The novel also creates a crucial picture of what black men had to face other than verbal abuse from white men; a situation that accurs towards the start of the book that shows what black men had to endure is when we find out from Candy about the fight which Crooks had with Smitty. We learn that Crooks was invited into the bunk house one night around Christmas time and that that night Smitty went for him, the novel also doesn’t give or imply an reason for this behaviour, except the obvious; because Crooks was black. “They let the nigger come in that night. Little Skinner name of Smitty took after the nigger. Done pretty good, too.” The way that Smitty treated Crooks that night shows how much fear and fright that white people gave towards the black people, and a lot of which was for no reason, just imagine if Crooks had done some thing to offend Smitty? Another time when we see that Crooks is the person who everyone takes out their frustration and anger on is when, we find out that the boss took out his anger on him when Lennie and George did turn up when they were supposed to, “He sure was burned when you wasn’t here this morning. Come right in when we was eatin’ breakfast and says, “where the hell the new men?” An’ he give the stable buck hell, too.” This quote again shows that he is pick on by the white men. The first glimmer of hope that we get which may show that white men may of had some respect for black men is also again when Smitty picks a fight with crooks, and the other workers say to Smitty that because Crooks has a bad back he can not use his feet. “The guys wouldn’t let him use his feet, so the nigger got him.” This act by the other workers may have shown that they respected Crooks enough to make it a fairer fight but, I feel that the only reason why the other workers said that Smitty couldn’t use his feet were to make it a long, better fight. We also find out in this part of the chapter that Smitty was alleged to have said, “He woulda killed the nigger.” This shows that he extremely dislikes black men and wouldn’t just stop at giving them a ‘kick in’ but wanted to kill him.
This maltreatment by the white men has a pretty obvious and inescapable effect on Crooks, as all of the way through the book Crooks keeps to himself and doesn’t interact with many of the other itinerant worker unless totally necessary. Although the novel also gives the impression that Crooks likes his privacy and isolation, “Crooks was a proud aloof, man. He kept his distance and demanded that others kept theirs.” I think that this is just a layer of protection that he is putting on because he has be hurt by the white men and is scared of them, what they will do to him and also so he can’t be hurt by the white men again. This point is shown best when the only white character in the book that freely goes into Crooks’ room and speaks to him, and he still has a large guard up and tries his hardest to make Lennie who was the white man leave the room. “You ain’t wanted in my room.” And again when Crooks says “Well, go see your pup, then. Don’t come into a place where you ain’t wanted.” These quotes clearly show that Crooks doesn’t want Lennie in the room, but this is only because of what has happened to him in the past and because of that he feels he cannot trust white men. I think this is wrong as it is noticeable that crooks wants to speak to Lennie but is to scared to, due to what the other white men have done to him in the past. This shouldn’t be happening and if crooks wants to speak to Lennie he should be able to do it with out feeling scared.
The novel also tells us that he is always left out and alone, and this is holey because of the white men disliking him. A quote that shows us how he is isolated, left out and disrespected Crooks is by the group is, when he is speaking to Lennie in his room and he says, “I ain’t wanted in the bunk house,” another quote which also sows this point is again when he is speaking to Lennie and he says, “Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t because I’m black. They say I stink.” This shows again that in the 1930’s black men where on top of most peoples most hated lists and were treat badly by white men.
A different way that the novel reveals to shows how black men where treated badly and with a lower status than the white men, is at the start of chapter four when John Steinbeck describes the room that crooks live in, “Crooks the Negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room; a little shed that leaned of the wall of the barn. On one side of the little room there was a square four-paned window, and on the other, a narrow plank door leading into the barn. Crooks’ bunk was a long box filled with straw on which his blankets were flung.” The reason why crooks lives alone in a small animal worthy bunkhouse was because the other white workers didn’t want to share with him. The Description of the room also shows that he is not only made to sleep in a small room but also that his bed is merely a box filled will straw, this is more like what a animal should be sleeping on.
As the description of his room become more in-depth we find out that the walls of his room was plastered in things like broken hames, knifes, needles and loads more and we also learn that he can read and has a selection of books above his bed. “On the wall by the window there were pegs on which hung broken harness in process of being mended; strips of new leather; and under the window itself a little bench for leather-working tools, curves knifes and needles and balls of linen thread, and a small hand riveter. On pegs were also pieces of harness, a slit collar with the horsehair stuffing sticking out, a broken hame, and a trace chain with its leather covering split.” It goes on to say about his books, “And he had books, too.” All of these things up on his wall show that he was a very skilled man and is very handy and is probably why he was hired, the fact that he is a blacksmith shows that he can mend and create saddles, create horseshoes and do everything a blacksmith can do. But all the other things on his walls; like the needles and threads show that he has many other talents and skills. But maybe the biggest detail, which this description shows us, is that he can read and this is something that many of the other workers probably couldn’t. I think that the range of skills that Crooks possesses is not totally why the other white men treat him bad and leave him out, but these talents could make the other white men feel small and make them jealous and this could be a reason for not liking Crooks.
The one of few times the novel shows Crooks getting treated with any respect from the white men, is when he goes to see slim at his bunk house because he was doing a job for him. “The door opened quietly and the stable buck put in his head…. Slim took his eyes from old candy. ‘Huh? Oh! Hello, Crooks what’s the matter?” This is the first time in the book that Crooks is spoken to decently and with respect, this was a big surprise as it was the first time Crook’s was spoken let alone nicely. Although Crooks has been disrespected enough to hate all white men he showed the respect that he got from slim back and calls him “Mr Slim.” The quote also helps to show us how Crooks keeps a watchful eye of where he goes and we can see that he want to stay out of the white men’s way. We see when he goes to see Slim and he only pops his head around the door. John Steinbeck also gave a description of Crooks in this quote, “a lean negro head, lined with pain, the eye patient” this description portrays a black man that had suffered the pain and agony of racism. Another time, which Crooks is treated with even the slightest respect, is when he is speaking to Lennie. This is best shown when Lennie first enters Crooks’s room and makes a gesture towards Crooks. “Lennie smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends.” Although in away Lennie is still a kid and therefore doesn’t understand why Crooks is treated badly by the others, he is still white and Crooks automatically thinks that white people don’t want to speak to him and he instinctively put up a front, and replies “You got no right to come in my room.” But under this front Crooks wants to speak and once he realises that Lennie in genuine they have a respectful conversation.
From the novel we also find out that crooks had once played with other kids who were white, we find this out when Crooks is speaking to Lennie in his room. “The white kid come to play at our place, an’ sometimes I went to play with them, and some of them was pretty nice. My ol’ man didn’t like that. I never knew why till long later why he didn’t like that. But I know now.” This quote shows that kids either had very different views on other black people than adults or had no views at all. The quote also illustrates that the other kids treated him no different than they would another white kid and explains to us how his Dad didn’t like him playing with the white kids, this was probably since he knew the pain and hurt than black men went through because of white men and knew that it would happen to his son when the white kids get older and learn to hate black people. The way that the kids show no shame when playing with each other shows that white and black men can mix and in a way the kids show up the adults by acting more ‘mature’. From the novel I can see clearly that racism is taught by society and realise that the white men don’t hate black men because of personal grievances but because they have been taught to hate them.
MARK ANDREWS
