Of Mice and Men
There were many characters in the novel Of Mice and Men whose problems were due to injustice. Some were lonely, some had broken dreams, and some were subjected to discrimination. Crooks, a stable buck, was the loneliest person on the ranch because he was excluded by the ranch hands. He was excluded from the group because he was the sole African-American and he was perceived as weak and resentful. Crooks lived alone in the repair shed because the ranch hands would not sleep in the presence of an African-American. The shed in which he lived was where they mended the harnesses for the horses. The ranch hands lived in the bunk house separate from Crooks. "Crooks said, 'I ain't wanted in the bunk house."' (Steinbeck 102) This statement emphasizes Crooks' segregation from the rest of guys because he wa
Not only was Crooks physically deformed he was the victim of racial discrimination. "S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black. Steinbeck was trying to open the eyes of the American people and show them the error of their ways. Crooks was lonely because he was the only African-American on the ranch. "'(77) The statement made by Curley's wife illustrates that Crooks along with Candy, who was missing a portion of his arm, and Lennie, who had a mental handicap, were considered undesirables. Crooks was deformed and therefore viewed as weak because of a physical injury he sustained in an accident when he was a child. For this same reason, he was looked upon as a lower class person. He used Crooks to show how segregation affected African-Americans.
Common topics in this essay:
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Crooks Candy,
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Jr Dream,
African-Americans Crooks,
ranch hands,
bunk house,
discrimination crooks,
curley's wife,
steinbeck trying,
perceived weak,
accident child,
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Acceptance Essays
