Racism In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Racism Throughout our country’s history, race has been an ongoing issue. This problem was especially serious during the 1930’s. Evidence for this could be found in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. In the book, the character Crooks is very mistreated at the ranch due to his race. Crooks is very lonely and bitter due to his exclusion of having to sleep in the barn by himself, the social structure of the ranch, and the ranchers outright mistreating him. Barns are meant to be for animals, not people. Just because Crooks is black it does not mean that he has to be treated like an animal. The ranchers make Crooks sleep in the barn by himself with only his possessions to keep him company. According to Crooks, “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long he’s with you” (Steinbeck 72). When Crooks tells Lennie this, it shows how much Crooks wants to interact or at least talk to someone once in a
This reflects his loneliness by showing that, because of his race, he is excluded from the social structure of the ranch. According to Crooks, “S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go in the bunk house and play rummy ‘cause you was black” (Steinbeck 72). Crooks bringing up the fact that he cannot go into the bunk house shows that he is longing to be able to go in there and play cards with the other ranchers, but is not aloud because of his race. The only activity that the ranchers let Crooks participate in is horseshoes, but only until dark. The way the ranchers only let Crooks play horseshoes and not any other game shows that they treat him like an animal. The way the ranchers leave Crooks outside and will not let him inside their domain resembles how some pet owners treat their animals. The way the ranchers exclude Crooks from games in the bunk house makes him the lonely, bitter person he lets off