Of Mice and Men Chapter 4 - "They Left all the weak ones here"

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Chapter 4 English Essay

“They left all the weak ones here”

Due to George thinking that Lennie may embarrass him, Lennie is in Crooks’ room. “Slim an’ George an’ ever’body [went into town]. George says I gotta stay here an’ not get in no trouble. I seen your light.” This implies that George was telling Lennie to stay at the ranch. Presumably, George had Lennie to do this as he wanted some time away from George. As Lennie did not ask for a proper reason, and obeyed George, he simply stayed at the ranch. This shows that Lennie lacks the mental strength to question George, and the will to defy George and socialise with fellow ranch workers.

In 1930s America, laws were set by the government which discriminated against coloured people, and there were laws which would now be considered racist and against the US Constitution. Crooks is not allowed in the bunk house because of this racism. “[I’m not wanted] Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me.” Crooks is not allowed in the bunk house solely because of his colour, which is why he lives in a house in the barn. Although he shows anger when speaking to Lennie, he doesn’t stand up to anyone who is strong enough to have it backfire.  This shows both Lennie and Crooks are week and are discriminated against, as Crooks soon realises.

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Crooks uses the companionship between George and Lennie as an example of his weakness as he is black. “S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk house and play rummy ‘cause you was black. How’d you like that?” This shows that Crooks has a pretty sombre and pessimistic attitude on life, and is jealous of the way that Lennie has a companion. It also shows that Lennie is angry and upset about the prejudice agenda that the USA had at that time.

At that time in America, white people generally were de facto superior to black ...

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