Lonely, ignored, different, and unaccepted, Crooks is an undesirable African American who society segregates against in the fictional novella, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck. Similar to how priests see their peasants, Crooks is seen the same to most of his coworkers on the farm. From Crooks being considered as the lower class and how he never gets the opportunity to speak on his own opinions, he makes the perfect character to illustrate the theme of racial discrimination creates a rough life for diverse races. Crooks does not receive all the benefits that his associates obtain. Nobody on the ranch wants to socialize with Crooks, and they do not let him participate in some of the activities. At one point of the story, Lennie meets
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He is granted to speak, but since he is considered as the lower class, nobody ever listens to him. During Crooks’ conversation with Lennie, Crooks tells Lennie that he “is just a n─ talkin’, an’ a busted back n─” (71). The author uses the disrespectful vocabulary term n─ to represent an affront against Crooks. The affront displays Crooks as being inferior to others; Crooks’ crippled back is a symbol of his inferiority. Everything Crooks could say “don’t mean nothing” (71), since almost nobody will listen to him. Even with a challenging life, Crooks can still maintain a tenacious exterior. But around the end of Crooks’ conversation with Lennie, Curley’s wife walks in looking for Curley. Crooks tries to speak up by telling her to get out of his room; Curley’s wife took it seriously, and replies with a treacherous question: “You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?” (80). Curley’s wife is implying that Crooks could get lynched, which presents the use of Steinbeck’s stereotyping on African Americans. Curley’s wife frightening Crooks is an ideal example on how the author indirectly characterizes Crooks as being a powerless man. He even has no capability to speak against a woman, one of the lowest class of people during that time
He is granted to speak, but since he is considered as the lower class, nobody ever listens to him. During Crooks’ conversation with Lennie, Crooks tells Lennie that he “is just a n─ talkin’, an’ a busted back n─” (71). The author uses the disrespectful vocabulary term n─ to represent an affront against Crooks. The affront displays Crooks as being inferior to others; Crooks’ crippled back is a symbol of his inferiority. Everything Crooks could say “don’t mean nothing” (71), since almost nobody will listen to him. Even with a challenging life, Crooks can still maintain a tenacious exterior. But around the end of Crooks’ conversation with Lennie, Curley’s wife walks in looking for Curley. Crooks tries to speak up by telling her to get out of his room; Curley’s wife took it seriously, and replies with a treacherous question: “You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?” (80). Curley’s wife is implying that Crooks could get lynched, which presents the use of Steinbeck’s stereotyping on African Americans. Curley’s wife frightening Crooks is an ideal example on how the author indirectly characterizes Crooks as being a powerless man. He even has no capability to speak against a woman, one of the lowest class of people during that time