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Racism in the book of mice and men
Character essay on crooks
A conclusion on crooks character
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In this essay I will be talking about how Crooks is presented in the novel and how Steinbeck does this. In the novel, Crooks is mainly presented as a victim. This is shown by the fact that he has to deal with racism and discrimination daily, for example "I could get you strung up on a tree so easily it ain't even funny." This quote shows that in the 1930s, people of colour were seen as a lower class compared to white people, and they were treated as such, the Ku Klux Klan were also very popular in the 1930s, and lynching and other punishments were seen as a big social event for a lot of people to attend.
Crooks is also portrayed as someone who has given up on having dreams, possibly even before having any, due to the unlikelihood of him ever
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This also ties into his race, and is shown in the quote "they all play cards in there but I can't cause I'm black." Steinbeck may have used this to hit home hard when it comes to getting people to realise jut how bad racism used to be. He realises that he cannot take part in anything the others do, because of his race and social status. He is also isolated in the fact that he does not have any room in the bunkhouse, and is instead demoted to the stables with the horses, having a "long box with straw" for his bed, and even the horses seem to disown him at times, with him being kicked in the back by one at one point.
While he is a very isolated and lonely person, he does seem to make an attempt to open up to people, even if he doesn't want to at first. This is first shown when Lennie enters his room, and while he tries to force Lennie to leave in the beginning, he soon gives in and lets Lennie join him. He also talks to Candy occasionally, but not often as Candy has to soon revert back to being racist towards him, just to fit in with the other men due to his own loneliness and desperation.
Lastly, he is presented as a weak person at times, but also can be viewed as extremely strong. While he does suffer extremely badly with discrimination and being isolated a lot, causing him to not open up to many people due to the fear of being beaten or worse, he can be seen as a very strong person, just because of the fact that he gets on with life and doesn't complain much about what goes on
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...
= = = I am doing my essay on Crooks the 'Stable Buck' who is black 'the. nigger'. I have chosen to do Crooks as I feel he is a defined character, different to the rest, so I thought it would be interesting.
How Crooks is Used in the Noel to Tell us About Life on the Ranch in Of Mice and Men
In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there is only one woman and one African American male announced in the reading. The women is Curley’s wife, her name is not stated in the novel, who is the only woman that lives on the farm. While Crooks, the African American male, lives on the farm in a little cottage away from the rest of the men that live there. As we keep reading, we soon get the idea that Steinbeck’s purpose of women and African Americans is to present: discrimination towards race, gender stereotyping, and the double standards in the predominantly male workplace.
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.)
Crooks, An African American in Of Mice and Men, who is not able to fit in because of his race, symbolizes racial profiling in society today. Steinbeck clearly makes his point in the novella by concluding that Crooks is not important to them because he is African American. This relates to society today through the Trayvon Martin Case. Trayvon was shot and killed because a Latino thought he was harmful because of his race. Trayvon and Crooks are both victims of racial profiling in society.
First and foremost, Crooks is a person who gets treated with discrimination, much more than anyone else. Simply because he is black and has a crooked back, from which he received his name from. People continuously treat him horribly, one person being Curley’s Wife. “Well you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even
farm". A final example of the value of dreams and goals is when Crooks hears
An example of how the men are discriminative towards Crooks is that he is forced to live in a shack away from the bunkhouse and also Crooks says that "They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say "I stink" and "I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse." An example of when Curley's Wife is critical towards Crooks is when she looks into his room to see what Lennie and Crooks are doing and then she states, shaking her head, that they left the weak ones behind. Also, she threatens to have Crooks hanged because a black man should never talk to a white woman the way he just had. As a result of all of these discriminatory acts against him, Crooks feels unwanted and lonely because of his color and placement on the farm.
Of mice and men - What does the scene set in crooks's room tell us about
lonely. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Crooks, a black stable buck, endures alienation due to racial
Crooks expressed feelings of loneliness through out Of Mice and Men. Crooks? loneliness is caused because he is black, at the time the story took place there was racism. Since Crooks is black he wasn?t able to socialize with the white men. When Steinbeck describes all of Crooks? possessions, it shows that Crooks has been at the ranch a long time and that his possessions are all the he cares about. In Crooks? room, Lennie comes to talk to him. Crooks is cautious at first, this was from the years of racism that Crooks endured, he learned not to associate with white folk.
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 ...
Racial discrimination has been around for a long time, judging people for the color of their skin. Crooks is affected by this because he is black. Blacks in that time were thought as lesser than the white people. The racial discrimination affects Crooks' life in only negative ways. He is plagued by loneliness because of the color of his skin. His lack of company drives him crazy. Only when Lennie comes in to his room does he feel less lonely. He talked of his loneliness using a hypothetical scenario of George leaving Lennie. Crooks' responds to this discrimination by staying in his barn and being secluded. He doesn't want anyone to be in there but deep down he does so he can have some company. He isn't wanted in the bunk house or to play cards with the others because he is black. This effected the story by letting people walk all over him, letting them think they can do whatever they want, and ultimately making the people think they have a lot of power when really they do not.
In the story, Crooks' home is, "a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn." This suggests that he is isolated from the other men and treated like the animals he cares for and as such is made to live with them. Crooks' "bunk" was actually a long box filled with straw, which could further reinforce the fact that he is treated like an animal or it could show that he is poor and has low, if any social status. To say that Steinbeck seems to make his characters seem low and poor, Crooks seems to have a number of pleasant possessions, however, some are damaged but this could represent their amount of use.