Curley’s wife had a similar form of loneliness as Candy’s when his dog was put down. Curley’s wife didn’t feel as if she had anything to live for. She seemed to have raised nothing but trouble and temptation between the men. Curley’s wife didn’t lose all that much in the end because she had nothing ahead of her, nothing to look forward to, and she was effected and suffering with her dreams and loneliness.
“I get lonely, she said. You can talk.” (Page 95)
Even her marriage was admitted by the author as a mistake. Curley, on the other hand, was the opposite and took his problems using anger and frustration.
“By Christ, he’s gotta talk when he’s spoke to. What the hell are you settin’ us into it for?” (Page 28)
Curley is more antagonistic and it seems he’s angry when his own thoughts or dreams aren’t happening the way it wants it to. Basically, he gets angry when he doesn’t get his way.
Crooks’ dreams on the other hand, are not selfish. He just wants to fit in with everyone else. Crooks’ dreams are more involved in receiving self-respect, and fairness from the rest. He’s different from everyone else on the ranch and because of this, he is singled out and not treated the same due to his race and color. An example of this is stated:
“I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, you ain’t wanted in my room.” (Page 75)
The three main themes in the novel are similar in many different ways. All the different dreams and pipe dreams of the characters reflected their behaviors and decisions throughout the story. Dreams are similar to pipe dreams just by the fact that the goals of a character reflect on his/her decisions and attitudes towards problems or issues. George’s life was most changed by the end of the story because of the fact that he is now finally starting to really be alone. It’s somewhat ironic. Throughout the story, all the characters’ different types of loneliness’ is described with George and Lennie being one of the prime examples. However, in the end, George is back at square one, maybe even behind square one since Lennie is gone, and now he doesn’t have a companion to take care of him, help him get through problems or anything. George killing Lennie at the ending of the story was more proper because it at least gave Lennie the decency to die with some peace, loyalty, happiness, reassurance, and comfort rather than by the workers in which Lennie would have been scared, confused, and killed with no dignity. In respect to Burns’ poem, mice are the individuals that dream their dreams but men actually carry out their dreams.
Mercy Killing
In the book Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, two men travel together to escape their pasts. They arrive at a ranch in the Salinas Valley with hopes to achieve their ultimate dream; to buy a place to call their own. Lennie, who is a simple-minded man, and George, who is just a typical guy are brought together and make a lasting friendship out of the loneliness of each man. While spending time on the farm George and Lennie meet some friendly characters, but because of some accidental deaths their dreams drift away. Foreshadowing may create a literary theme.
Lennie is a massive and powerful man, but is dull-witted, George on the other hand is scrawnier and not as mighty. Both are hearty individuals just trying to survive a tough life. After Lennie’s Aunt Clara passed away George took the responsibility of looking after Lennie. Through good and bad times George has learned to love and protect him. Lennie, an animal lover at heart always takes pleasure from petting them. He loves all small, soft, fuzzy things and cannot help himself from petting them. During their journey to the new ranch, Lennie catches a mouse, “I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along.” (Steinbeck:6). George hates it when Lennie catches animals and plays with them “well you ain’t petting no mice while you walk with me.” (Steinbeck:6) because he knows Lennie could end up killing the tiny animal. Lennie does not know his own strength and handles the mouse too rough “you’ve broke it pettin’ it.” (Steinbeck:9) After the two men spend the night in the woods, they finish their journey and arrive at the ranch.
Soon after they arrive at the ranch, George and Lennie meet some new and delightful people that they will be living with, until they earn enough money to buy a place of their own. One of the new people that Lennie and George meet was Candy and his old dog. Candy was an old swamper, and was missing one hand, his dog was just like him, very old and in poor shape. The poor old dog was blind, deaf, had no teeth and everyone complained about it smelling horrible, “we can’t sleep with him stinkin’ around in here.” (Steinbeck:47) All the farm hands believe that killing the dog was in the favor of the dog’s own good. Candy didn’t want to lose his life long friend “I had him since he was a pup, I herded sheep with him.” (Steinbeck:44) Finally Candy agreed and Carlson took the dog into the woods and shot him, putting the suffering dog out of his misery. This is the first mercy killing in the story and foreshadows a bigger event later on.
George and Lennie soon become friendly with the farm hands. One of the farm hands even gives Lennie a puppy for him to look after. Lennie falls in love with the puppy and says he will not let anything ever happen to it. Lennie once again not knowing his own strength breaks his puppy’s neck, “God damn you.” He cried. “Why do you got to get killed? you ain’t so little as mice.” (Steinbeck:85) Lennie, scared of getting in trouble from George tries to hide the pup under some hay and thinks of what to tell George, “I’ll tell George I found it dead.” (Steinbeck:85) Before Lennie has a chance to hide the pup Curley’s wife comes walking into the stall and starts talking with him.
George told Lennie not to talk to Curley’s wife because of the trouble she could cause for them both. She was the wife of the Boss’s son and could have Lennie and George fired at any moment, but Lennie disobeyed George and trouble started brewing. She came into the barn when Lennie had killed his pup and started talking to him. She discovered his fondness of soft, fuzzy things and encourages Lennie to pet her hair, “Feel right aroun’ there an’ see how soft it is.” (Steinbeck:90) Lennie reached up and felt Curley’s wife’s hair and discovered it very soft, “Oh! That’s nice.” (Steinbeck 91) After a while Curley’s wife told him to stop, “You stop it now, you’ll mess it all up,” (Steinbeck:91) Lennie panicked and instead of stopping he grabbed hold of her hair. She started screaming and yelling and he then covered her mouth and nose and told her to be quiet. Lennie was panicking and did not know what to do, he was scared of getting in trouble from George, “Oh please don’t do that. George’ll be mad.” (Steinbeck:91) “He shook her’ and her body flopped like a fish,” (Steinbeck:91) Then all a sudden she was still, he let her go and she fell to the ground not moving, for Lennie had broken her neck. Lennie did not realize what he had done, but he knew it was not good.
After the farm hands and Curley found Curley’s wife dead in the barn they all set out in search for Lennie “When you see ‘um, don’t give ‘im no chance. Shoot for his guts.” (Steinbeck:97) Lucky for Lennie, George knew where he would be hiding, back at the bush where George told him to go if he got in trouble. George ran ahead of the group and found Lennie in the bush. Lennie told George what he had done and George tried to tell him that it would be all fine. Lennie gets George to tell him about the future again and then George takes out Carlson’s lugar that he had taken and shot Lennie in the back of the head. He believed he was saving him grief and from the punishment he would receive from Curley. George was killing the only friend he had and was someone who he had promised to protect, but he still believed he had to do this. Lennie did not have a chance to stand up for what he had done, society in the 1930’s was different from us today. People did not receive the chance to stand up for what they did and receive the actions of punishment, they would just be shot on the spot or taken and hung. This was the major mercy killing in the book and was foreshadowed by each of the other killings Lennie committed.
Two men brought together through each others loneliness, travel around with hopes to achieve a dream someday, but it begins to go awry when they arrive at the new ranch. Some accidental killings brought George to the stage of having to mercy kill a long time friend to save him the grief of being shot in the gut by Curley. In the 1930’s these people that may have done something wrong by accident did not have a chance to stand up for their actions, but were killed on the spot or taken and hanged. The different killings in the story all foreshadowed the final death of Lennie. This foreshadowing created a literary theme of mercy killing.
Curley’s wife in Of Mice and Men is given a fairly one-dimensional portrayal throughout the novella, as her character stays, for the most part, enigmatic. The most obvious example would be her lack of a name. She is continually referred to as a possession of her husband and without a name she becomes almost insignificant. The author, however, drops hints throughout the book telling his audience that there may be more to Curley’s wife than what is easily deduced.
One scene involving a sympathetic portrayal of Curley’s wife is when she is looking for Curley in Crooks’ quarters after Lennie and Candy enter. She knows where Curley and the rest of the men have gone, and grows angry at the cold treatment she is given by the three men in the room. Curley’s wife confesses her loneliness of being stuck in the house all the time and to not liking Curley’s company. She becomes even more angry about the lie of the circumstances of Curley’s hand injury and it is now obvious that her and Curley’s relationship is extremely dysfunctional and probably emotionally damaging to the wife.
Another important scene in which Curley’s wife is portrayed in a sympathetic manner is during her conversation with Lennie before her death. She confesses to Lennie that she dislikes Curley because he is angry all the time and says that she comes around because she is lonely and just wants someone to talk to. She speaks to Lennie not because she specifically cares for him, but because she lacks human interaction. Like George and Lennie, she once had a dream she sought for, of becoming an actress and living in Hollywood. Her dream went unfulfilled (which may also allude to the failure of George and Lennie’s dream), leaving her a very lonely person married to an angry man, living on a ranch without friends, and viewed as a troublemaker by everyone.
Even without thorough description and a mostly negative portrayal, Curley’s wife still contributes to the collective emotions of the characters involving feelings of outcast and lost dreams.
In Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" the characters struggle with loneliness and loss of dreams. These themes are highlighted by the use of parallels that tie the novel together. The relationship between Candy and his dog parallels that which exists between George and Lennie. There are also parallels between the outcasts and Lennie which emphasize the pain of lonliness. The opening scene mirros the final scene.
The relationship between Candy and his dog parallels that which exists between George and Lennie. To the men who live in the bunkhouse, Candy's dog is nothing more than a "dragfooted sheep dog, gray of muzzle,...with pale, blind old eyes," (p. 24) but Candy sees him as a companion. To George, Lennie is more than a "big guy" (p. 25) who can't speak for himself. On the ranch Lennie is suspected to be of no value because of his lack of intelligence, and Candy's dog is thought to be of no importance because he has no teeth, can hardly see and can't eat. The dog is "no good to [Candy]" (p. 44) and he is "no good to himself" (p. 44). After Lennie kills Curley's wife, he's no good to George or himself. Carlson's luger, which is used to shoot Candy's dog in the back of the head, is also used by George to shoot Lennie in the back of the head. Slim had said earlier that he wished "somebody'd shoot [him] if [he] got old an' a cripple" (p. 45) and he also acknowledges that George has to shoot Lennie, telling him that he "hadda" (p.107). Both Candy's dog and Lennie are killed out of love. Candy feels that his dog no longer needs to suffer and George never wants Lennie to suffer for a crime he did not mean to commit.
The parallels that exist between the outcasts and Lennie emphasize the harsh pain of loneliness. Crooks tries to shut out another outcast, telling Lennie that "[he] ain't wated in the bunkhouse and [Lennie] ain't wanted in [his] room" (p. 68). Curley's wife, an outcast herself, sees Crooks, Lennie, and Candy as "a nigger an' a dum-dum and a lousy ol' sheep" (p. 78), but she is not even wanted there with them. All the outcasts have been left at the ranch while the other go into town. This further shows their separation from all the ranch.
The opening scene of the book mirrors its final scene. In the beginning the pastoral settin symbolizes the opportunity and hope that lie before George and Lennie, while at the end of the story the calm setting is a reflection of a find of heaven. Lennie's blissful ignorance is present both times. A heron and a periscope-like snake are there in the beginning and the end. George speaks of his living off the fat of the land in both instances to pacify Lennie. The rabbit motif is seen in the beginning and the end, but its meaning has turned. In the opening Lennie wants to tend rabbits, and in the end the giant rabbit crushes his dreams by telling him that he is not good enough. The opening scene is an exact reflection of the closing scene, yet this time the dream has been crushed.
Of Mice and Men, a novel written by John Steinbeck, clearly develops three themes:
man’s desire to create and seek dreams, man’s desire for companionship, and man’s
responsibility to other members of society.
First, a person’s want to pursue their dreams is expressed through many of the
characters. The primary example of this would be George and Lennie’s attempting to
earn a stake and purchase a small farm. They had plans to “live off the fatta the lan’.” (14) Never again would the two have to work on cultivating another man’s crops. Lennie, of course, would get to feed the rabbits. Another example of man’s need of having a dream is Candy wishing to join in on George and Lennie’s dream of getting the farm. Candy is willing to give up his life savings so he won’t have to worry about getting thrown out after he becomes worthless. Curley’s wife also has created a dream for herself. Before she married Curley she had the opportunity of being in the movies and pictures. Now she wishes for that to happen once again. All of these people have fantasies they wish to attain.
Secondly, the topic of man’s aspiration for companionship is indicated throughout the story. Crooks has an immense hunger for genuine fellowship. Being black, he was separated from the rest of the men, which made him lonely. Crooks said, “Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain’t no good. A guy needs somebody- to be near him.” (72) Curley’s wife is also in need of having someone to spend time with. Sure she is married to Curley, but it’s an intensely poor relationship. Every chance she gets she tries to talk to someone, but for the most part is ignored because she is married. Unlike most guys that work on ranches, George and Lennie have a friendship. The two spend roughly all their time together. They show the companionship the others characters want.
Lastly, the subject of man’s dependability on his fellow man is shown in the novel. Unlike the other themes, this one is mainly displayed through only two characters. Of course I’m referring to Lennie and George. As they say so many times “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.” (14) Lennie’s aunt used to take care of him, but she passed away and George said he would look after him. Since he is unintelligent, Lennie is greatly reliant on George for all the necessities such as: food, shelter, and guidance. Man’s need to produce and chase dreams, man’s craving for camaraderie, and man’s responsibility to his fellow man are the main themes of the novel. They are distinctly elaborated through numerous characters in the tale.
Loneliness
“A guy needs somebody--to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.” (Steinbeck 72-3). Being alone is one of the worst things I can possible think of. One of the themes in the book Of Mice and Men exemplifies this as the quote describes. Crooks, and the black stable buck, say this quote. He describes to Lennie the pain he goes through to live his life without anyone to talk to and to just be with. The other workers on the farm would not socialize with Crooks besides the horseshoes game the men would play in the evening. Otherwise Crooks would occupy his time alone, reading books. This does not make Crooks happy his books did not fulfill his needs socially. He needed another person to talk to, or just be with. It didn’t even matter whom, just a person. Lennie just happened to have been there for Crooks at that moment. Everyday people do not give enough consideration to those who live their lives without someone. Humans are social beings that need some kind of connection with others to function properly. Without a social bond a depressed state can overwhelmingly “down” a person. People also need the opportunity to brag to others a little. Curly’s wife in the same novel states the following, “Well I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I ought’n to. I don’t like Curly. He ain’t a nice fella. Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes—all them nice clothes they wear” (Steinbeck 89). She feels the need to tell others how great she could have been and the hopes and dreams she may someday have. She shows her feelings of hope in life. This can relate to everyday students. College guys love to tell stories from the long weekends in college. It makes a person feel good when they can tell a story filled with sarcasm and excitement to make others get a feeling of admiration. Humans live for this type of self-fulfillment.
Loneliness is what people complain about when being without another person to socialize with. One may feel lonely when: you’re alone and you don’t you have a choice not to be, you are facing challenges in your life with school, a new town, job, or other changes, you feel there’s no one in your life with whom you can share your feelings with, you feel unacceptable, unlovable, and not worthwhile (Loneliness 1). These are real life feelings that many in our country have and feel constantly. Curley’s wife in Of Mice and Men, also has a feeling of loneliness. She has the opportunity to always talk to her husband, but never to other, unique individuals. She says, “What’s the matter with me? Ain’t I got the right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am anyways? You’re a nice guy. I don’t know why I can’t talk to you. I ain’t doin’ no harm to you” (Steinbeck 87-8). She feels that she should be able to talk to a variety of people. One person does not satisfy her social standards for communication.
Loneliness is also widely taken with misconceptions. College students often believe that loneliness is a “sign of weakness, or immaturity” (Loneliness 2). Other students believe, “there’s something wrong with me, these are supposed to be the best years of my life” and “I’m the only one who feels this way.” (Loneliness).
In the book Of Mice and Men, Crooks starts to develop a belief that loneliness is a defect in his personality. He seems to avoid all the other men on the ranch after the day is over. He is afraid of being alone, and yet he is antisocial. It is likely for not being around others for long periods of time can have some effect on personality. In fact, people with these cases have greater difficulty in taking certain risks, asserting themselves, initiate social contact, introduce themselves to others, and participate in-groups. Loneliness can make oneself less responsive to others, and lead to mistrust. Also there is more likelihood of evaluating themselves with negative feelings and expect rejection (Loneliness 2).
Other studies show great negative effects of loneliness. In adults 65 years and older, reports show a high incidence of loneliness that tends to be admitted into nursing homes sooner than people who are not lonely. A study proves this theory of deterioration to lonely individuals. Researches interviewed 3,763 rural Iowans living in Washington and Iowa counties. The people interviewed were at least 65 years old and were studied upon information of age, gender, medical conditions, marital status and social contact. Four years later these people researched were contacted and studied in their mental and physical decline. Researchers found that when put into homes or individuals living on their own without much social contact led to the deterioration of their mental and physical state (Loneliness May 1).
The problems can be solved easily in terms of making others who feel lonely, to feel social once again. The answer is that everyone should take apart in staying in touch with others that we know. People should not have to feel alone, afraid, and rejected from the social sphere in our lives. If it is we feeling alone, loneliness will not last forever. Practicing to get to know others and going out to meet people can help break us from habits of insecurity. When it’s impossible to be with others and no social activity is available, use alone time positively. Don’t vegetate, and use time to stay busy, or entertained (Loneliness 2). Loneliness should not be viewed as a problem in individuals, but as something that can be fixed.
Naturalism is a literary style that displays action or thought that is derived exclusively from natural desires and instincts (The Reader's Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary, p. 901). John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men contains several instances of this element. Some of these are found when Lennie breaks Curley's hand, when Lennie kills Curley's wife, and when George kills Lennie.
When Lennie breaks Curley's hand, Lennie's honesty is contrasted with Curley's hotheadedness and arrogance. "Then Curley's rage exploded. . . . He crouched cowering against the wall. 'You tol' me to, George,' he said miserably,"(Steinbeck 68). This scene contributes to the novel the knowledge of the full extent of Lennie's honesty. The reader is shown that Lennie doesn't want to hurt Curley even when Curley is hurting him, and feels remorse when he is forced to go against his nature and inflict harm upon Curley.
When Lennie kills Curley's wife, it becomes apparent that Lennie's honesty is too stubbornly childlike for the good of himself or anyone else. "Lennie was in a panic. . . . And then he whispered in fright, 'I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing,'"(99). This scene makes the reader aware that Lennie is too honest to fit easily into society and not smart enough to understand how or why he must stifle his honesty. This helps the reader to understand Lennie's strength and the childlike openness that drives him. Being forced to stifle this honesty expedites his death.
When George kills Lennie, the reader sees that George is every bit as honest as Lennie, but is smart enough to realize that such brutal honesty is impractical. He would rather deceive and kill his friend than watch him die at the hands of a stranger. "And George raised the gun and steadied it, . . . Slim's voice shouted, 'George. Where you at, George?'"(117). George kills Lennie because it has now been proven that Lennie is no good to himself or anyone else. This scene contributes to the knowledge of George's honesty, but also shows that George must stifle the honesty of how he feels about Lennie and get on with his own life.
Naturalism in this novel has the overall effect of making the conflict clearer and showing more of a contrast between the opposing forces. The three events mentioned have the overall effect of heightening the conflict and the contrast between Lennie's frank honesty and brute strength with the other men's stifled honesty and false courage. This courage appears to be lacking until the climax and final resolution resulting in Lennie's death.
Loneliness is the central theme in the novel Of Mice and Men. Many of the characters show signs of being lonely, some more than others. Loneliness haunts Crooks deep inside. Crooks accepts things the way they are though. Crooks does not talk to the other men and they do not talk to him. This causes the greatest amount of loneliness in Crooks out of all the characters. Rejection can cause most people to become crazy, as it
did to Crooks. Other characters on the ranch show signs of loneliness also. But what makes the others different is the fact that Crooks does not have anyone to talk with, the others atleast have one person to talk to. Crook’s actions along with not having any friends show why he must be the lonelinest character.
Not having any friends is one of the reasons why Crooks is lonely. The other workers on the ranch take place in fun activities, such as horseshoes and card games. Crooks never gets invited to play. This resentment is due solely to the color of his skin. The other characters all have someone to talk to. George and Lennie have each other, Candy had both his dogs. The other workers are friends with one another. Curley’s wife is also lonely, but still has Curley. The men sit in the bunk house, talk and have fun on occasion. Meanwhile Crooks is in his shed all alone. Crooks tries to explain to Lennie in
the shed why he is lonely. “ A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you...I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (80). This is showing Lennie exactly how Crooks is feeling. Also, it explains what Crooks has to deal with. He is trying to scare Lennie. Crooks is forced to explain that he needs someone to talk to. The reader now becomes aware of Crooks terrible loneliness
Readers can infer Crook’s loneliness by the way he acts. There are many signs throughout the novel that support this. Because Crooks stays in the shed all day one can detect a sense of loneliness. Since Crooks does not ever talk to anyone his social life is all in books. Crooks reads very much to suppress his loneliness and to When Lennie comes into the shed a conversation arises between the two. Crooks tries to get Lennie to see what it is like to be lonely. “ S’pose George went into town tonight and you never heard from
him again. S’pose he took a powder and just ain’t coming back. What’ll you do
then?...Le’s say he gets hurt or killed and he can’t come back” (78). Crook’s face lighted with pleasure in his torture. This shows that Crooks is trying to make Lennie feel lonely because he is lonely himself. Crooks is also trying to make him feel the hurt that he feels everyday. By recognizing these actions taken by Crooks anyone can tell he is a lonely guy.
Crook’s actions along with not having any friends show why Crooks must be the loneliest character. After looking closely at these examples one can conclude Crooks was the loneliest in the novel. The most significant point why Crooks was the loneliest was that he had no friends. Everyone else on the ranch had someone to talk to except Crooks. The readers come to sympathize with Crooks throughout the novel. This is because most people know what it feels like to be lonely.
Lennie's Guilt in Of Mice and Men
Lennie Small, the strong but dull-witted farm hand, experienced a psychotic break-down near the end of Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. This episode was brought on by a tremendous feeling of guilt. While Lennie's head was full of the thoughts of the death of Curley's wife, his burden upon George, and his mental relationship with his aunt Clara and the giant rabbit, a somewhat confusing portrayal of Lennie's true guilt was shown.
Lennie feels guilty about the death of Curley's wife. He accidentally broke her neck while trying to calm her down. He was scared that George would get mad at him and not let him tend the rabbits. Lennie felt guilty because he knew he had done a "bad thing." Whether or not it was an accident, Lennie had killed Curley's wife. Lennie liked Curley's wife, though he was not permitted to associate with her. When he killed her, it was as if he was losing a companion, leaving Lennie with a sad feeling of loss. Lennie truly does feel guilty about her death, not only because it was a "bad thing," but because he had lost a friend.
A few times throughout the story, especially near the end, Lennie realizes how much of a burden he is on George. George had always taken care of Lennie. Even when times were rough, George always made sure that Lennie was alright. Although most of the bad events the had taken place were Lennie's fault, George protected Lennie from people and things that might have caused him harm. George tells Lennie that he could have a wonderful time without him. Lennie knows that this is true. George could do many activities that he cannot do without having to watch out for Lennie constantly. He
could spend his money in cat houses and in pool parlors. Lennie feels guilty because he thinks that he is holding George back from money and women.
Lennie sees his aunt Clara and the giant rabbit during his psychotic episode. His aunt Clara took care of Lennie when he was young. Lennie's brain remembers her as an authority figure. For this reason, Lennie's brain chooses an image of her to place guilt upon him. In their dream, Lennie tended the rabbits. Lennie's interpretation of this great, fuzzy creature is an understandable object in which to relay his unaware guilt. The rabbit, being one of the most important symbols of Lennie's life, is used to show Lennie that his dream will not come true. This thought is a picture of his dream turning on him. The thought of rabbits normally makes Lennie happy, but the guilt he feels conquers him. The images of his aunt Clara and the rabbit are his way of coming to an understanding of the
guilt in which he is not consciously aware.
Lennie's mental break-down was brought on by a heavy feeling of guilt lingering in his simple mind. His brain's simple thought process showed Lennie what he was thinking in the unconscious part of his mind, mainly guilt. This dream was triggered by the death of Curley's wife, along with the under-lying thought of George's life, Lennie's aunt Clara, and tending rabbits.
Crooks Character Analysis
In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the character named Crooks was segregated from the other men because he is black. This caused him to be lonely. He was forced to sleep in a separate bunk than the others. Trapped in solitude all night long; he resorts to books as his only companion. Trying to portray himself as proud and aloof by his own will, but inside is happy to be around the other men. Crooks first tried to make Lennie leave his room but then he decided that Lennie would not understand and that he actually wanted someone to talk with. During his conversation with Lennie Crooks reveals his loneliness on the ranch. “I seen it over an’ over a guy talkin’ to another guy and it don’t make no difference if he don’t hear or understand.” Although he is talking to Lennie about George, he is actually speaking of his own life. He needs someone, someone to talk with, a friend. After Lennie explains his dream to Crooks, he says he would work free. Later he decides that he does not want to face rejection. “I don’t wanna go to no place like that. I’d never wanna go to a place like that”
Crooks is also a proud man, sometimes causing him to forget his lack of authority of the ranch. Crooks grew up on a farm owned by his father where he was respected as an equal to the white men. Now on this ranch on California he is discriminated against and segregated. His pride is shown when he defends Lennie against Curley’s wife, but when she lashed out at him, he knows he must back down or face the consequences. Those consequences would probably be being lynched. Inside he knows he is equal to every other man on the ranch, but if he expressed these thoughts he would probably be forced out of the farm, or even worse possibly. Crooks is a bright man. He knows his rights, but he also knows that being a black man in California his rights didn’t mean anything if he made a mistake and crossed his boundaries.
A third characteristic of Crooks is intelligence. Crooks, unlike the other men, reads books. He grew up as a free man, an equal to the whites. While he is not a slave on the ranch, he certainly was not treated fairly. His knowledge only adds to his anger and loneliness that he feels because he knows what it could be like, he knows that this is not right. By reading, Crooks occupies his time and gains knowledge, but being with another human being on the ranch would be much more important to him than any book he could ever read. When Lennie comes into his room, Crooks knows exactly what to say to make Lennie upset. However, he was kind and stopped saying that George would not return when he realized Lennie was genuinely upset.