Similarities Between Crooks And Curley's Wife
Of Mice and Men
I believe that two of the most important characters in Of Mice and Men are Crooks and Curley’s Wife. This is because they do not just play a vital role in the œstoryline but they tell the audience so much about the society in which the book is set, how they were treated and the attitudes of other towards them.
Crooks is the only black man on the ranch and because of this he is treated extremely different and abused on a daily basis with violence as well as racism.
Firstly Crooks is segregated in the barn and has his own room, he is casually referred to as “nigger” and beaten up for fun by the other ranchmen. If any of those were to happen in today’s society now it would be seen as extremely racist and be very offensive. The comparison shows the severity of the racial discrimination of 1930’s America. …show more content…
Secondly Crooks is one of the few ranchmen that are literate, he reads books instead of the company he misses out on from the ranchmen and the prostitutes, whom he is not allowed to visit because of his skin colour.
He is very lonely and does not have any friends because he is excluded from the chat and companionship of the ranchmen in the bunkhouse. Also, Crooks does not once enter the bunkhouse “the stable buck put his head in”. The novella refers him to be “a proud, aloof man” because he had no choice but to endure the discrimination, prejudice and isolation. As a result Crooks very bitterly guards his privacy confronting Lenny who is oblivious of Crooks situation. “This here’s my room… I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my
room”. Curley’s wife is similar to Crooks as she shows use how society treated women in the 1930’s.
Firstly, she is never referred to with her name but only as Curley’s Wife implying she is his possession. Even so Curley’s wife purposefully flirts with the other ranchmen and wears very provocative clothing and makeup. “Full rouged lips” “heavily made up” “red fingernails” and ‘red mules on the insteps of which were little bouquets of ostrich feathers”.
Immediately she is isolated being the only women on the ranch and resulting in a lot of attention from the men. The ranchmen constantly talk about her, “she’s purty” “she’s got the eye” even so along with George they know that it is dangerous to befriend her and so they are never chatty and tell to leave. George is very worried that she is trouble and tells Lennie to stay away from her. “Jailbait” “rattrap”. Through her you can tell that she is desperate for attention as she receives very little attention from Curley. She often visits the men in the bunkhouse and tells them that she is looking for Curley.
Throughout the story she reveals that she is unhappy with her marriage to Curley because he cares very little for her and is preoccupied with going to the brothels in town. Also, she believes that would she not have married Curley, she could have had a much better life in Hollywood as a movie star, she still believes that her mother took this opportunity away from her by hiding a letter to her. Her loneliness is demonstrated again on Saturday night when she visits those left behind in the barn, she tells them she is looking for Curley but it is evident that she is lonely. With them she announces her isolation. Even so she viciously lashed out at them when they tell her they don’t want to talk to her. Conclusively, I believe that Steinbeck has very effectively demonstrated how both Curley’s Wife and Crooks are treated as well as demonstrating society’s attitude towards women and racial minorities. Meanwhile he used those characters to add another dimension to the story.
I believe that two of the most important characters in Of Mice and Men are Crooks and Curley’s Wife. This is because they do not just play a vital role in the œstoryline but they tell the audience so much about the society in which the book is set, how they were treated and the attitudes of other towards them.
Crooks is the only black man on the ranch and because of this he is treated extremely different and abused on a daily basis with violence as well as racism.
Firstly Crooks is segregated in the barn and has his own room, he is casually referred to as “nigger” and beaten up for fun by the other ranchmen. If any of those were to happen in today’s society now it would be seen as extremely racist and be very offensive. The comparison shows the severity of the racial discrimination of 1930’s America. …show more content…
Secondly Crooks is one of the few ranchmen that are literate, he reads books instead of the company he misses out on from the ranchmen and the prostitutes, whom he is not allowed to visit because of his skin colour.
He is very lonely and does not have any friends because he is excluded from the chat and companionship of the ranchmen in the bunkhouse. Also, Crooks does not once enter the bunkhouse “the stable buck put his head in”. The novella refers him to be “a proud, aloof man” because he had no choice but to endure the discrimination, prejudice and isolation. As a result Crooks very bitterly guards his privacy confronting Lenny who is oblivious of Crooks situation. “This here’s my room… I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my
room”. Curley’s wife is similar to Crooks as she shows use how society treated women in the 1930’s.
Firstly, she is never referred to with her name but only as Curley’s Wife implying she is his possession. Even so Curley’s wife purposefully flirts with the other ranchmen and wears very provocative clothing and makeup. “Full rouged lips” “heavily made up” “red fingernails” and ‘red mules on the insteps of which were little bouquets of ostrich feathers”.
Immediately she is isolated being the only women on the ranch and resulting in a lot of attention from the men. The ranchmen constantly talk about her, “she’s purty” “she’s got the eye” even so along with George they know that it is dangerous to befriend her and so they are never chatty and tell to leave. George is very worried that she is trouble and tells Lennie to stay away from her. “Jailbait” “rattrap”. Through her you can tell that she is desperate for attention as she receives very little attention from Curley. She often visits the men in the bunkhouse and tells them that she is looking for Curley.
Throughout the story she reveals that she is unhappy with her marriage to Curley because he cares very little for her and is preoccupied with going to the brothels in town. Also, she believes that would she not have married Curley, she could have had a much better life in Hollywood as a movie star, she still believes that her mother took this opportunity away from her by hiding a letter to her. Her loneliness is demonstrated again on Saturday night when she visits those left behind in the barn, she tells them she is looking for Curley but it is evident that she is lonely. With them she announces her isolation. Even so she viciously lashed out at them when they tell her they don’t want to talk to her. Conclusively, I believe that Steinbeck has very effectively demonstrated how both Curley’s Wife and Crooks are treated as well as demonstrating society’s attitude towards women and racial minorities. Meanwhile he used those characters to add another dimension to the story.