Dealing With Loneliness
If you’re different, best of luck to you. In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, there are many characters who deal with discrimination. Three characters who experience this the most are Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Lennie. Curley’s wife faces discrimination because she is a woman. Crooks experiences discrimination because he is black, and Lennie is discriminated against because of his mental disability. Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Lennie all have learned to live with discrimination, but they still long to someday be accepted. Curley’s wife experiences a lot of discrimination in the novel Of Mice and Men for being a woman. In the time setting of this novel, women did not have many options or much control over their lives. Either they went into the show business or they got married and stayed at home.
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While he does have his own quarters, he feels shunned because of his color. Many people at this time period thought that blacks were dirty and lower than caucasians. Crooks has gotten used to this way of life, and so he isn’t used to having anyone who treats him as an equal. Having his own place is nice for Crooks; however, he would like nothing more than to get to live in the barracks with the other men and fit in. Sadly, as Crooks says himself to Lennie, “You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room. “Why ain’t you wanted?” Lennie asked. “ ‘Cause I’m black” (68). As Crooks explains, his hope of fitting in is not possible, but it remains his greatest hope. Finally, Lennie is discriminated against in Of Mice and Men because he is mentally disabled. Like Crooks who is black, he has no control over this fact, but it separates him from other men and makes him feel a little isolated. It also can get him into a lot of trouble as is shown when they leave
Back in the 30’s, segregation was a big problem. People whose skin was colored didn’t have the same rights as white men. Crooks is isolated from the rest of the guys because he is black and he gets put into a broken old shack instead of a real bunkhouse. In this quote, Crooks feels that if the men aren’t letting him in the bunkhouse, why should he let some white man come
Lennie has the most obvious handicap, since it greatly affects his ability to function. Lennie has the mental capacity of a child, and he can’t take care of himself. Lennie loves to “pet” things, but he is unaware of his own strength. This results in a dead mouse, puppy, and eventually, woman! Lennie is enthralled by the idea of living on a farm with George, and he uses this picture-perfect image almost as a moral guide.
adding to that, Crooks didn't have any friends. Moreover, Crooks had no friends, no one to play with, Crooks did his work around the farm and once he was finished he would go back into his room, racism was towards him since he was the only black person at the Bunk. In addition, Lennie and Crooks become friends, when most of the guys were out to town, Lennie went into crooks is room uninvited, Crooks thought about kicking him out but the didn’t because he hadn't had any company for a long time now(). Crooks is lonely and he is the only black men at the Bunkhouse he is totally an
Lennie walks into Crooks’ room wonders why Crooks isn’t playing cards with the others and Crooks explains why he’s not wanted. Stenbecks writes, “...ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse… cause I’m black… They say I stink” (Steinbeck 68). This proves Crooks becomes reconciled to discrimination by his peers because of his own race. Back then, men and women in color were mistreated so Steinbeck is giving a good idea on how people abused the basic human rights to hurt others physically and mentally.
Discrimination of the mice and men In the book Of mice and men written by John Steinback some of the characters are mistreated by the other people because they are not the same they are the outcast of the group. Curley 's wife is a lonely woman on a ranch with a whole bunch of ranch hands and nobody wants to have anything to do with her she got married to man that she doesn 't even love she is just on the ranch with a lot of people and really nobody likes her and even after death nobody even felt bad for her. Candy said “ You God D*** Tramp”. You did it din you.
Sydney Votino Mrs. Daquelente English 2 12 May 2023 Formal Outline: Cause-and-Effect Essay Thesis: Lennie, Curley’s Wife, and Crooks are characters from John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men who struggles with mental issues, being used, and racism leading to broken dreams that negatively impacted their lives. Body Topic A: To begin, Lennie’s experience with mental issues ruined his dream and drastically changed his hopes for the future. Direct Quote
This shows Crooks is treated unfairly since he is the only African American man working in a ranch full of white men. When Crooks tells Curley’s Wife to leave his room and that she doesn’t have a right to be in there, she gets angry and threatens him by saying, “Well, you keep your place then,
Another example of Crooks getting discriminated because he is black is when he and Curley’s wife are arguing. She completely shuts him down by saying how she could get anyone to lynch him at any time. Crooks can say nothing but “Yes, ma’am”. Even Curley’s wife, who is considered weak, can pick on even weaker people, like Crooks.
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
He feels brought down and dehumanized. After Curley’s wife left, Candy tells Crooks that she shouldn’t have said those things. Crooks says, “it wasn’t nothing…you guys comin’ in an’ settin made me forget. What she says is true” (82). This shows that Crooks knows that even though he thought he could get a place with the other guys, he knows is would never happen, because he is black and he will always be treated
In the novel “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck portrays the theme of social injustice throughout the story in the lives of several characters that include Lennie, Curley’s Wife, and the stable buck, Crooks. All of these characters are mistreated in some way, shape or form. The hardships that these characters faced help guide us to see the social injustice that is prevalent in the story. Lennie is a victim of social injustice due to the fact that he is mentally disabled. He is not treated fairly when he was accused of rape.
On the third night George and the other men go into town leaving Lennie behind with Crooks, an African American stable hand. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary prejudice is the, “an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics.” Prejudice is a major theme of Of Mice and Men, which can be seen through Lennie, Crooks and Curley’s wife. Lennie is assumed to be crazy by the other characters in the novella.
As Lennie is a mentally slower but physically strong and George is intelligent but physically weaker, they benefit off of each other's strengths and weaknesses. Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men reveals the harmful psychological effects that alienation, whether it is self alienation or forced alienation, may generate through the characterization of Curleyś wife, Crooks, and Candy. Like many of the other characters, Crooks is forced into isolation. Crooks experiences force alienation from his fellow workers on the ranch, causing him to become obscure and astringent.
The men treat Curley’s wife the same way they treat Crooks, but they treat her this way because she is a women. Due to the fact that Crooks is black, the other guys exclude him from many things. Crooks is a perfect example of how racism can cause loneliness.
Lennie asked Crooks “Why Ain’t you wanted?” Crooks replied “Cause I’m black” he also told Lennie, “I tell ya a guy gets lonely and he gets sick.” The explanation supports the fact that Crooks was plagued by loneliness and alienation and he wanted