Steinbeck uses Crooks as his black character in the novel. Candy tells George and Lennie about fun times at Christmas ‘They let the nigger come in that night’ showing that he would only be allowed in on special occasions. People would not describe crooks as a ‘Black man’ it would be quite acceptable to call him ‘nigger’ a word now seen as offensive and racist.
Crooks would not be allowed in the bunkhouse and his own room was in the barn. He wants to be left alone and he does not want the guys from the bunkhouse walking into his room ‘ I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room,’ he says to Lennie at first. Crooks soon realises that all he wants is a bit of respect and not to be lonely.
Crooks talks about his past and how he used to play with white kids ‘The white kids use to come play at our place’. He then goes on to talk about how his dad did not like this and he never knew why until now.
After Crooks hears of Lennie, George and Candy’s plan he want to get involved but Curley’s wife brings him back down to reality by threatening him ‘ I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t funny’ now he knows where he stands and he is just an unimportant ‘nigger’.
The crash affected the old very hard. There were no pensions in those days and a lot of them had placed all their savings in the stock market so they were left pennie less.
The old character in the novel is Candy and has dog. First lets take Candy’s dog. It’s retired, it has no use people just see it as a waste of space so therefore it is shot.
Candy has a very bleak future so he is willing to put in all his money for the dream with George and Lennie because he wants to secure his future ‘ I’d make a will an’leave my share to you guys in case I kick off’ this way he can have a peaceful end to his life in case the boss throws him on the street.
Women play quite a big part in this novel by showing us what life is like for Curley’s wife and her dreams.
Curley’s wife has a dream like most people in America. Her dream is to become a famous actress.
She compares this by dress how she thinks film stars dress and the make up she wears, but other people think she is tarty. Curley’s wife talks of the opportunities she had of being an actress when an actor said ‘ I could go with the show’ but her mum refused. Her second story is less believable as she says a man was going ‘To write to me about it,’ but she says her mum hid the letters.
Women don’t have much respect in the novel. A good night out for men is going to the ‘Cat house’and the other on the ranch want to stay away from Curley’s wife as she is ‘Jailbait’
All across the country were migrant workers. People had moved from place to place to try and find work.
The area in the south where the drought mainly was, it was called the ‘Dustbowl’. Lennie and George are the main migrant workers in the story. They talk about how they moved west from Weed.
Before the crash there was a rise in the industry then it went bust in the depression. People set up shantytowns called Homerville’s and queued in breadlines for food.
Each character in the novel has the American dream but it is different for each one of them.
First of all Lennie has a simple dram that he gets to ‘ to tend the rabbits’. George wants his own land, freedom and to be his own boss, Candy wants to die a free happy man, Crooks wants things to be like when he was young when he could play with white kids or just some quality. Curley’s wife dreams of being n actress and leaving Soledad.
Heroes play a big part in the peoples lives. For instance if we take Slim he is the most respected guy on the ranch. Crooks calls Slim ‘Mr Slim’ which shows that people see him as higher up o the hierarchy. Lennie is a simple-minded guy and his hero is probably George. He looks up to him and he counts on him for everything and would not be able to survive without him.
Whit is quite an insignificant character in this book and it seems quite sad that he gets really excited about someone he used to know gets a letter published in a magazine.
The western magazines play a big part in the book as hey hold the dreams of the migrant workers and what they dream of living like.
In conclusion the lives of John Steinbeck’s characters mirror what was going on in America at the same time. He manages to tackle all areas of people who ere badly affected by the crash. Steinbeck has produced a brilliant novel that helps people to get a picture of America in the 1930’s
