- Steinbeck uses language to persuade the audience to believe there is conflict between blacks and whites. Crooks is a black character in the novel and often in the dialogue between the other men, the word “nigger” is used. As a reader we can see they don’t count crooks as one of them, since he also has to live down in the stable buck rather than in the bunk house. We can also tell that the novel was set before racism became an issue, and blacks hadn’t yet had respects and rights.
- The readers are lead to believe that Lennie is going to have a problem with Curley when Steinbeck introduces us to Curley. Steinbeck used phrases such as “He hates big guys.” Also “he’s mad at them because he ain’t a big guy” From these comments that the swapper makes about Curley we can tell that Lennie is going to get in trouble with Curley, one because he isn’t wise and has the mind or a child and also because he is big and like the swapper said Curley “hates big guys”.