4th October Explore what Crooks contributes to the novel Candy introduces Crooks into the novel as the stable buck. He talks about how the boss “gives the stable buck hell” because he is a “nigger”. Crooks is the only black man in the novel and therefore takes the role of showing how black people were discriminated by a white society. The characters’ use of racist language and the casual use of the term “nigger” to describe Crooks suggests that it was seen acceptable for Crooks to be treated with no respect this way. However Candy does describe Crooks as a “nice fella”.
Steinbeck presents key parts of 1930s America through out his novel and revels the different attitudes toward black people shown by different social classes, he achieves this by using one of his characters named “Crooks” in order to present to the reader the way back people are treated every day. The first thing which we are informed about is the fact that the boss decided to take his anger out on the stable buck when he realizes that George and Lennie were late. “Ya see the stable buck’s a nigger” the use of word “nigger” implies that people prefer to identify him by his race instead of his name. The word “nigger” is also makes the reader feel sad and ashamed of the way the character has been treated. However Candy justifies his Bosses actions as he sees nothing wrong or immoral in them.
The way he has been treated and brought up makes him who he is today and how he relates to other people, especially white skinned people. Crooks, first of all, is the stable hand who works with the ranch horses. Along with Candy, Crooks is a character used by Steinbeck to show the effects of discrimination. This time the discrimination is based on race, and Crooks is not allowed in the bunkhouse with the white ranch hands, therefore he has his own place in the barn with the ranch animals, and he is treated as such. Crooks is a man, supposedly young but disabled, that likes books and keeps his small room neat, but has been so beaten down by loneliness and prejudicial treatment of that he is now suspicious of any kindness he receives.
The text was set and written during the racial segregation period in 1920s-1930s. It was when the racial tensions in America reached boiling point. Discrimination against the racial minorities, especially the Negroes, could be seen everywhere- black and white are separated in public places including trains, parks and even cemeteries. Private schools of high quality could only be attended by white people. This matches with the situation faced by the Mulatto of the story- Bert Lewis, his family and also other black people working in the plantation.
As the result, the poverty was inherited to next generation repeatedly. Roger represents the group of the poor black men. His face was “dirty” and he was “frail and willow-wild” in his clothes. In addition, he tried to steal money from Mrs. Jones illegally. About these problems, the writer tried to enlighten the poor black men through Mrs. Jones’ words although it is faint and indirect.
Crooks, a black stable-hand, is segregated because of the pigment of his skin. Steinbeck depicts discrimination through Crooks’ isolation from other men, his desire for friendship, and his way of turning his vulnerability into a weapon. First, Steinbeck demonstrates Crooks’ loneliness through his separation from the other men on the ranch. Initially, the other ranch hands discriminate Crooks because of his disability that sets him apart from them. Steinbeck describes Crooks’ living condition to be, “For being alone…Crooks could leave his things about, and being a stable buck and a cripple, he was more permanent than the other men” (67).
Crooks is a African American man from Southern California. He is on the farm in Northern California that Lennie and George are working on. Crooks is segregated into his own room in the barn because he “smells” but in all honesty between the characters it is because of them discriminating against the colour of Crooks’ skin. In the early 1930’s in which this story takes place the African American people were still very much discriminated against even a century after slavery was abolished. The farm that the story is set on is with a significant number of white males along with Curley’s wife.
How do you think Steinbeck uses the character of Crooks in the novel as a whole to convey important idea about society at the time? It is noticeable that this novel there is only a few times that the reader is taken inside Crooks’ room or given much information about his life; his appearances throughout the rest of the novel are brief and he has no dialogue, almost as if Steinbeck places him on the edge of the story as society places him out in the stables to fend for himself. Steinbeck uses Crooks to show the extent of racism in America at that time, with several characters referring to him as “the stable buck” as if he is just part of the stable with no identity of his own, and with casual racist insults, even when they are expressing admiration for the way he endures the boss’ temper or Crooks’ skill at horseshoes. It is in his harness room home that Crooks encounters Lennie and places himself in danger when he tries to get Lennie to sympathise with his isolation – the only people who come to visit him, other than Slim (who only comes for professional reasons) are the simpleton Lennie, the old, crippled Candy and the unhappy Curley’s wife, all “losers” marginalized by society. 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.
American English March 3, 2014 The Bane of Happiness John Steinbeck uses Loneliness and Isolation as two main themes in the novel Of Mice and Men, due to the effects of the Great Depression on ordinary people in the agricultural areas of America. Loneliness is a dominant theme in the novel Of Mice and Men. In this novel, John Steinbeck introduces the essentialness of loneliness of the life of many men during the Great Depression. Steinbeck uses concepts such as ageism, racism, and sexism to portray loneliness. Throughout the book we are introduced to many characters that display loneliness and isolation, some more than others.
Racism in “Native Son” “Native Son”, by Richard Wright, is a heart-rending representation of the racial oppression that invaded Chicago as well as the rest of America during the 1930s. Through the experiences of his black character Bigger Thomas, Wright provides helpful understandings about the origins of racial segregation and the tragic ways in which it affected American society. Throughout the story, Wright insists that Bigger was not born a violent criminal. He is a “native son”. A native son is a product of the violence and racism that suffused the devastating social conditions in which he was raised.