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Essay On Crooks

In John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men, Crooks is the most complex character who experiences severe discrimination and loneliness as the only African American on the ranch in 1930s America. He faces prejudice due to his race and physical disability, and is isolated in his living situation. Crooks feels deep resentment and anger over his treatment and lack of rights or social status. His only desire is to not be lonely and to have companionship or be included, which he is denied due to the rampant racism and oppression of the time period.

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Vincey Lu
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48 views

Essay On Crooks

In John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men, Crooks is the most complex character who experiences severe discrimination and loneliness as the only African American on the ranch in 1930s America. He faces prejudice due to his race and physical disability, and is isolated in his living situation. Crooks feels deep resentment and anger over his treatment and lack of rights or social status. His only desire is to not be lonely and to have companionship or be included, which he is denied due to the rampant racism and oppression of the time period.

Uploaded by

Vincey Lu
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
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In the novella Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, Crooks is

undeniably the most complex and interesting character. He is the main target
of discrimination on the ranch. Therefore, he is lonely and has a strong feeling
of resentment towards others.

Firstly, Crooks receives a huge amount of prejudice because of his race.


Steinbeck uses the character of Crooks to symbolise the degradation of the
black community occuring at the time in which the story was set. Crooks
thinks whenever he tries to express something, “it’s just a nigger sayin’ it.”
This shows his anger about being treated differently and having very limited
freedom. The offensive word of ‘nigger’, which later appears many times in the
story, dehumanises Crooks and reminds him that he has no rights at all. In the
1930s, people with colour wants to change the way they were seen but it was
very difficult to do this due to the Jim Crows laws, which legalised
discrimination and segregation of black people from the white community. In
the novella, physical violence against people with colour is also threatened.
For example, Curley’s wife takes advantage of Crooks having a go at her and
warns him into getting lynched. “I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it
ain’t even funny.” Lynching is really common during the Great Depression.
The oppressive scorn makes Crooks 'seemed to grow smaller’. The use of
oxymoron demonstrates how Crooks tries to stay confident and fight back, yet
he realises how Curley’s wife has higher social status than his, mainly because
her race was considered more ‘superior’ at the time.

Furthermore, Crooks also experiences loneliness and suffering due to other


worker’s discrimination against his race and physical disability. He lives in a
room alone and is separated from the bunk house. When he talks to Lennie, he
explains how people of his race often do not have a companion like him, “a guy
goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody”. This highlights the pain that is caused by
loneliness. He is desperate to have someone to talk to and be acknowledged by
other people, even though Lennie cannot empathise or even understand his
suffering. Secondly, Crooks’s pain is also demonstrated physically. The name
‘Crooks’ represents his crooked back and his lips are described by the adjective
‘pain-tightened’. These characteristics emphasise his suffering, and yet he is
still treated badly by other ranch workers.

Lastly, Crooks’s lack of power leads him to be bitter and cruel towards other
under-priveleged characters. For example, he has taken advantage from
Lennie because of his mental disorder and childlike behaviours. Crooks
attempts to use persuasive language in order to insult Lennie by saying that
George will discard him. He has taken the chance to fight back against people,
from how he was tortured in the past and also wanting Lennie to understand
his feeling when he has no friends or companion. In some instances, Crooks
tries to earn back his rights. When Lennie enters his room, Crooks says
“Nobody got any rights here but me”. This is particularly paradoxical because
he actually wants to escape from his loneliness, but however he is rejecting
this opportunity in order to secure his rights. I believe what Crooks wants is
belonging, to enjoy the simple pleasure of forming friendships with other men.
This is presented evidently when he asks to become involved in George and
Lennie’s dream, even if he knows the futility of it.

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