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Racism in literature
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One may choose to categorize an individual based upon their appearance or beliefs. On the contrary, one’s character can only be determined based upon their beliefs and happiness, not from what society may assume. The novella entitled, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck highlights the adventures of two outcasts and their quest to find their own utopia. However, they are continuously judged by their position in the world whilst attempting to further their travels. Three characters that are affected by their position in the world are George, Crooks, and Lennie who all feel separated as a result.
Indubitably, George’s position in the world is a low class worker desperately trying to make a living moving to and fro. George must receive working
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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 …show more content…
Lennie is an enormous human who is made fun of for being slow, both mentally and physically, and is often picked on. For example, in the novella Of Mice and Men Lennie frantically exclaims, “‘George,’ he cried. ‘Make ‘um leave me alone, George.’ He Backed until he was against the wall, and Curley followed, slugging him in the face. Lennie’s hands remained at his sides; he was too frightened to defend himself” (Steinbeck 63). The character, Curley is trying to start a fight with Lennie. However, Lennie is extremely scared and does not like fighting even though he is giant. As a result, Lennie’s position in the world causes him to be picked on due to him being forgetful and not the “sharpest pencil in the box”. Correspondingly, Lennie is viewed as a monster due to his significant size. He is constantly accused of hurting animals on purpose and even human beings. For instance, on page 65 George adds, “‘He didn’t know what to do. I told you nobody ought never to fight him’” (Steinbeck). After attacking Lennie, Curley makes Lennie out to be a monster and tells everyone that he crushed his hand on purpose. In reality, Lennie was defending himself which forced him to feel separated from the other based upon his position in society because he is viewed as an outcast since he is quite
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...
Although discrimination is still present during the time period of the book, Crooks still attempts to make friends. Others treat Crooks unjust because he is different from others given that he is black. He does not know how to treat others because of the way others treat him; with disrespect. Furthermore, he does not know how to vent his frustration and as a result, lashes out at others because they are cruel to him. Crooks is not allowed to participate in daily events with white people. He is treated unfairly and therefore acts the same way toward the white people (the ones who offended him.)
In the book Of Mice and Men works as a stable buck on the ranch. Crooks is a lonely, wrinkle man that think that everyone is racist because he is black, and that made him anger enough to take part of his anger out on Lennie. Pg. 68 paragraph 6 “’Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black.”
Crooks is a disabled black old man who works and lives in the stable. Crooks once said to Lennie, “they play cards in there, but I can’t play because I'm black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, all of you stink to me” (Steinbeck 68). this shows anger and doubts against people as he believes they are there to harm him. Crooks has a disabled back due to a horse kicking his back while at work, in fact, that is how he got his name. The main reason for Crook’s isolation is because of the color of his skin. Crooks is not only left aside from activities but he is left in the stable to live along with with the animals instead of sleeping with the men in the bunkhouse. Crooks was thrown and harmed so much that he believes that he should not trust anyone and that he will never be accepted in
Have you ever been so lonely that it hurt or you got so desperate just to have someone? Lots of people experience this but everyone overlooks them. In John Steinbeck's mice and men, There are characters that open up and show that they are lonely and wanted to be accepted. One person in the book is Crooks.
Steinbeck uses crooks as a symbol of racial injustice, he shows this throughout the novella omam to show how race affected people during the period of the great depression. In the Novella, Steinbeck depicts Crooks as someone who is ostracised from the bunkhouse and lives by himself. Steinbeck describes crooks bunk as "a long box filled with straw, on which his blankets were flung."
Human nature cannot be impacted by society's views. Crook's is an African American stable boy who is isolated due to his race the farm that is populated heavily by white men. Even though Crooks had been detached from the men on the farm, he allows
Steinbeck refers to Lennie Small as George’s opposite, and then continues to write “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely”(2) . Lennie acts like a child due to his mental disabilities, yet he manages to have over-achieving strength and will always follow any instruction George gives
Crooks as one of the characters of the novel, has been affected by prejudice in the form of racism. This impacted everything he did and how people saw him as a person, “This is just a nigger talkin', an' a busted-back nigger. So it don't mean nothing…” (pg.70).
In the short story Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck uses Lennie to show society’s ignorance, cruelty, and lack of understanding in regards to the unknown. Unlike his companion George, Lennie is described as shapeless and brutishly large, and though he is innocent he is still capable of considerable violence. Although Lennie has a hard time controlling what he feels, he does his best to please those around him.
In Of Mice and Men, an older gentleman named Crooks was discriminated for multiple reasons. For instance, Crooks was African American, so the bigotry on the farm was unimaginable. The men called him racist names like “Stable Buck” or “The Nigger.” He also had a physical disability that dawned on his appearance. Having a crooked back made people think less of him, and men on the farm often terrorized and beat him. The men also thought that because he was an African American that he smelt bad, like an animal. To make things even worse, they made him sleep apart from the other men, near the stables. The whites thought that he came from so foreign land, like an exotic animal that was unwanted, so they didn’t know how to communicate with him. The discriminatory actions of the whites made Crooks hostile.
In addition to his glum feeling of isolation, Crooks has developed a cold attitude toward the others on the ranch, mostly due to the fact that they are white and exclude him from most activities. When Lennie asks Crooks why he is not wanted in the bunk house, Lennie expresses his disgust to him by saying, “‘’Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me’”(Steinbeck 68). Crooks has become hardened because of his
Since Crooks was a black worker, nobody would accept him into their bunkhouse. “Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say I stink…”( Steinbeck 68). Due to Crooks isolation from his workers, he had faced many years of isolation and loneliness. Racial injustice applied a great amount of hardship on many African American lives. To depict what African American truly went through during the Great Depression, Steinbeck includes the character of Crooks. Not only did Crooks face exclusion and discrimination, but he also dealt with barbarism. Crooks had endured some sort of racial hatred each time he would even open his mouth to talk. For example, while Crooks was standing up to Curley’s wife, she bluntly countered with, ”Well, you keep your place then, N*****. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny”( Steinbeck 80). Crooks learned to live carefully and to not think rashly, since if he made one mistake that could result in him losing his job, or worse, he could lose his
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses stereotypes and discrimination to convey a message of how the characters feel. A lot of the stereotypes and clichés are just common beliefs of the times, but a few are situational. To quote a quite distinguished reader, "Characters are ‘trapped’- either by what others think of them, or by their situation." A lot of the character’s feelings about themselves and what others think of them will lead to loneliness.
The racial discrimination was one of the aspects of the discrimination in this story. Consequently, Crooks had to battle with various difficulties and conflicts, which prevented him from reaching his full potential. The ranch hands did not let Crooks live, eat, and play with them because his skin colour was different. It led to the conflict between him and Lennie. "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. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me.” (Steinbeck, 68). In this conversation between Lennie and African - American stable buck Crooks, Crooks explains why he could not accepted to play cards together with other ranch hands. The fact that other ranch hands discriminate Crooks because of his skin colour is one of the important examples that prove social belief that race was one factor to determine a person’s value in Depression era. Crooks was isolated. This isolation prevented Crooks ...