Racism was a strong form of prejudice in the 1930’s, and throughout the novel is violently used against the stable buck Crooks. From his first introduction in the book, he is constantly being described and treated like an animal. In the first description of Crooks’ room in chapter 4, it is referred to as ‘A little shed that leans off the wall of the barn’. This gives the impression that Crooks is not important enough to sleep with the other ranch hands, and must be isolated and separated from them: giving him no other choice but to sleep with the animals: creatures that are on the same level of the hierarchy as him. Also, Crooks’ possessions reflect this image. His bed is described as ‘a long box of straw’ which implies that Crooks isn’t worth his own bed, and must settle for a horse’s trough: something that even a horse doesn’t sleep in, but eats out of. As well as this, most of his other possessions don’t even belong directly to him. For example, ‘a broken harness in process of being mended; strips of new leather’ and ’a range of medicine bottles, both for him and the horses.’ This shows that even his own room, isn’t fully his own room, and that he has to share it with the horses; suggesting that even the horses are more important than Crooks as even they have the power to invade crooks’ space. It could also mean that all of crooks’ possessions are considered just as worthless as a horses ‘broken harness’. This shows the reader that crooks means no more to the ranch hands than one of the other horses.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
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 -
Crooks (named for his crooked back) is the stable buck who works with the ranch horses. He lives in the harness room by himself because of the segregation law set by Jim Crow; he is also the only black man on the ranch. Crooks likes to read books this shows he is cleverer than the other men on the ranch and likes to keep his room neat, but he has been so beaten down by loneliness and prejudicial treatment of that he is also starting to treat people with hatred. His Physical disability is one of the many ways that he suffers on the ranch. John Steinbeck tries to make the novel realistic by showing how black people were treated and isolated in 1930s America. Crooks may not be the main character in the novel, he is important because he fitted…
- 382 Words
- 2 Pages
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 -
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 -
Crooks was kicked by a horse way before Lennie and George got to the farm. Crooks permanently has a crooked back,and that's how he got the nickname. He is also African American, so the boss doesn't treat him as well as the other workers. Crooks doesn't sleep in the bunkhouse because he knows he isn't wanted there. Crooks knows his isn't wanted because he is black and some workers call him the N word. "Ya see the stable buck's a nigger." Because of these challenges, Crooks is always lonely and depressed. The stable buck faces the most challenges throughout the novel, both physical and…
- 591 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
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 -
When George meets Candy, he tells him about the "black" man called Crooks, "Give the Stable Buck hell. Ya see the stable buck's a nigger". This was typical of 1930's America as black people were thought of as a lower class to white people.It also was suggested that Crooks was friendless as he was isolated from the others and worked alone. He has his "own bunk in a separate nigger room" and "he scattered personal possessions around the floor; for being alone he could leave things about". Crooks suffered from racial discrimination, which makes him feel lower that the rest on the ranch. Crooks also doesn’t get the same human rights as the white people.…
- 1568 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Crooks, known as “stable buck”, was an African American man who was racially segregated by most. The setting of the novel was told during the Great Depression, a time when racial discrimination was common. Because of the time period, Crooks faced prejudice treatment by the white workers and suffered the feeling of loneliness. This feature was shown when the favored men of the ranch…
- 445 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Steinbeck describes Crooks’ outcasted life very early in the book through Candy. Candy says how Crooks gets abuse from the boss for things that are unreasonable and not his fault. ‘An’ he give the stable buck hell too.’’Ya see the stable bucks a nigger.’ These comments suggest Crooks is a victim because he is the only character said to have been abused by the boss of the ranch, Curley’s Father. It also shows how Crooks is used as a sort of rag doll that the boss uses to take out all his frustration on.…
- 378 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
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 -
Crooks is the stable buck for the ranch. He was kicked in the back by a horse and now has a crippled back; that is why his nickname is crooks. He is also African American, and, at the time, African Americans were still perceived as lesser than the whites. Because of his skin color he is not allowed to stay in the bunkhouse with the rest of the ranch hands, but instead, has his own room in the barn. Being the only colored person on the ranch, he does not really talk to the other workers that much. This leads to him getting lonely all the time. He does not take part in any of the social activities on the ranch, except for the occasional horseshoe game, and then turns to reading books. This gets boring and he gets more and more lonely. When Lennie comes to talk to Crooks, Crooks tells Lennie “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t matter no difference who the guy is, longs he with you. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an he gets sick” (Steinbeck 105). This shows that he…
- 821 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Crooks-Loneliness has made Crook 's a very bitter and isolated person. He is truly not able to leave this situation because of his race. The other men at the ranch do not relate with Crooks unless he is working because he is black. Other than when they are working, the other men shut Crooks out off all of their activities except horseshoes. Crooks are very isolated and not welcome in leisure activities. He has become bitter and known to lash out at people because of the loneliness that he has. Crooks 's emotions are displayed to the reader when he talks to Lennie in his room about having no one to relate to and communicate with. He exclaimed : "Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he 's goin ' to come back. S 'pose you didn 't have nobody. S 'pose you couldn 't go into the bunk house and play rummy `cuase you was black...A guy needs somebody--to be near him" In a way, everyone needs someone to talk to, whether it is a friend, family member, or even a pet. This is a source of comfort and wealth for the person. Crooks does not have any of these sources. Crooks has never been treated well by any of his co-workers because he is black. This has affected Crooks greatly. He has become bitter and has obtained a…
- 893 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
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 -
John Steinbeck portrays racism on the ranch through the interactions or lack of interactions between Crooks and the other workers on the ranch. Crooks has been working at the ranch longer than most of the other workers and for the most part minds his own business. Despite Crooks being a nice fellow, most of the workers are racist towards Crooks. For example, many workers on the ranch use derogatory names when they speak or refer to Crooks. When Candy was welcoming George and Lennie to the ranch, he refers to Crooks as the "stable buck," which is a derogatory name to African-Americans. In addition, according to Crooks, other workers on the ranch claim that, "I[he] stink," which is a stereotypical idea white people…
- 628 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In this novel, there are many social outcasts. Crooks, the stable buck, may be the most persecuted character in the novel. He lived separated from other people because he was black. At Christmas, they made Crooks fight with white men with his hands tied back. They didn't care how Crooks felt as they only wanted to have fun at the expense of the weak. Most of the men was prejudiced against Crooks referring to…
- 1845 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays