolation, a feeling of not being connected, valued or understood.

It is common for loneliness to convert to anger. Throughout the book crooks is not the nicest to others. When he is spoken too he replies in a cruel and sarcastic manner.for instance when Lennie goes into crooks room; “ ‘You go on get out of my room. I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse, and you wait wanted in my room’ ‘why ain’t you wanted?’ Lennie asked. ‘Cause i’m black’ ” Crooks is isolated and misunderstood because he is black. Anger is his defence against racism.

On the ranch, Crooks is also taken advantage of. He can try to have an opinion or stand up for himself but a white person’s point of view was more important during the time period this book takes place in. Curley’s wife demonstrates this in chapter 4; “ ‘Listen n***er’ she said ‘ you know what i can do if you open your trap’ “ Life on the ranch isn’t easy for either of them, but being a white women was much easier than being a black, handicapped man. When curly doesn’t try to speak up for himself, curley’s wife uses what little power she has against him. Because she knows that little bit of power she has is stronger than the power he has. Crooks knows That so once she threatens him he stops

talking.

Otherisation can affect someone is a positive or negative way. For crooks it was negative. He was lonely, taken advantage of, and threatened. It cause crooks to have a negative aspect of life and make him cruel to others. He bottled up his feelings and opinions for the fear of what could happen to him if he shared them. Steinbeck does a great job at showing all of this in his book Of Mice and Men.