The essence of humans’ true desires are three simple, alluring words: power, riches and fame. Three words, which put together sound dark, yet enticing. Take that away, and humanity is left with nothing but the company of one another. No heterodoxy exists, and everyone is left contented. This, however, is impossible in reality. Through the characterization of George, Crooks, and Curly’s wife, in his novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck reflects on the impending doom humans face due to their insufficient hopes blinding them from what truly matters. Curley’s wife plays a crucial part in asserting the theme, as she is a paradigm for someone whose loneliness and dreams drive them in a search for happiness somewhere they will not find it. Her …show more content…
Steinbeck purports this by dedicating several paragraphs to the description of Crooks and his lifestyle, and taking great measure in illustrating his possessions, “Crooks possessed several pairs of shoes, a pair of rubber boots, a big alarm clock and a single-barreled shotgun. And he had books, too…”(67). The rationale for the aforementioned details is so that the counteraction between Crooks’ life and the life of the his coworkers can be known. He possesses way more than any other worker on the ranch. Based on the ideas of everyone in the book, Crooks is supposed to be jubilant, when in fact, he may be more afflicted than anyone else. In an interaction with Lennie, Crooks explains, “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 bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like that? S'pose you had to sit out here and read books. Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody—to be near him.’ He whined, ‘A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody.' " (72). Crooks does not acknowledge his own assets and rather gives example of his exclusion on the ranch, and targets the emotions of readers by uncovering his inner turmoil of not having anyone to hinge onto. His words confirm the proposition of company being the only source to true
I think that throughout chapter five, both Lennie and Curley's wife feel regret through their actions, or their emotions. I think that Lennie feel regret on chapter five because of the fact that he just killed his pup, only friend, who he will no be able to pet the rabbit anymore if George saw what he did to the pup by accidentally. This quote“Why do you got to get killed? You ain’t so little as mice. I didn’t bounce you hard” (85) showed that since Lennie kills the pup that Slim gave him while he was playing too roughly with the puppy.
While alongside Lennie and Candy, Crooks’ fellow ranchers, a woman who is commonly known as Curley’s wife, interrupts their cordial conversation and snootily insults each of the men to which Crooks righteously defends them. However, primarily due to his skin tone, Curley’s wife threatens to “‘get [Crooks] strung up on a tree’” which is seemingly “‘so easy it ain’t even funny’” (Steinbeck 80). Subsequently, Crooks has “reduced himself to nothing” and his solitude is even more pronounced as society repeatedly illustrates his differences. Although quite untrue, Crooks feels that he is not even an equivalent of a person, more of a machine whose only usefulness are his inadequate working
Lennie’s strength and his childish mind is his biggest struggle that affects many people on the ranch and himself. Lennie is overprotective of George and about being with him he would do anything for the guy, so when Crooks tells him, “S’pose he gets killed or hurt so he can’t come back. ”(71) Lennie then contradicts his opinion”This ain’t true. George ain’t got hurt.
Crooks is subjected to living amongst animals, meaning that his entire space is shared from the building that he sleeps in to his possessions, “His apple box…in it a range of medicines both for himself and for the horses” (66). Having Crooks live among the animals is something that stands out, symbolizing his value as a black man in that day and age, however, this is further exacerbated by the verity of his having to share everything with the animals. Being a black person during this time period means that he “kept his distance” from the other men, while also keeping his own area “swept and fairly neat” (67). Since he is banned from the bunk house where the men all sleep, Crooks is forced to keep his own area as nice as possible so that he can be content with his space. This may seem like a healthy alternative to being among the other men, although the reality is that a clean and neat space is still empty without company.
A well-written story causes us to think about life increasing our understanding of the world and giving us insight into how people think feel and behave. This insight into life in a novel is done through themes, ideas that recur throughout a text, and comment on such aspects of human experience. Therefore, through our exposure to texts, we learn about human experience using the themes, aided with literary techniques and features, explored within such texts. John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men explores themes which directly relate to the own authors experience during the 1930’s Great Depression where there was mass unemployment and extreme poverty. This led to homelessness which led to ‘every man for himself’.
The characters in “Of Mice and Men” have memorable personalities that we all can relate to due to their set archetypes. John Steinbeck uses these common and generalized in order to have the readers relate more to his characters. This allows the reader to experience the story and feelings of the characters much better and lets the reader to connect to the character’s feelings, or force the reader to form opinions that aligns with those of the main protagonist(s). In “Of Mice of Men”, readers are initially introduced to Curley’s Wife with words such as “tart”, and having “the eye”. Which, even if readers do not know what that means, it may be inferred through diction that she is overly flirty, or a “tramp”.
Crooks is excluded and abused, because he is African American. Candy is continuously rejected, and made to feel helpless and unworthy, because he is old and only has one hand. These traits have singled out Crook and Candy, and left them in a state of hopelessness and misery. The awful way that these characters are treated on the ranch embody how those who are different are treated in a uniformitarian society. Steinbeck exposes the horror of a exclusive society through the heartbreak that his characters go through.
In the Book Of Mice And Men You will read about a lot of characters who deserve sympathy. Although Curley’s wife and Lennie are characters who deserve pity, Crooks is the most sympathetic character, his race, bad back , and is very lonely. He's not the only sympathetic character in the book pretty much every character deserves some pity for example Curley’s Wife and Lennie deserve some pity. One of the reasons the reader feels bad for Crooks is because he is separated from the rest of the ranch workers because of his race. The narrator explains, ¨Crooks, the Negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room: a little shed that leaned off the barn.”
In Crooks’ room Crooks converses with Lennie about his feelings. Bothered, he laments over how he can “play horseshoes til it’s dark” with all the other workers, but then he has to go “read books” all by himself(72,72). While Crooks does not despise reading books, he wishes that he had a companion to confide in. The deep mistrust that Crooks feels towards others, though, is one of the reasons he does not have a friend to talk to. Lennie creates excitement in Crooks because Crooks can trust Lennie since he knows that Lennie will never repeat what he says .
Early in the novel, Crooks acts bitter towards all of the farm hands because he is the only black person on a ranch and everyone discriminates against him. This causes him to stay secluded to his own sleeping quarters and causes his dreams to die also. Later on, Lennie and his friend George arrives and Lennie attempts to befriend Crooks and get to know him. Crooks though, has no intention to befriend Lennie because he is suspicious of any kind of kindness due to his loneliness. Crooks then responds by telling Lennie that George will never return, upsetting him.
First of all, Crooks is forced to live separate from the other men on the farm solely because he is a different race than his boss. He is treated like an animal and is forced to sleep in the stable. He has a collection of books which shows a grasp on humanity, but “[Crooks] had his apple box over his bunk, and in it a range of medicine bottles, both for himself and the horses”(66). This shows that even though Crooks is trying to hold onto his humanity, he is being forced to slip away from it. He has almost come to terms with being treated like an animal as a result of continuous emotional abuse.
Books ain't no good.” (P. 72). Here Steinbeck lets the reader know that Crooks "has nobody”. He has no family left and no friends on the ranch. He reads books to fill his time and keep him company because the other workers do not want him in the bunkhouse to simply play a game of cards, but a book cannot compare to a human being.
Crooks is a character, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. This man is portrayed as a crippled African-American stable buck that lives
Crooks is very sealed of the author had described him as the following. “Crooks kept his distance and demanded others keep theirs,” (Steinbeck 67). Crooks has trust issues because of how sealed of and private he is. His
Of Mice And Men Struggles were afoot among the American population during the depression, once again, leaving the woman without choices. John Steinbeck demonstrated the restrictions and life of women within the great depression through Curley’s wife, her mother, society, and her own American dream. Curley’s wife has no choices in what she can do or her future. Her power is limited to the men working at the farm, and even then she can barely control their jobs.