Crooks retaliates with this: “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, all of you stink to me” (Steinbeck 68). This is Crooks’ attempt in showing that he desperately wants to join in, to be accepted, but because of his color he can’t and he feels the only way he can make himself better is to cut himself off further, it is a vicious cycle. When Crooks realizes that Lennie means no harm, and will not leave him alone, he invites him to “Come on in and set a while” (Steinbeck 69).
· At first, he turns Lennie away, hoping to prove a point that if he, as a black man, is not allowed in white men’s houses, then whites are not allowed in his, but his desire for company ultimately wins out and he invites Lennie to sit with him. · Perhaps what Crooks wants more than anything else is a sense of belonging—to enjoy simple pleasures such as the right to enter the bunkhouse or to play cards with the other men. · The name Crooks connotates a villain, someone horrible who is not wanted in society. · His pride is shown when he defends Lennie against Curley’s wife, but when she lashed out at him, he knows he must back down or face the consequences. · Inside he knows he is equal to every other man on the ranch as he is obsessed with his rights , but if he expressed these thoughts he would probably be forced out of the farm, or even worse possibly as black people were not excepted and many people were prejudice in america in the 1930's.
Despite Crooks initial hostility to Lennie, he is obviously desperate for company and invites him in, telling Lennie how he fears for his own sanity and that “books ain’t no good” for company. As he tells Lennie, Crooks is so desperate for “just talking, being with another guy” that he tolerates a visitor who has no idea about what he is actually talking about and cannot offer any real sympathy or company. Steinbeck is very explicit about the fact that Crooks is separated from the others solely because he is black (even the similarly crippled Candy gets to share the bunkhouse with the men) and shows the social injustice with Crooks innocent childhood memories of life on his father’s
Both honest mistakes that he didn’t even know he made. The ignorance shown towards Lennie in the novel was due to the time period and the people’s lack of knowledge. People in the story like “The boss” just thought that Lennie wasn’t smart because he just didn’t talk much unless it was to his best friend George. There was ignorance in Raymond because his brother thought that he could remove Ray from his schedules at his home and take him with him. The Ignorance was that Ray needed those schedules or he will have a fit.
Crooks isn’t ashamed about his inheritance but has pride and tells Lennie he doesn’t descend from slaves but from landowners. In several points, in the book Steinbeck shows Crooks’s dignity and pride when he ‘draws himself up’ and will not accept charity from anyone. Crooks, jealous of Lennie having a friend to spend his life with, scares him and
Readers then realize that Lennie doesn’t understand the difference between killing an animal and murdering a human, therefore putting other lives at risk. There was an instance where Crooks was in danger himself, the result of him taunting Lennie that George might never come back for Lennie. Readers can sense the danger that Crooks was facing when “Suddenly Lennie’s eyes centered and grew quiet, and mad. He stood up and walked dangerously towards Crooks. ‘Who hurt George?’ he demanded” (Steinbeck 73).
The other men would not allow him to use his feet due to Crooks’ back but thought it perfectly fine to be fighting him. When Crooks comes into the novel he is described as a “lean negro head, lined with pain,” this is important because it’s the introduction of the many pains which Crooks has. Crooks is both in emotional and physical pain. The emotional pain which Crooks carries with him is due to his loneliness; his isolation from man is causing him to go mad, “guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody”. In isolation from the other men Crooks begins to doubt what he sees.
In Chapter 7 Amir states, “I actually aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba.” In this quote Hassan stole the blue kite for Amir but Assef and his two friends wanted it, but Amir did not help Hassan. Instead, Amir ran away like a coward. He wanted the blue kite that Hassan stole for him, but he didn’t want to help pay the price, instead he felt that Hassan was the price to pay. He thought that Hassan was like his own sacrifice; Hassan got raped just because he wanted to get the blue kite for his friend Amir.
(Golding 82). Jack publicly makes fun of the littluns. Jack disrespects the other boys' feelings, making them feel inferior and acting as if their fears are a sign of weakness. The younger boys' feelings of inferiority force them to follow Jack's orders, for fear of being punished or threatened if they go against his ideas. Jack's second anarchist method of leadership is made up of his passion for brutal hunting.
Later on in the story Candy, an aging ranch handyman with a missing hand, asks George and Lennie if he can help pay for the land George picked out and live there with them. They were going to let Candy pay but he couldn’t because of Lennie’s actions. Crooks, a black stable hand, befriends Lennie and asks him if he would let Crooks hoe a garden on the land. Lennie wanted to let him but couldn’t for the same reason Candy couldn’t join them. I believe that to have a perfect life you must have your dreams come true, but of course this didn’t happen.