Crooks is described as a “busted back nigger” so this lets us sympathise with him because he is not only a victim of racism but he has a disability too. He is treated like an animal “his bunk was a long box filled with straw,” so he didn’t have a simple necessity in his life. However, Curly’s wives appearance is quite different as she is brought across as “heavily made up” this implies that she is immoral and that she is only around the men craving intimacy. Later in the novel we find out that this is not true and that she really is craving love and affection, as she does not receive any of this from her husband. You might then ask the question “ Why doesn’t she just dress respectively then?” Steinbeck succeeds in explaining her provocative dress sense, which I will reveal later in my essay.
These two characters are similar in the way that they covet recognition, and they dream of having a friendship with someone who they can rely on and talk to. Curly’s wife always claimed that she was looking for Curly when she entered the bunkhouse but really that was only an excuse, as she wanted a reason to socialise. Nevertheless Crooks desire was to have a meaningful relationship with someone but he took a different approach. He found it hard to express his feelings therefore he tried to cover them up “It was difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger.” Crooks starts to develop a belief that loneliness is a way of life. He seems to avoid all the other men on the ranch, he is afraid of being alone, and yet he is antisocial. In my opinion Crooks is the loneliest person in the novel. Crooks spent his spare time alone, reading books. This did not make Crooks happy because his books did not fulfil 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 people can get mentally ill. Crooks has got a bit of an attitude problem at first to Lennie because when Lennie was standing at the door to Crooks room he said ‘you got no right to come in my room. But once he started talking to Lennie he calmed down. Then he used Lennie to his advantage and he started to take the hand out of him. This doesn’t affect how we feel about Crooks because we can see that his action is only through jealously of George and Lennie’s relationship. When Lennie told Crooks about ‘living of the fat of the land’ he didn’t believe him until Candy came in and backed him up. Crooks wanted to join them. So he asked Candy to ask George if he could help them until Curly's wife came in and reminded him that she was capable of getting him strung up on a tree. Then he realised that he was black and he didn’t belong with them so he said ‘forget about it’ to Candy when George came back.
Curly’s wife 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”. 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 explains why Curly’s wife dressed in the way she did. Simply, it was because her dream was to be an actress therefore she dressed over the top all the time as this was as close to her dream she was going to get. Many young people today have dreams of being in the movies or to be a famous singer, they may never achieve their dream but at least they have friendship and a sense of belonging in their lives, which Curly’s wife did not have.
In conclusion, I feel we do sympathise with these two outcasts. Steinbeck builds our relationship with them by showing us both sides of their personality. In my eyes no-one is perfect and I have no doubt in saying that Crooks and Curly’s wives good areas way out the bad points I have made!
The End
By Emma McIlveen