How Does Steinbeck Use Literary Devices to Convey Crooks' Character
John Steinbeck reflects on the context of 1930’s America in his novel entitled ‘Of Mice and Men’. The public would perceive Afro-Americans solely by their physical features and society would segregate them as a result of their racial distinction. I will be exploring how Steinbeck presents Crooks and his development through literary devices, and hence, how he changes depending on the characters he is interacting with.
Steinbeck initially presents Crooks in a dialogue between George and Candy though he himself was absent. This signifies that they may not have been friends with Crooks because they were discussing him without his presence. Steinbeck possibly did this to give the audience secondary insight on Crooks’ character before he is established later on in the novel. In the conversation they mentioned “the boss gave him [Crooks] hell … when he’s mad”, this indicates that perhaps the Boss takes his anger out on the worker with the lowest status or maybe the one he dislikes most. However, Crooks “don’t give a damn about that” as he may be accustomed to it or alternatively, doesn’t want to waste his time and energy arguing when he also may be at risk of losing his job easily.
From when Steinbeck physically established Crooks into the novel in chapter 4, his introduction was significantly distinctive from those of the other characters. He was the only individual of whom Steinbeck specifically allocated a name to before a description. “Crooks, the Negro stable buck, had his bunk…” perhaps Steinbeck used that method of an introduction to stress his importance in the novel. Crooks was given a stereotype as “the Negro stable buck”, “Negro” is a term of address that describes his race. Steinbeck may have thought this was necessary so the audience were aware of his obvious distinction as opposed to the other characters (who’s races were not mentioned).
Steinbeck uses setting to further develop Crooks’ character. He lives in the harness room therefore it is his home.
Steinbeck initially presents Crooks in a dialogue between George and Candy though he himself was absent. This signifies that they may not have been friends with Crooks because they were discussing him without his presence. Steinbeck possibly did this to give the audience secondary insight on Crooks’ character before he is established later on in the novel. In the conversation they mentioned “the boss gave him [Crooks] hell … when he’s mad”, this indicates that perhaps the Boss takes his anger out on the worker with the lowest status or maybe the one he dislikes most. However, Crooks “don’t give a damn about that” as he may be accustomed to it or alternatively, doesn’t want to waste his time and energy arguing when he also may be at risk of losing his job easily.
From when Steinbeck physically established Crooks into the novel in chapter 4, his introduction was significantly distinctive from those of the other characters. He was the only individual of whom Steinbeck specifically allocated a name to before a description. “Crooks, the Negro stable buck, had his bunk…” perhaps Steinbeck used that method of an introduction to stress his importance in the novel. Crooks was given a stereotype as “the Negro stable buck”, “Negro” is a term of address that describes his race. Steinbeck may have thought this was necessary so the audience were aware of his obvious distinction as opposed to the other characters (who’s races were not mentioned).
Steinbeck uses setting to further develop Crooks’ character. He lives in the harness room therefore it is his home.