a) How does the author present the character of Crooks?
In 'Of Mice and Men' Crooks is presented as a lonely man who quickly gains our sympathy as readers. Steinbeck's novel as a whole uncovers the loneliness at the heart of American society at the time, using a microcosm of this society represented by the ranch. The ranch houses a number of figures arguably intended to represent different aspects of mankind. The boss and his son represent the capitalist figures in society who are withdrawn yet threatening to those below them, while George represents a man of his time, trying to do the right thing; Lennie represents everything that is good about mankind and its gentle quality, however he is unable to control his destructive ability or even to comprehend this quality. In many ways Lennie is mankind itself at its best and worst, arguably he is the element of Man that attempts to be good, but is ultimately destructive. Steinbeck is potentially using him to illustrate that men, by definition, will destroy whether they set out to or not. Slim also is a flawed man, he is cold and indifferent even though he is princely, 'a master craftsmen', wishing to be shot rather than grow old and useless like the dog and by extension, Candy. However, in all this Crooks is set apart.
Crooks' home itself is a lean-to against the larger building, the barn. This suggests that in whatever structure there might be, whether it is the structure of society or physical housing, someone like Crooks will always be at the fringe, he is after all a 'nigger'. Candy informs us of this fact in chapter two, prior to meeting Crooks, he isn't mean about him in the way that he is about Curly's wife, but he states very plainly the view towards black people through his choice of language. He even points out that he saw Curly's wife not only 'give Slim the eys', but Crooks as well. He suggests two things here, firstly that Curly's wife is so sexually promiscuous that she looks beyond the bounds of race, or that she is so desperate she will consider setting race aside. Furthermore he suggests quite clearly that Crooks is at the bottom of the pile.
Curly introduces both Crooks and Curly's wife prior to their physical introduction to the narrative; he sets up both the theme of gender inequality as well as racial inequality. Later Crooks tells Lennie that all white people 'smell' to him. He is a bitter and twisted man, both psychologically and physically due to his back. It is almost as if the world has physically trodden him down and keeps him down.
In the weighting of introductions Crooks receives more attention than any other character considering he does not move the narrative on at all. In chapter four, Steinbeck is at pains to describe his living conditions, his posessions and his nature. His 'single-barrelled' shotgun suggests that he is willing to defend himself, yet lacks conviction as he has a single-barrel opposed to a double barrel. Moreover he is aware and frustrated by his rights, or practical lack of them. His 'copy of the 1905 civil code' is 'mauled', interestingly Steinbeck uses an animalistic expression to describe its shabby state, possibly linking Lennie and Crooks together through this idea as well as illustrating the ferocity he feels towards the law. Furthermore, Crooks has 'gold-rimmed spectacles', which suggest he is a man who spends a great deal of time reading, but also feels somewhat reverential towards this ability and so uses expensive spectacles indicating that he values the freedom it offers him.
The character of Crooks is a uniquely tragic one, literate and skilled he should have more reason to hope and dream yet he has the slimmest shade of doubt out of all the men. He has a 'meagre yellow' light of hope quite literally which is only confirmed when Curly's wife says 'I could get you strung up so fast, it ain't even funny', at this all hope is expunged and Steinbeck achieves a greater level of sympathy for his character as well as building up the animosity of the reader towards Curly's wife, ultimately making her death difficult to sympathise over.
b) Now it is your job, based on the above to carry on the context side of the essay. The question is: How does Steinbeck use the character of Crooks to highlight racial issues at the time?
Put your answers to this in the comments box below.
In 'Of Mice and Men' Crooks is presented as a lonely man who quickly gains our sympathy as readers. Steinbeck's novel as a whole uncovers the loneliness at the heart of American society at the time, using a microcosm of this society represented by the ranch. The ranch houses a number of figures arguably intended to represent different aspects of mankind. The boss and his son represent the capitalist figures in society who are withdrawn yet threatening to those below them, while George represents a man of his time, trying to do the right thing; Lennie represents everything that is good about mankind and its gentle quality, however he is unable to control his destructive ability or even to comprehend this quality. In many ways Lennie is mankind itself at its best and worst, arguably he is the element of Man that attempts to be good, but is ultimately destructive. Steinbeck is potentially using him to illustrate that men, by definition, will destroy whether they set out to or not. Slim also is a flawed man, he is cold and indifferent even though he is princely, 'a master craftsmen', wishing to be shot rather than grow old and useless like the dog and by extension, Candy. However, in all this Crooks is set apart.
Crooks' home itself is a lean-to against the larger building, the barn. This suggests that in whatever structure there might be, whether it is the structure of society or physical housing, someone like Crooks will always be at the fringe, he is after all a 'nigger'. Candy informs us of this fact in chapter two, prior to meeting Crooks, he isn't mean about him in the way that he is about Curly's wife, but he states very plainly the view towards black people through his choice of language. He even points out that he saw Curly's wife not only 'give Slim the eys', but Crooks as well. He suggests two things here, firstly that Curly's wife is so sexually promiscuous that she looks beyond the bounds of race, or that she is so desperate she will consider setting race aside. Furthermore he suggests quite clearly that Crooks is at the bottom of the pile.
Curly introduces both Crooks and Curly's wife prior to their physical introduction to the narrative; he sets up both the theme of gender inequality as well as racial inequality. Later Crooks tells Lennie that all white people 'smell' to him. He is a bitter and twisted man, both psychologically and physically due to his back. It is almost as if the world has physically trodden him down and keeps him down.
In the weighting of introductions Crooks receives more attention than any other character considering he does not move the narrative on at all. In chapter four, Steinbeck is at pains to describe his living conditions, his posessions and his nature. His 'single-barrelled' shotgun suggests that he is willing to defend himself, yet lacks conviction as he has a single-barrel opposed to a double barrel. Moreover he is aware and frustrated by his rights, or practical lack of them. His 'copy of the 1905 civil code' is 'mauled', interestingly Steinbeck uses an animalistic expression to describe its shabby state, possibly linking Lennie and Crooks together through this idea as well as illustrating the ferocity he feels towards the law. Furthermore, Crooks has 'gold-rimmed spectacles', which suggest he is a man who spends a great deal of time reading, but also feels somewhat reverential towards this ability and so uses expensive spectacles indicating that he values the freedom it offers him.
The character of Crooks is a uniquely tragic one, literate and skilled he should have more reason to hope and dream yet he has the slimmest shade of doubt out of all the men. He has a 'meagre yellow' light of hope quite literally which is only confirmed when Curly's wife says 'I could get you strung up so fast, it ain't even funny', at this all hope is expunged and Steinbeck achieves a greater level of sympathy for his character as well as building up the animosity of the reader towards Curly's wife, ultimately making her death difficult to sympathise over.
b) Now it is your job, based on the above to carry on the context side of the essay. The question is: How does Steinbeck use the character of Crooks to highlight racial issues at the time?
Put your answers to this in the comments box below.
