Sympathy is shown all over from tv shows, to books, to real life experiences. We begin to feel pity for these individuals because at times you can see the pain that they feel, you see what circumstances they have to overcome. In the show Grey’s Anatomy, Meredith is given a great amount of losses, from her mother passing away from alzheimer's, her step mother passing away from the hiccups, her sister dying from a plane crash, and her husband dying of a car crash. Us as an audience of the show, can feel what Meredith felt. We could see her pain and we could feel her loneliness after the losses she’s had. Pity is given to various characters in the book, Of Mice and Men; we see their struggles and we can feel their pain. Of Mice and Men …show more content…
In chapter 4, Lennie appears in the barn, looking for someone to talk to. He finds Crooks, but Crooks is, at first, unwilling to talk. Lennie asks Crooks why he isn’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and Crooks replies, “ ‘Cause I’m black”(Steinbeck 68). Lennie doesn’t understand racism, so Crooks has to explain, “They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black”(Steinbeck 68). Crooks is also treated wrong by the boss, Curley, “The boss gives him hell when he’s mad.”(Steinbeck 20). It comes to show that because of his race, Crooks is treated badly. Crooks is excluded from many of the activities that the other men have simply because of his race; he is worthy of our sympathy because of the discrimination he had to deal with daily at the …show more content…
In chapter 4, Curley's wife comes into Crooks’ bunkhouse asking where Curley is, meanwhile Lennie and Candy are also inside. Curley's wife humiliates Crooks as he had told her to get out of his room or else he'd tell Curley; “Well you keep your place then, Nigger”(Steinbeck 81). Curley's wife began to offend him and began to give him rude racist statements, “I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny”(Steinbeck 81). As Crooks was being told these rude racist comments he began to belittle himself because of the humiliation that he was feeling, Curley's wife belittled Crooks’ as a person with each slur that she gave, “Crooks seemed to grow smaller, and he pressed himself against the wall. ‘Yes, ma’am”(Steinbeck 80). With each comment that Crooks was given we could feel how his personality would go down, he would present no emotion in order to respect the orders of Curley's wife, “Crooks had reduced himself to nothing...There was no personality, no ego-nothing to arouse either like or dislike... and his voice was toneless”(Steinbeck 81). Crooks is a character that we especially feel sympathy for because of the humiliation that he has to face because of the simple act of him being from a different race; we feel pity and anger of what he has to face on a daily
When Curly’s wife went to Crooks to ask if he has seen Curly around, Curly said that he hasn’t seen him, but still she was standing there and Crooks said, “You got no rights coming in a coloured man’s room. You got no rights messing around in here at all.” Steinbeck’s use of Crook’s dialogue shows that Crooks had enough pride and independence to stand up to Curly’s wife. She turned on him in scorn. “Listen, Nigger,” she said. “You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?” Crooks stared hopelessly at her, and then he sat down on his bunk and drew into himself. Steinbeck uses Curly’s wife’s dialogue to tell the readers that Crooks was always discriminated against. When Lennie was wandering around at the ranch and went into Crook’s room, Crooks said, “You go get outta my rooms. I ain’t wanted in the bunk house and you ain’t wanted in my room.” Steinbeck uses crook’s dialogue, racism and loneliness to demonstrate that Crooks wanted to be left alone, but also from inside he wants to talk to someone. Readers may feel sympathy at Steinbeck’s idea of racism. Crooks was always treated badly and is always discriminated against.
Crooks, the black stable buck, is isolated from the community of migrant workers because of his racial status. When Lennie goes into the barn to see his puppy, he and Crooks have a conversation. “'Why ain't you wanted?' Lennie asked. 'Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black'” (68). Lennie is too kind-hearted and intellectually slow to visualize the apparent racial boundary that sets Crooks aside from Lennie and the rest of the workers. Crooks is so isolated from the rest of the workers that he says he “can't” play cards, not that he isn't allowed to, which means that the racial boundary is like a wall Crooks cannot cross. Because he is black, Crooks believes that he cannot play cards with the white men. He can't get over the racial boundary, and believes he will be forever separated from the white men. In the beginning of chapter 4, Steinbeck describes Crooks' living space. “Crooks, the Negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room; a little shed that leaned off the...
An example of how the men are discriminative towards Crooks is that he is forced to live in a shack away from the bunkhouse and also Crooks says that "They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say "I stink" and "I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse." An example of when Curley's Wife is critical towards Crooks is when she looks into his room to see what Lennie and Crooks are doing and then she states, shaking her head, that they left the weak ones behind. Also, she threatens to have Crooks hanged because a black man should never talk to a white woman the way he just had. As a result of all of these discriminatory acts against him, Crooks feels unwanted and lonely because of his color and placement on the farm.
Historically, the black American solution to racially imposed loneliness and homelessness was to embrace the structure of family. White characters in the novel appear without families, for whatever reason. However, black Americans were compelled to come together as a people despised by others, to shelter and protect, even to the point of the creation of extended families, much as George assumes a protective all four. Significantly, Crooks does not receive an invitation to join George, Lenny, and Candy on the farm, even though he broaches the subject. Racial and ethnic minorities in America in the 1930s understood the importance of this strategy for survival because otherwise they would not have survived. Crooks gets described by Curley’s wife as “weak” because he is crippled and a Negro, two conditions which Steinbeck conflates into being synonymous in the novel. He functions in the role of a victim-savant. Acting as an insightful thinker and clarifying the meaning of loneliness for the reader, he remains an “outsider,” someone for whom the reader feels more pity than respect.246 By remaining on this ranch, experiencing unfair treatment, Crooks chooses his own racial victimization each and every day.246
Racial discrimination has been around for a long time, judging people for the color of their skin. Crooks is affected by this because he is black. Blacks in that time were thought as lesser than the white people. The racial discrimination affects Crooks' life in only negative ways. He is plagued by loneliness because of the color of his skin. His lack of company drives him crazy. Only when Lennie comes in to his room does he feel less lonely. He talked of his loneliness using a hypothetical scenario of George leaving Lennie. Crooks' responds to this discrimination by staying in his barn and being secluded. He doesn't want anyone to be in there but deep down he does so he can have some company. He isn't wanted in the bunk house or to play cards with the others because he is black. This effected the story by letting people walk all over him, letting them think they can do whatever they want, and ultimately making the people think they have a lot of power when really they do not.
Crooks is a symbol of how society treats the disabled and African Americans. Having to deal with the loneliness and the segregation that the ranch members put forth on him. he confides in Lennie “A guy needs somebody- to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody.”(Steinbeck 72). Unfortunately, Because of the amount of melanin in his skin he is shunned and treated like an animal. He sleeps in the barnhouse, works on the land, and comes back to his stable. When Candy mentions the dream to Crooks he temporality thinks that he could call something his own like they are. Which is something very few African Americans had because less than seventy years before African Americans themselves, were property. Curly’s wife then enters the room to Crooks vexation. When he tells her to leave, she replies scornfully “Listen Nigger… You know what I could do?....Yes, ma’am.” Crooks says. She continues to make herself bigger and him ever so small, “I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny.” (Steinbeck 80-81). Knowing the truth in her words not only Crooks but Candy and Lennie dwindle in their comments to get her out of Crooks’ room. Interestly enough though, only Lennie, the flawed human is the only one to not see crooks color.
As Candy introduces George and Lennie where they are going to stay, and the people who work there, he shares information about the relationships of the men on the ranch. After mentioning Crooks, George asks why the Boss gives “the stable buck h**l”, to which Candy replies that “ya, see the stable buck’s a ni**er.” To which George replies “Ni**er, huh?” Candy assures George saying, “Yeah. Nice fella too” (Steinbeck 18). Crook’s has some of the worst experiences, but this is one of the worst ones that are given. The workers don’t care about Crooks and don’t give any disregard to him, they call him names and treat him very poorly. Later in the story, readers find out that Crooks was treated poorly in more situations, so he doesn’t think highly of himself and doesn’t think it’s fair. Lennie goes into Crooks’ room and talks about his rabbits. Since Lennie doesn’t remember much, Crooks thinks he can tell him about anything, because he isn’t gonna go around and tell everyone what he said, plus, Crooks can’t bring trouble upon himself because all of the workers except Candy are at a cat house. “There wasn’t another colored family for miles around. And now 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 ni**er.” Crooks thinks that he can say whatever he wants about his opinion, because it’s just a negro, and no one
Curley’s wife is disliked amongst the men, they are all terrified that if caught talking to her, Curley will beat them up. The men also believe that she is a flirt, but she just wants someone to talk to that isn’t Curley. While talking to Lennie, Curley’s wife states, “I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella” (Steinbeck 89). Curley’s wife declares that she doesn’t like Curley and doesn’t enjoy spending time with him, he makes her feel alone and unwanted. Earlier, when stopping by Crook’s room to figure out if any of them know where Curley is, she asks, “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time” (Steinbeck 77). Curley’s wife tries to talk with the men on the farm in an attempt to make a friend or two. All she wants is someone to talk to, so she doesn’t feel
This shows that Crooks isn’t respected and that Black men weren’t respected in the 1930s. Crooks is considered a lower class and he can’t change that. The American dream for him is nonexistence. Curley’s Wife is as well entrapped based on her gender. “She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward.”
I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room” (Steinbeck 68). Crooks is being defensive of the little rights he has, and he is asking Lennie to respect his rights. Doing that, it opens up a window to Crooks’ past and how he has been brought up about these situations. Crooks is being treated like an animal by having to sleep near them and is not allowed to sleep in the bunkhouse with the other workers. The constant alienation and anticipation that Crooks is faced with has given him no hope, and essentially labeled him as an outcast, and displayed America as a
Being an African-American in the 1930s, Crooks was subject to some discrimination on the ranch. “Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” (Steinbeck 81). Curley’s wife is obviously trying to emphasize that she is superior to Crooks because she has the power to get him killed. “‘Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink.” (Steinbeck 68). The other workers on the farm exclude Crooks from the activities in the bunkhouse. Since Crooks knows that he is not wanted there, he stays confined in his small room in the barn. The people on the ranch blatantly discriminate Crooks because of his
Crooks, named for his crooked back, is an African American who works on the farm. Crooks has a dream of being equals to white people. However, his dream is shot down by the racial prejudice of society. This oppression caused Crooks to have an attitude similar to that of a predator, ripping apart Lennie for both his ‘unreachable’ dream and his dependence on George. It is at this moment that Crooks seems to be most powerful, like the leader of a lion pride towering over a dead elephant.
Crooks has been on the same farm for years, constantly being mistreated by whoever wandered onto it. For example, in the novella Of Mice and Men the character Old Candy contributes, “‘Ya see the stable buck’s a nigger’” (Steinbeck 20). Crooks is constantly classified by the color of his skin. People constantly poke fun and throw racist, ungodly comments his way. He is affected by his position in the world because he is unable to earn substantial pay and feels separated from society because of the tone of his skin. Corrpsoifnyl, Crooks is unable to participate in games on the farm, nor live in the same living quarters as the others because of his skin color. For instance, on page 68 Crooks states in a conversation with Lennie, “‘Why you ain’t wanted?’ Lennie asked. ‘’Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink.’” (Steinbeck). Crooks position in the world causes him to be unable to participate in events just because he is an African American member of society. Proportionately, Crooks feels separated because he cannot make a mark on the world because of the color of his skin and is forced to tend to farms for little to no pay for hours at a
Curley’s wife has a sense of power over the other workers because she is married to Curley. Despite being female, she is able to do as she wishes and fool around, as even her husband cannot control her. She has the power to intimidate and threaten the male workers, as seen in the quote directed at Crooks, “Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” Crooks is the only African-American character in the novel. Despite being a male, he possesses less power than Curley’s wife due to his skin colour. The use of tone in this quote highlights her authority over the dark skinned man as a white female. In the novel, Crooks is made to be isolated by his colour, living alone in a separate room with the horses. His room symbolises a jail cell of the repressed. He is not wanted in the bunk house and cannot socialise or play cards with the other workers. He is always called the ‘nigger’ by the men, which shows how racism is taken for granted. This is an example of how defenceless he is in society. Another example is when Steinbeck describes Crooks room. “Crooks had his apple box over his bunk, and in it a range of medicine bottles, both for himself and for the horses,” suggests that he is treated like an animal. Social power and powerlessness are demonstrated throughout the novel in which shows us how different people are treated in