Crooks
Steinbeck describes Crooks as a ‘proud, aloof man. He kept his distance and demanded other people kept theirs.’ Explore the character of Crooks and his importance in novel as a whole.
Crooks may be a minor character in the novel but he is an important one because the way he represents and demonstrates to the reader how Steinbeck feels about the society in which he lives and his character provides us knowledge on the social context of the novel that Crooks and other characters had to live with.
Throughout the novel we feel sympathy for Crooks because he is mistreated and segregated. He is below all the other characters and there is a lot of evidence to prove this. Unlike the rest of the ranch workers he calls ‘Slim’ ‘Mr Slim’. He is expected to respect people because of the colour of his skin although we know he was actually born in California where the novel was set. In chapter two of ‘Of Mice and Men’ Crooks is mentioned for the first time. When Candy tells George about a night in which Crooks had a fight with ‘Smitty’, he admits ‘Jesus, we had fun’. Candy’s idea of ‘fun’ is shocking to the reader. It suggests that in the 1930’s it is fine to attack a man for entertainment and it is justified by the fact Crooks is black. Candy refers to Crooks as ‘the nigger’ this is a derogatory term and Candy uses it casually and without inhibition, he is using it carelessly as if this is his name, he does not think about how it would make Crooks feel. This can be compared with Curley’s Wife no one tries to learn her name as she is below them. Candy using the phrase ‘the nigger’ as a name and not an insult shows the audience he is not an equal to the others on the ranch. ‘The’ is making it direct. Everyone knows who he is talking about because Crooks is the only black man on the ranch. Calling him the ‘the’ instead of ‘him’ makes Crooks an outsider to the rest of the ranch. After telling his story Candy ‘paused in relish of the memory’ this shows Candy quite enjoys the
Crooks may be a minor character in the novel but he is an important one because the way he represents and demonstrates to the reader how Steinbeck feels about the society in which he lives and his character provides us knowledge on the social context of the novel that Crooks and other characters had to live with.
Throughout the novel we feel sympathy for Crooks because he is mistreated and segregated. He is below all the other characters and there is a lot of evidence to prove this. Unlike the rest of the ranch workers he calls ‘Slim’ ‘Mr Slim’. He is expected to respect people because of the colour of his skin although we know he was actually born in California where the novel was set. In chapter two of ‘Of Mice and Men’ Crooks is mentioned for the first time. When Candy tells George about a night in which Crooks had a fight with ‘Smitty’, he admits ‘Jesus, we had fun’. Candy’s idea of ‘fun’ is shocking to the reader. It suggests that in the 1930’s it is fine to attack a man for entertainment and it is justified by the fact Crooks is black. Candy refers to Crooks as ‘the nigger’ this is a derogatory term and Candy uses it casually and without inhibition, he is using it carelessly as if this is his name, he does not think about how it would make Crooks feel. This can be compared with Curley’s Wife no one tries to learn her name as she is below them. Candy using the phrase ‘the nigger’ as a name and not an insult shows the audience he is not an equal to the others on the ranch. ‘The’ is making it direct. Everyone knows who he is talking about because Crooks is the only black man on the ranch. Calling him the ‘the’ instead of ‘him’ makes Crooks an outsider to the rest of the ranch. After telling his story Candy ‘paused in relish of the memory’ this shows Candy quite enjoys the