Scribd
Upload
18 views

Crooks

Crooks represents themes of isolation, racial segregation, and the futility of the American Dream. As the only black ranch hand, Crooks is segregated and forced to sleep alone in the barn. He puts on a facade of not wanting friendship but is revealed to be lonely when he talks to Lennie. Crooks' conversation with Lennie and Curley's Wife show how he is denied the opportunity to pursue the dream of owning land.

Uploaded by

Sam Shohet
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
18 views

Crooks

Crooks represents themes of isolation, racial segregation, and the futility of the American Dream. As the only black ranch hand, Crooks is segregated and forced to sleep alone in the barn. He puts on a facade of not wanting friendship but is revealed to be lonely when he talks to Lennie. Crooks' conversation with Lennie and Curley's Wife show how he is denied the opportunity to pursue the dream of owning land.

Uploaded by

Sam Shohet
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

 Steinbeck: What does Crooks add to the novel?

In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, Crooks is the only black character and as such
he represents all the black people who lived in America in the 1930’s. He is a pivotal
character as he represents many themes, namely: isolation, racial segregation, power and
the American Dream.

Crooks portrays a fake façade and while he acts lie he doesn’t want or need friendship is
actually the pinnacle of the theme of loneliness. He was segregated from the other men
because he is black, he was isolated by his colour. This caused him to be lonely. He was
forced to sleep in a separate bunk than the others. Trapped in solitude all night long; he
resorts to books as his only companion. Trying to portray himself as unfriendly by his own
will, but inside is happy to be around the other men. This is shown when Lennie enters
Crooks’s barn and at first Crooks tried to make Lennie leave his room but then he decided
that Lennie would not understand and that he actually wanted someone to talk with.
During his conversation with Lennie Crooks reveals his loneliness on the ranch. “I seen it
over an’ over a guy talkin’ to another guy and it don’t make no difference if he don’t hear or
understand.” Although he is talking to Lennie about George, he is actually speaking of his
own life. He needs someone, someone to talk with, a friend. After Lennie explains his
dream to Crooks, he says he would work free at their ranch. Later he decides that he does
not want to face rejection. “I don’t wanna go to no place like that. I’d never wanna go to a
place like that”

He represents the social injustice and racial prejudice in society. Crooks is a proud man,
sometimes causing him to forget his lack of authority of the ranch. On the ranch on
California he is discriminated against and segregated. 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 (being killed). Inside he knows he is equal to every other man on
the ranch, but if he expressed these thoughts he would probably be forced out of the farm,
or even worse possibly. Crooks is a bright man. He knows his rights, but he also knows that
being a black man in California his rights didn’t mean anything if he made a mistake and
crossed his boundaries.

Another characteristic of Crooks is intelligence and his intellectual power. Crooks, unlike the
other men, reads books. He grew up as a free man, an equal to the whites. While he is not a
slave on the ranch, he certainly was not treated fairly. His knowledge only adds to his anger
and loneliness that he feels because he knows what life could be like. By reading, Crooks
occupies his time and gains knowledge and increases his intellectual power. The reader is
shown his intellectual power when his is playing with Lennie’s and manipulates Lennie by
creating the thought of George leaving him in Lennie’s mind. However, crooks may be
intellectual but is powerless because of racial power. He is repeatedly called ‘nigger’ and
this shows the reader how life was for a black man during the 1930’s in America, because
the men are not trying to insult Crooks by calling his a ‘nigger’. It is just that they don’t think
to use his name. In addition, Crooks is treated like an animal, made to sleep in the barn,
forbidden to enter the house or the bunk. His isolation and powerlessness is due to his
colour. By showing the reader Crooks as being highly intellectual the reader is giving
information of the context of the book, and the significance of racial power during the time
period of the book.

Crooks represents the futility of the American dream, he had his dream shattered by
Curley’s Wife to keep him from dreaming at all. In Chapter 4 of the book Crooks found out
about the dream that Lennie and Candy had put together and thought about join them in
the farm. At first he was sceptical about the whole situation because he thought that Lennie
was acting crazy. Being in the time he was and the colour of his skin he thought that there
would be no hope for him. But after talking to Lennie he began to think of how nice it would
be if he had a farm of his own since he wouldn’t ever be able to have it actually happen.
While in this state of mind where he thought that he could do anything, Curley’s Wife comes
in to give him some discriminating words. This brought Crooks back down to Earth and
allowed him to think realistically. Crooks soon realised to forget about dreaming because he
would never have a successful one anyway. This is shows the illusion that the American
Dream was.

In conclusion, Steinbeck uses Crooks to convey to the reader important messages, which in
the 21st century are very relevant. Firstly, the problems racism and prejudice (problems,
which still are apparent in society), Crooks represents the effects in society due to a lack of
equality. And also, the importance of friendship. Crooks is alone due to his isolated, he feels
anger and resentment.

You might also like