"’Cause I’m black…"(Steinbeck ch.4). This is the only time that we see crooks discussing how everyone on the ranch degrades him and discriminates him. Crooks is so oppressed by the society that he lives in, that he starts to opress himself and he seems to be depressed. Crooks never talks back to any of the ranch workers when they call him racial slurs to his face. Crooks either has a strong will to keep working here, or, he knows that he has no other choice than to go out alone and starve.
Steinbeck displays through the dialogue and characterizations that these characters experience isolation because of both social barriers and personal choice. Crooks being an African-American on the ranch, full of whites, struggles racially which causes his withdrawal from the society. Crooks explains to Lennie his when he’s accompanied by him “ A guy goes nuts if he ain 't got nobody. Don 't make no difference who the guy is long’s
A man of a different race is assumed to be treated justly, especially in this current generation. However, segregation unfortunately still is an enormous issue, although it was said to be resolved many years prior. The novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, accompanies several ranchers who all are detached from one another in various manners. Precisely, Crooks, an African American stable buck who resides at the ranch, is segregated so extremely often that he never truly considers that he belongs anywhere. Society, using isolation and alienation as key components, can compel people to feel inferior and abandoned which can lead to a sense of despair or helplessness.
The philosophy known as existentialism is known to embrace a lot of hopeless and prohibited elements into its belief structure, and many of the favorite existential writers - John Steinbeck, for example - often incorporate may of those recusant images into their stories. In his tremendously successful, award-winning novel, Of Mice & Men, worrisome themes like the meaninglessness of life, the loneliness of being a “thinking” individual, and the received futility of existence are all artfully employed by Steinbeck in order to illustrate the brittleness of the human condition. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck introduces an absolute parade of desperate, defective, and defeated characters to promote several of the dominant catastrophic concepts connected to existentialism. Similarly, the movie of the same name - released in 1992, and starring Gary Sinise and John Malkovich - employs all of those same characters, and many of the same dark themes, to encourage the philosophy of existentialism, yet three stand out most prominently: the absurdity of life, the dizziness of freedom known as
Explore the theme of discrimination within Steinbeck’s novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ and how this relate to the historical context of the time. “In the end anti-black, anti-female, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing – antihumanism.” – Shirley Chisholm. Discrimination. It’s a key theme that crafts, changes, and destroys certain aspects of the novella; such as the relationships, the hopes, dreams, and all the good in the world.
“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.” Thoroughly explaining prejudice in an abstract way, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck displays considerable amount of prejudice. It’s significance lies where Steinbeck conveys vital messages about the society we live in and showcases crucial themes beneath the overall story. Themes such as justice, dreams and prejudice are all displayed through the characters’ thoughts and dialogue. It symbolizes how our society was in the 1900s and what the human race has followed through and developed from experiences, such as sexism, racism, stereotypes, criticism, etc.
“...Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black.” Steinbeck divulges that Crooks is well aware of the fact that him and the people of his race are unconditionally segregated against the opposite race. Although Crook’s speaks that line with obvious revulsion against the white race, Steinbeck throws in hints of sadness in the way Crooks speaks the sentence. This makes the reader feel sympathetic towards Crook’s character due to his segregation and discriminations in the 1930’s
felt like they were not loved they all had felt the same loneliness inside. George was lonely because the fact that he could not live a normal life with a family of his own ,Curley’s wife was lonely because she never really felt loved, and Crooks was lonely because he lived on his own and was alone all the time. Almost everyone experience loneliness in their life and most people deal with loneliness there own way but loneliness is a common feeling that everyone goes through.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates that social inequality breaks down a society through the use of conflict, symbolism and irony. Social inequality plays a pivotal role in the novel because the whole conflict between Bob and Tom is wrapped in it. From the first accusation to the final conviction inequality is intertwined in every paragraph, every word. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that stands the test of time because while our society has made improvements, inequality will never truly go away. This novel displays characters you relate to, ones you despise, and all that you fall in love with.
A key aspect of any novel or story is the way the characters interact and feel towards everything. In John Steinbeck’s, “Of Mice and Men”, the characters tend to give off the effect of loneliness and the feeling of isolation throughout the novel. The main characters that give off the effect of loneliness and the feeling of isolation are Curley’s wife, Crooks, and George. They’ve been truly alone, if not in mind then in body.
In Chapter Four, Crooks began to pour out his thoughts to Lennie stating, “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long he’s with you. I tell ya,” he cried, “ I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (Steinbeck 37). When Crooks ranted to Lennie, the physically large man appeared inattentive. In a way,
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.”
Of Mice and Men “listen, nigger,” she said. “you know what I can do to you if you open your trap?” (pg.80). This shows how the word “nigger” is used to control a black person. In the book of Mice and Men the word “nigger” is used quite often but towards crooks, since he is the only black person in the book.