Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
Regardless of how intensely the characters of this novel hope and dream, their plans do not find fulfillment. Due to the lack of fulfillment of their dream, the characters face loneliness setting each apart from the other. Unlike George and Lennie, the other character of Crooks has no one to support him and be there for him as Lennie and George have each other. In the story, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck contrasts the loneliness and isolation experienced by Crooks, whom life has made abandon his dream of equality, with the closeness of Lennie and George, establishing a false sense of hope for the achievement of their dream, making the ending tragic because they lose both the dream and their unique friendship no others hold. Through the character of Crooks, Steinback exposes the hopelessness and loneliness of a black American who has lost all hope for the equality he most desires. Crooks, a stable buck and cripple, lives a life which sets him apart from many others, a life filled with racism. Crooks is forced to stay with the horses in a barn and expected to “keep his distance” because the other ranchers do not want him in the bunk house with them due to his color. As a result of this racism, Crooks has become very lonely and lives a life completely different than the other ranchers. Numerous years of segregation has led him to take care and depend on himself unlike George and Lennie who depend on each other. As Lennie goes to Crooks’s room not realizing it is not a place for him to be, Crooks instantly becomes defensive informing Lennie “[he] ain’t wanted in [Crooks’s] room” just as “[Crooks] ain’t wanted in [the ranchers’] bunk.” The need to be seen as equal is just a hope which will never come true because he is “black”. The cynicism makes him believe there will be no modification in how things go on within this world and he has lost all hopes for equality. Crooks wants to be accepted, wants to join in, but because of his color he
Regardless of how intensely the characters of this novel hope and dream, their plans do not find fulfillment. Due to the lack of fulfillment of their dream, the characters face loneliness setting each apart from the other. Unlike George and Lennie, the other character of Crooks has no one to support him and be there for him as Lennie and George have each other. In the story, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck contrasts the loneliness and isolation experienced by Crooks, whom life has made abandon his dream of equality, with the closeness of Lennie and George, establishing a false sense of hope for the achievement of their dream, making the ending tragic because they lose both the dream and their unique friendship no others hold. Through the character of Crooks, Steinback exposes the hopelessness and loneliness of a black American who has lost all hope for the equality he most desires. Crooks, a stable buck and cripple, lives a life which sets him apart from many others, a life filled with racism. Crooks is forced to stay with the horses in a barn and expected to “keep his distance” because the other ranchers do not want him in the bunk house with them due to his color. As a result of this racism, Crooks has become very lonely and lives a life completely different than the other ranchers. Numerous years of segregation has led him to take care and depend on himself unlike George and Lennie who depend on each other. As Lennie goes to Crooks’s room not realizing it is not a place for him to be, Crooks instantly becomes defensive informing Lennie “[he] ain’t wanted in [Crooks’s] room” just as “[Crooks] ain’t wanted in [the ranchers’] bunk.” The need to be seen as equal is just a hope which will never come true because he is “black”. The cynicism makes him believe there will be no modification in how things go on within this world and he has lost all hopes for equality. Crooks wants to be accepted, wants to join in, but because of his color he