Crooks In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Crooks, a black stable hand, also perfectly portrayed the book’s setting through the cruel idea of racial prejudice. Crooks represent the life of an African American during the nineteen thirties and the dreadful loneliness of migrant workers. Whereas the white ranchers live together in the bunk house, Crooks lives alone in a tiny shed with a bed made from straw. This physical segregation matches the legal separation so common during the Great Depression such as voting and education laws. Many characters are extremely racist towards Crooks, for example, Curley’s wife said that she could get him hanged any day, at her fingertips. “Well then keep your place then Nigger, I could get you strung up on a tree it ain’t even funny.” This is because
Crooks is extremely hated by the group of ranchers so Curley’s wife could say “he attacked me” and he would be killed just because of his skin color. Steinbeck helps us apprehend the miserable life of Crooks through the ideas of racial discrimination and isolation which he uses through the Great Depression.