How is the theme of racism and loneliness shown through the character of Crooks in OF MICE AND MEN?
How is the theme of racism and loneliness shown through the character of Crooks in OF MICE AND MEN?
The book 'Of Mice and Men' is based in the 1930's at this time racism was abolished but still carried on, the Great Depression was at its worst so people became lonely because they had to go and work of ranches. The Great the Depression is when the biggest banks of the USA became bankrupted, so all the people who invested in the banks lost all their money. This made some people depressed and did not think they could not cope. But in most cases they carried on with their treacherous lives. This is symbolised by Crooks in the story. He is a 'lonely' and desperate for communication for others because of his colour. John Steinbeck realised this racism at this time and separates Crooks from the rest of the ranch workers. The ranch is a microcosm to the hole of America.
The first time we hear about Crooks is through Candy's speech. We are immediately shown that Crooks is not respected by Candy or the other ranch workers by announcing he is a 'nigger'. Also he is used for a brutal entertainment. At the last Christmas the white ranch workers were drinking and having an exquisite time and decided to pick on the helpless, alienated and crippled 'nigger', so they thought. This all shows that black people was still treated in an appalling manner and the other white ranch worker still have a disuse for 'niggers and make him an out cast and disempowered because he is an afro-American which I find absolutely appalling.
Through the character of Crooks in chapter 4, John Steinbeck shows the loneliness and desperation of the character. Steinbeck describes him in great detail because chapter 4 is the only time we are really introduced to him, Steinbeck has to create a believable and sympathetic character at this time, so we will care about and sympathise with his point of view. From the first scene, when Crooks character is introduced, the reader empathises with his position in the ranch. As he has no, or very little, status he is commonly dehumanised and alienated by the other workers who address him as 'nigger', a word which was widely accepted at the time. Also Crooks is a victim of society, not just because 'he lives in a shed', or 'he sleeps in a long box filled with straw', but is also accentuated with the loneliness set upon his character by years of racist abuse. In the text, Crooks' repeated invitation to Lennie to join him in his bunk shows his desperation for company and friendship, even if it is with another social outcast.
Only Crooks has a room of his own. This is for a number of reasons, mainly racism. Evidence of this is that every one calls him 'nigger' and because of his colour he has 'A little shed that leaned off the wall barn which he takes vey good care and respects his thing with anomies pride.' This shows the reader that because of his skin colour no one wants to be with him and Crooks is very lonely. Crooks can't do anything about it because he have very few rights, and is being bullied in a mental way; ...
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Only Crooks has a room of his own. This is for a number of reasons, mainly racism. Evidence of this is that every one calls him 'nigger' and because of his colour he has 'A little shed that leaned off the wall barn which he takes vey good care and respects his thing with anomies pride.' This shows the reader that because of his skin colour no one wants to be with him and Crooks is very lonely. Crooks can't do anything about it because he have very few rights, and is being bullied in a mental way; even if Crooks did do something no on would stick up for him or defend him because of peer pressure and to see helping a 'nigger' would be a disgraceful behaviour, because of this he is isolated in his bunk and is completely segregated from the crowd of white workers on the ranch because they perceive him as a stereotypical black American from the 30's but 'next to his bunk lay a pair of gold rimmed spectacles' which suggests that he is educated and contrary to the previous point once had some high status. Also Crooks is thought of by the other workers as a 'proud, aloof man' because of his unwillingness and refusal to because distorted by victimisation of his character, but the reader knows that his unbeaten attitude is just an act, and that he has accepted the discrimination he is exposed to every day, because he confesses his loneliness and jealousy of the friendship between Lennie and George.
Also From the book we understand that Crooks is the only one with many personal possessions. The book tells the reader that Crooks has 'working tools, curved knives and needle balls of linen' also he has 'dictionary and California civil code.' This gives the impression that Crooks is a skilled worker, but still has no respect on the ranch, and Crooks has a dictionary which leads us to believe that he is intelligent. Also the California civil code means he knows he has rights but the irony is that he has very few rights but he likes to think he does, this also indicates that he knows his rites. But saying this he doesn't really have any as we see with Curley's wife. Crooks is rude and doesn't respect Curley's wife but this cold be because of the other men don't respect her so why should I, thinking he might have a very little bit of power over her so he will take all he can. Also if he doesn't respect her than the other men works might respect him more or he doesn't won't to get in the way of Curley, so he doesn't let her in his room and tells her to get out. On the other hand Curley's wife also is mean to Crooks when she says she could get him 'hung up'. This also shows very little respect from Curley's wife but in this time this also is a very true statement so this is why he has 'a single barrel shot gun', but this suggests that he is only half a man compeered to having a bigger more intimidating double barrel shot gun.
On the ranch Crooks has been around for a very long time but has very little power and can't do much about it because of the very little respect he receives and also has a job no one wants to do or even do can do because of his better skills also putting him with the animals segregated away from the humans 'has a bunk in the harness room' because animals smell, are unclean and are disease ridden so they put a Crooks with the animals because believe he is as respectable as an animal. Also Steinbeck shows this by giving crooks 'a long box filled with straw' like the animals would be sleeping in which is dehumanising. Crooks knows that people don't like him and because of his colour they put him in a room of his own away from everybody else, an example of this is that he has 'a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn.' Plus Crooks has an injury but no one cares for him and Crooks has to be self sufficient by 'rubbing liniment on his lower back' due to a house kicking him, 'as he rubs ointment on his own back' this is a physical description of Crooks which mirrors his broken social position. Crooks wants someone to be with because most of the time he is alone, this shows in the book because when Lennie comes into his room he warms to him and likes his company, although at the beginning he shouts at Lennie to get out of his room because he is trying to get lennie to empathise with his loneliness.
Crook's past was a contrast to the present tense. In the past Crook had the best life possible and everyone now wanted what he had, which was a utopia. In the past when he was a little boy he use to 'turn the chickens out in the alfalfa on sunny mornings' which is a very different life to what he has now when he is suck in the burn aiding to animals with barely any sunlight. Further to this he use to have family to care for him, two brothers and a father witch went on 'dreamily', 'on my old man's chicken ranch'. He uses to sleep in the same room as his brothers 'right in the same bed'. In this paragraph where Crooks talks about idyllic life it becomes apparent that he starts to talk like he is that child again when he says 'watch 'em-white chickens they was'. He might think this is his utopia but because he is so young he doesn't realise the racism that his father was facing, so when Crooks wanted to play with the white children his father was very protective because the same things might happen to his child that is happening to him. Also he was important on his fathers ranch so be could be playing with the other children. In the present he is looked at to be not very important and to give him the bear minimum to survive. On the ranch he is also very lonely compeered to his father's ranch where he had two brothers and his father, which would look after him and cares for him.
Steinbeck describes him in great detail because chapter 4 is the only time we really meet Crooks, so Steinbeck has to create a believable and sympathetic character so we will care about and sympathise with his point of view. Also this shows that the younger generation will read about this and know what was going on in 1930 and realise how native Americans was treated, so I think having a chapter on Crooks really empathises how much people had to go throw even without the racism within the story line. This gives the reader an insight to what Crook's life is and really empathize what he has to go throw every day. This is why Crook's is given a voice. However when Lennie enters Crook's room, Crooks feels very insecure so he terns offensive and makes Lennie feel very unwelcome, becomes 'aloof' and returns the segregation he is subjected to because his room is a place where he has rights, control over and has some power so like when a animal intrudes in to there territory they will protect with all there might, even if they are injured or weaker so when he sore Lennie approach his room, Crooks had a 'scowl' on his face and said 'you got know right to come in my room' sharply show he is trying to protect his territory, Crooks refusing to be a victim again against Lennie and to expose his extremism isolation and loneliness.
Further on in the chapter Steinbeck allows the reader to access Crook's pain through Lennie and resorts to fratricide, Crooks realise that between him and Lennie he is the top dog, so he takes advantage of Lennie and starts to mess around with his head by taunting him with the possibility that George may desert him witch emphasises and echoes Crooks' own loneliness. Crooks Is always the victim but now he has a senses of power rendering Lennie the victim. But the dialogue with Lennie encourages Crooks to join in with Lennie's and relive his utopia of the ranch they have always dreamed about.
Then an abrupt change of atmosphere with the entrance of Curley's wife so Crooks tries to assert his authority but she snaps back with horrific racist attack 'listen nigger' As she continued Crooks 'stared hopelessly' and be came smaller as the power was restored to the white woman, Curley's wife. Now Curley's wife uses fratricide, this is when within oppressive societies victims will turn on each other, rather than confront the power of their oppressors, Like Crooks does to Lennie, Curley's wife does to Crooks, A complete annihilation of Crooks' character in this last paragraph, crushed by social reality of racism. So he retreats back into a 'protective and lonely dignity' he had before, where he has gained nothing and owned very little but his own respect and where is the only place where he will fell most confinable.
Crook's is a very important character in the novel because it shows what issues of racism people had at this time. Also I think that it shows that in this time when the Great Depression was at its worst people became lonely because they had to travel around ranches to find work, there was one place where people didn't argue except the Native Americans about the racism, was in fact the racism but it showed most people that they went at the bottom of the chain and showed a ray of hope of the ranch works. Also in a larger scale the novel showed that the big banks were bulling on the smaller people for money, like the men ranch workers would pick on Curley's wife and Crook's because they thought they had more power and rights than them. Another point is that Crook's shows the theme of loneliness and isolation in this time of the Great Depression in 1930.
Finally Steinbeck is very sympathetic towards Crooks in his novel not because he says that there was no racism going on in the world at this time but because he told the truth of racism and showed the full extent about Crook's pain and suffering as well as going through the Great Depression.
