Preview

Racism in Of Mice and Men

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1410 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Racism in Of Mice and Men
Crooks is not allowed to stay with the other men in the bunk house or allowed to do things with them. This is because he is coloured. Throughout the book it shows us how Crooks is being harassed and discriminated against because of his colour. In the novel Crooks tells Curley's wife " you have no right comin' in a colored man's room. You got no rights messing around in here at all. Curley's wife was shocked that Crooks said this to her and she said back to him " listen nigger, you know what I can do to you if you open your trap!"

This is really racist because even though he didn't say anything offensive or bad to her, she can get him killed in an instant. This shows you how coloured people were mistreated during the great depression. Also if you take a while to study Crooks room it is very disgusting. He lives in a stable with the horses, sleeps on hay and the only excitement he has is reading books. The people that live in the bunk house have actual beds, the only animal that lives there was Candy's dog which was only there for one evening and for fun they had cards and a poker table. There is a major difference between the two rooms and the only reason there is a difference is because of a difference in skin colours.

Crooks is not allowed to stay with the other men in the bunk house or allowed to do things with them. This is because he is coloured. Throughout the book it shows us how Crooks is being harassed and discriminated against because of his colour. In the novel Crooks tells Curley's wife " you have no right comin' in a colored man's room. You got no rights messing around in here at all. Curley's wife was shocked that Crooks said this to her and she said back to him " listen nigger, you know what I can do to you if you open your trap!"

This is really racist because even though he didn't say anything offensive or bad to her, she can get him killed in an instant. This shows you how coloured people were mistreated during the great depression. Also
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Crooks In John Stienbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'
    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Crooks In John Stienbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

    Crooks did not live in the bunkhouse with the other men, but lived in the harness room of the barn, alone. It was not only not living with the other men--they excluded him from all activities. "S'pose you couldn't even go in the bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was black," (pg.72) Crooks said. Crooks just stayed alone in his room, reading, a poor substitute for human conversation.…

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Similarities Between Crook In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
    • 248 Words
    • 1 Page

    Similarities Between Crook In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    Likewise, Crook is isolated by his skin color because he is black while the other people on the ranch are white. He has to live by himself in the barn and is not allowed in the bunkhouse with the rest of the other people. He is also not allowed to play cards with the others because of his skin color and also because they think he stinks. He has to go into his room when it gets dark and all he can do is read he can’t do anything else because he doesn't have anyone that lives with him. While everyone else can go into the bunkhouse and talk or play cards. He gets mad when people come into his room because he is not allowed in the bunkhouse so he thinks it is fair if they are not in his room and he also wants his own privacy. In Mice and men…

    • 248 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Is Curley's Wife Isolated
    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Is Curley's Wife Isolated

    Crooks is being isolated from the rest of the rest of the workers because he is black. The isolation that Crooks has been subjected to has caused him to instinctively push others away. Crook shows this when he is speaking to Lennie and he tells him “ You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room . Nobody got any right in here but me” (16). Crooks was isolated because of his…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Steinbeck Present Crooks In Of Mice And Men
    • 226 Words
    • 1 Page

    How Does Steinbeck Present Crooks In Of Mice And Men

    Crooks lived on a farm with his family in California and he had white friends, Crooks father told him to watch out for white people because they were the only black family around and that's where Crooks bitterness started for white…

    • 226 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How are Crooks and Curley's wife are similar?
    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How are Crooks and Curley's wife are similar?

    The characters of Crooks and Curley’s Wife are similar in the sense that they are both outcasts on the ranch. Although they may seem like polar opposites as Crooks is a black male and Curley’s Wife is a white female, they have underlying similarities such as the discrimination they faced, not only from the men on the ranch but, from the society of the 1920’s and 30’s. They were also both portrayed as very lonely and to have had dreams that had been shattered. The other characters in the book are all white males and they are treated as superiors to these two. This is shown through the discrimination they face from the other people on the ranch and even the way Steinbeck refers to them. Firstly, Curley’s wife is not actually given a name. She is simply referred to as ‘Curley’s wife’, which suggests that she is merely a possession of Curley’s and nothing more. She is also talked about harshly by some of the men on the ranch, being labelled as a ‘rat-trap’ and being refused to be spoken to. Like Curley’s wife, Crooks is labelled by the other men of the ranch and discriminated against. They label him as a ‘nigger’ and then disregard his feelings by saying ‘he doesn’t give a damn about that’. Furthermore, his room is separate from the others because they ‘don’t want nothing to do with him’.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Explore the Relationship Shown Towards Curley’s Wife by Crooks and Candy. Essay Example
    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Explore the Relationship Shown Towards Curley’s Wife by Crooks and Candy. Essay Example

    In the extract given Crooks and Candy talk to Curley’s wife. In the extract we see Curley’s wife approach crooks and Candy and we see the relationship between them and how it explores how they have no respect for Curley’s wife. In the extract crooks approaches and insults Curley’s wife, which is quite significant as he is a black man and in the 1930’s Many black people were not respected and treated badly so the fact he has the courage to stand up to Curley’s wife suggests that he loathes her and does not care whether he gets in troubles as he disrespects her and does not care about her, this suggests that the relationship between crooks and Curleys wife is that Crooks is not showing any respect to Curleys wife even though he is black and she is white which states that he doesn’t care about hierarchy if someone is disloyal to their husband.…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Crooks In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
    • 120 Words
    • 1 Page

    Crooks In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    The importance of Crook’s character is that he’s the only African-American in the novel “ Of mice and men”. He was treated different from everyone else because of his race. Crook’s lived in his own bunkhouse by himself, And he was also disabled. Crook;s wasn’t even allowed to play cards with rest of the men because of his race. He was completely isolated from the rest of the people. Crook’s didn’t have any friends or anyone to talk too. He was completely by himself, surrounded by white faces.…

    • 120 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparison Of Power In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Comparison Of Power In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    In the book the white women has power over the black man all because he is black. “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. She closed on him “you know what I could do?” crook seemed to grow smaller and he pressed himself against the wall “yes ma’am “ that a woman was able to make a black man feel bad about himself and make him stop talking. Also how a curley has power over his wife. H=because she is women and during that time women were just property (……) that he is able to make his wife feel like property and that she can't do anything just stay at home and clean. Then how the white men has power over black men all because the color of her skin(…) that they won't talk to him or anything else beside play horseshoes with. Plus how he's not allowed to go into the buk where they other guys are he has to stay in the barn with the…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Theme Of Statment In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Theme Of Statment In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    Crooks is criticized because he is an African American. At one point in the book Lennie ends up in Crooks small room and Crooks speaks of some of his inconveniences due to being black. Crooks said to Lennie, “S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cyber-Bullying In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Cyber-Bullying In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    Crooks’ living situation reflects this unfortunate state of affairs: “‘You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you [Lennie] ain’t wanted in my room’” (68). The reader is shown here that Crooks’ has felt the impact of his exclusion to the point that he has started excluding himself. When he says, “you ain’t wanted in my room,” he is essentially refusing to give up his loneliness for fear that it may result in more marginalization. Despite the fact that he speaks of how much he enjoys his accommodations, it is clear from his words that because he is not “wanted” by the ranchers he feels the need to maintain his isolation. Curley’s Wife reinforces this when she verbally attacks him, saying, “‘you keep your place then, nigger. I could I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” (81). By calling him a “nigger,” she is strengthening his isolation as well as her own. Through his talk with Crooks, Lennie proved that Crooks had the potential to leave his loneliness behind, but instead of building on that foundation Curley’s Wife destroys it by reminding him of how easily he could be killed with no consequences - almost as if he’s an animal. By doing that, she also removes any chance that Crooks, or Candy for that matter (he was also in the room), would connect with her. She has been so marginalized that she has begun reinforcing her own loneliness by causing it in others. Both characters show the unfortunate effects of the prejudice they…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    Numerous times in the story he says how he always frowned upon by the other workers because of his skin color. He’s seen as the main target of this because he is the only black man on the ranch and he is forced to live alone in a shed of the barn. This isolation that Crooks displays makes him prejudice and angry at any white men because he thinks they all share the same mind frame about black people. He shows this when Lennie enter his room after playing around with his pup and he notices Crook’s light on in his room "You got no right to come in my room. This here's my room. Nobody got any right in here but me." (Steinbeck, 68) After that he goes on to try to make Lennie realize how he has felt almost all his…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Racism In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Racism In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    The reader only gets a sense of how Crooks is treated in chapter 2 in a conversation between two characters, “Ya see the stable bucks a nigger” he is addressed to as nigger and not his name. Later the reader gets to know more about Crooks only in Chapter four. However he is only addressed by his name by Steinbeck in contrast to the other characters that also refer him to as nigger. Steinbeck does this to show the reader Crooks didn’t really have an identity in the ranch which also referred to the black race identity indirectly in the…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Of Mice And Men Pride And Prejudice Analysis
    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Of Mice And Men Pride And Prejudice Analysis

    People tend to be biased about the color of people's skin. Today society still uses prejudice discrimination, but not as extreme within the novel towards Crooks. Inward the novel Crooks, tends to get very discriminated by the color of his skin. Even with the rights Crooks has, the discrimination between white and colored men tend to show up many times in Of Mice and Men. Lennie isn’t like the other men on the ranch, for more explanation he has no sense and doesn’t think of Crooks any different, this is supported by the quotation, “ why ain’t you wanted “(Steinback 68) when Crooks mentioned, “Well, I got a right to have a light. You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room” (Steinback 68). While Lennie couldn’t care about the factors of prejudice, he tends to think of options that most of the men on that land wouldn’t have thought about in two years. Crooks has accepted that the racism or prejudice beliefs against colored men at this point. Crooks is often alone in the stable with nobody to associate with, because the white men on the farm never have talked to Crooks due to his skin color. The result of this lead the men to judge Crooks, to the prejudice belief of black people will end up…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Of Mice And Men Loneliness Essay
    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Of Mice And Men Loneliness Essay

    Candy is old and handicapped so he isn’t included in the activities the guys plan to do. Crooks isn’t allowed out the barn, unless he is playing horseshoes with the guys. He can’t go drink with the guys or go out and pick weed in the field with them because he is black. Curley’s wife is desperate for attention. She doesn’t get any attention from Curley so she goes and try to find it from other men. She really isn’t suppose to be doing that but she does it anyway behind Curley’s back. She goes around batting her eyes and curling her hair in her fingers and men stare at her. She does that because she is lonely she wants the attention from Curley but he is too busy and doesn’t pay attention to…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Other And Othering Analysis
    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Other And Othering Analysis

    When Crooks is talking to Lennie about going out Crooks states, “They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black” (Steinbeck 68). Crooks is being treated poorly and unfairly just because of his race which reveals his role as a literary other. In addition, the author uses the literary device of the other to emphasize the characters and to develop the motif of dreams. Crooks dreams about being treated like a normal human being For instance, Crooks is talking to Curley’s wife when she says, “Well, you keep your place then, nigger” (Steinbeck 81). Through dialect like the word nigger, the reader can detect the discrimination between white and black characters. Crooks is treated unfavorably because of his race and he does not feel that this is fair. The behavior of the character in relation to Crooks’s race reveals that Crooks is Othered just because of the color of his…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics