Preview

'of Mice and Men' Essay (Discussing Relationships of Crooks

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
610 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
'of Mice and Men' Essay (Discussing Relationships of Crooks
Explore the relationships Crooks has with other vulnerable characters in ‘Of Mice and Men’.
The novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ was written by John Steinback in the 1920s however it was published in the 1930s; At the time America was at a state where coloured people were treated harshly. Also racism and etc was involved at the time. In this novella Crooks is represented as a black worker who’s treated different from everyone and has no relationships. Crooks is also used as a tool for Steinback to highlight how bad racism was and how people were treated.
In section 4 when he is first presented with no relationships. Crooks relationships with others when first presented are negative, the quote , “Crooks the negro stable buck had his bunk in the harness room a little shed that leaned of the wall of the barn”, shows that Crooks is segregated form the rest of the barn also by using the word ‘negro’ shows the racism at the time in America. The word ‘little shed’ implies that Crooks is a tool that is kept in a shed or he is an animal who is kept in a small shed away from the workers leaned of the barn. In section 4 Crooks says ‘Mr Slim’ this shows us that he has a subservient position. This quote shows us they only view him as a black man and not as an individual. This also supports that he was classed as a second class citizen therefore shows that he has to speak to him with respect but crooks does not have to be shown any respect by the others.
Crooks takes advantage of a more vulnerable character the quote, “His voice grew soft and persuasive. S’pose George don’t come back no more.”, shows he is taking advantage of a more vulnerable character when George is not present in the room. This implies that he is taking revenge of what the other workers have treated him like, so he is trying to take pleasure by being cruel to Lennie. The phrase ‘soft and persuasive’ suggests that he is saying it in this way so Lennie feels he is telling the truth.
Crooks begins to enjoy being in

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck uses descriptive language and diction to explain Crook’s room. After reading the two paragraphs explaining Crooks’s room, a reader can infer that Crooks is caring, lonely and informed about his rights. Crooks’s room is described as “a little shed” with many personal possessions.” Furthermore, unlike the other men on the ranch he has books which consist of “a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905” and medicine for the horses.…

    • 260 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Crooks is isolated because of color and his disability. He is physically divided from his fellow co workers and lives in a separate bunkhouse. His loneliness forces him to acquiesce when Lennie tries to make a decent conversation with him. But when Lennie fills Crooks in about the dream farm place, all he does is laughs. It could be because he saw too many men say that but they end up working for someone or just simply ended up in ditch. Crooks is understandably cynical and shows apprehension about how others treat him in return. He cannot see beyond the preconception he has always encountered in the past. Ways that Crooks copes with his seclusion is by reading books. The other guys can't read but he can which gives him a huge advantage of…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why Is Crooks So Unhappy

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages

    During that time, racism is still going on. White’s keep distance from the black and black’s keep distance away from white, both of they knew that they won’t be together. So is Crooks, no one treats him in a respectful way. He is isolated and powerless than anyone else on the ranch. ‘Well, I got a right to have a light. You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room.” (p68) Crooks is isolated both by his skin color and by the home he has been assigned.…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Croks in of Mice and Men

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages

    He faces cruel discrimination, almost animalistic. Although his name is Crooks, he is often referred to as nigger. This brings his colour into his name unlike any other character in the novella. We are first introduced to Crooks by Candy, an old ranch worker, “swamper” as he is often called. He tells George and Lenny that the “stable bucks a nigger” then goes on to say, “Yeah... Nice fella too”. This was not said in a derogatory manner and therefore shows the casual use of the term ‘nigger’, which in this day and age would be considered highly offensive. This shows the change of attitude towards black people since the novella was written nearly 80 years ago. In the 1930’s black people of America did not have a very high status, they were not allowed to vote; there was a clear division between black and white people. Crooks character mirrors 1930s America. As his situation was what the black community were also facing. From his past experiences we see how Crooks is very cynical towards the American dream, but at one point in the novella this seems to change.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 'Of Mice and Men', John Steinbeck includes a character, Crooks, as a stereotype of black people in the Great Depression; proud, bitter, and very sarcastic. Crooks is also extremely pessimistic and cold-hearted, due to the way people had been treating him all his life. Steinbeck portrays many of his characters lonely and isolated. Just as Candy's age and handicap isolate him, and Curley's wife's being a female makes her life solitary, Crooks's race is the main reason for his isolation. Because of his race, he is discriminated and must live in a separate room (a shed), away from everyone else. Steinbeck revolves all of Chapter 4 around Crooks so that he could convey Crooks loneliness and isolation.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author's portrayal of Crooks' living environment allows him to show the unfairness of the way the American society discriminate the black. Crooks 'had his bunk in the harness room' and his bunk was made up of 'a long bed filled with straw'. His medicine bottles were 'both for himself and for the horses'. The reason he was badly treated is that he is black. The author…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    "my ol' man didn't like that. I never knew till long later why de didn't like that"…

    • 262 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    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
  • Good Essays

    Crooks, Candy, Curley's wife, and Lennie are all stereotypically displayed as what they come off as at first, the colored man, the migrant worker, the woman, and the one with cognitive disabilities. All of them are clearly underprivileged in some way, either by their sex, gender, brains, or where they come from.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Of Mice and Men”, Steinbeck uses the character of Crooks to convey ideas about racism in 1930 America during the Great Depression. Crooks is the only black man in the novella who is ostracized by the other ranch hands and it is through his character that we experience the view of blacks in America during 1930s. Crooks doesn’t live in the bunkhouse with the…

    • 660 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Steinbeck presents Crooks

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages

    His character shows us how coloured people were treated in the 1930's. It tells us that they were treated as second-class citizens and weren't worthy to share anything with non-coloured people, we know this due to Crook's having "his bunk in the harness room", I think that it is because his boss doesn't think it's right for Crook's to share a bunkhouse with the other men on the ranch, so Crook's is forced to sleep in the barn. Shows how everyone targeted him as inferior because of the colour of the skin. The separation of his bunk implies that because of his skin colour no one wants to sleep in the same room as him as they think that Crooks isn’t worthy of living with them and…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink.’” (Steinbeck 68) Since Crooks was a black man and all the other workers were white, he was never given chances to interact with them, because they looked upon him with disdain and regarded him as a lesser human being. This establishes the fact that there was some sort of “social hierarchy” which formed the basis of racism in that time period, where whites determined themselves as “higher” than Negroes. This “social hierarchy” must have been prominent for decades, because even as a child, Crooks faced isolation being part of the only African American family in his hometown.…

    • 1378 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    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
  • Good Essays

    Of Mice and Men

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Steinbeck presents Crooks as a victim of racism throughout the entire book, Firstly Crooks is the only black man on the ranch illustrating that he is an outcast. We first here of Crooks when Candy refers to him as a 'nigger', although acceptable at the time the word dehumanises Crooks and shows the lack of respect he receives from other members on the ranch. Ostracised by the white members on the ranch, Crooks resents it As he says ' If I say something, why it's just a nigger sayin' it' this depicts Crooks as someone that has turned to self- pity and the notion that he is a lesser human than his white counterparts. He says to Lennie 'I ain't wanted in the bunk house and you ain't wanted in my room' he carries on saying 'they say I stink' which can be interpreted that the white members on the ranch would find it appalling if a 'nigger' would breathe the same air in the bunkhouse as them.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In chapter 4 of mice and men, John Steinbeck first begins to really introduce the character known as Crooks. He is a stable buck who is treated poorly simply because of his race. Throughout Crooks’ time at the ranch, he is generally shunned from the other workers with the exception of Slim. This all changed however in chapter 4 when Lennie stumbles into his room looking for something to do. This of course, led to the rise and fall that Crooks went through that day.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays