In the book Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, he writes about two men one named Lennie and one named George having a dream, but is ruined through the troubles of Lennie 's doings. This book was written in the 1930’s talking about migrant workers and how they survived through that era. In that era all migrant workers preferably work alone, but with George and Lennie they stick together because Lennie is a more challenged person so he doesn 't know his wrong doings which causes lots of trouble for George. On page 94, one of the most significant passages is written on having a dialogue between George and Candy about how they were unable to get the farm because Lennie had ruined their chances of getting it. Steinbeck creates a motif of loneliness through the different characters he writes about, ties in different strands of the story to make one storyline, and foreshadows events to come.
Crooks later goes on a rant about how he’s practically alone most of the day, all because of his race. He took a sense of maligned humor in seeing Lennie’s despair about the possibility of losing George, along a mentality of “If I can’t have it, then
In chapter four, when Lennie is coming in to visit with some of Slim’s puppies, one of which Slim gave to Lennie, Crooks vents to Lennie about how lonely he is. “ 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?” When Crooks says this to Lennie, it shows us several different things about his character.
Crooks is a instrestring character according to the story because he is only mentioned once or twice. He is interesting because by the two times he was mention you could tell right away that crooks is one of the loneliest people on the farm just like curley wife. In the story crooks is the only black person on the farm and this was a time of segregation so white people were not allowed to talk to black people. Crooks was lonely according to the story because he lives in his own bunk and is separated from everyone. Crooks has no one to talk to on the farm.
Crooks, who is the black man in the story, is treated differently because of his skin color. Crooks lives in a barn alone, separated from all the whites. Lennie asks Crooks about it and Crooks answered him; “I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room.” “Why ain’t you wanted?” Lennie asked.
Crooks is constantly being discriminated against which is the effect of being colored at this time. During the book talks to Crooks about the farm he desires, Crook says to Lennie, “S'pose you couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like that?” () Crook is at the bottom of the social hierarchy because of his race. This inequality is the barrier to his dreams of being
Crooks is a black man who has been given the nickname because of his crooked back. He is another character in the novel that is discriminated against. Similarly, as Lennie and Candy are discriminated because of their weakness, Crooks is discriminated because of his race. For example, he says how he “ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse… can’t play [cards] because I’m black” (68). His race causes him to be separated from everyone else and be isolated in his own room.
First off Crooks is the character that is held back in his journey towards freedom by his race. There are many examples where Crooks is insulted by his race, but there is this specific incident where George is laying down his cards and hears someone calling : “Stable buck, oooh stable buck!” And then, “Where the hell is that goddamn nigger?” This proves that in the 1930’s people were still racist and used to call African Americans names like nigger. And Crooks can’t really do anything because if he does he would probably get tortured or starved, and he can’t quit because it wasent his job, he was a slave.
While Crooks, a victim of racial prejudice, expresses his isolation openly, he also socializes with other workers on the job and while playing horseshoes with them. Curley’s wife, on the other hand, cannot talk to anyone without suffering the consequences of a jealous husband: “ I get so lonely,’ she said. “you can talk to people , but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?”
Crooks is the only African American on the ranch and is also very kind to Lennie and shows him respect even though they have many differences. “‘Come on in and set a while,’ Crooks said. ‘Long as you won’t get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down.’” (69). Even though Lennie bothered him at first, he still lets him stay in the room because everyone else was gone and if Lennie was alone he could get himself into trouble.
We all may have had the feeling of loneliness and isolation, wanting companionship feeling abandonment. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, there are men living on a ranch having their own reasons for loneliness or being isolated. The three characters Crooks, George, and Lennie crusade dealing with own ways of loneliness and isolation. Crooks has no one that likes him because he’s black, Lennie struggles mentally and George struggles with always having to care for him. They all can’t decide whether it is that they want to be alone or not.
Crooks was the only black man on the ranch, and of course with people talking about him and treating him like he was worthless, he grew to be lonely. Crooks was a lonely man, he didn’t have anyone who had the same “value” as him. I mean, imagine being on a ranch, being the only colored person there, and basically being alone for days. When
Crooks was forced to sleep in a separate room next to the stable, apart from the bunks where the rest of the ranch workers resided. Crooks was unable to participate in anything that the rest of the ranch workers did. All of this was a result of his ethnicity. “ “Cause I’m black. They play cards, but I can’t play because I’m black.
They say I stink. Well, I tell you, all of you stink to me” (68). As blacks were no longer enslaved, they were still an outcast in America at the time during the Great Depression. Treated unequally they couldn’t get the same jobs as what most white men could get but, if they do they were separated. As Crooks was working at the ranch just like the other men, he was living separately from the other men making him isolated.
The motif of loneliness is explored throughout John Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men, not only through the main characters, but the secondary characters as well. Of Mice and Men has many examples of discrimination. Some of the best examples are racism and sexism, which is why two of the characters are shown to be lonely. Crooks, the stable hand, is black, which makes all the others on the ranch want to have nothing to do with him. Similarly, Candy is outed since he is an old cripple.