How does Steinbeck present the character of Crooks Essay

In the novel Of Mice and Men, the character of Crooks is employ by John Steinbeck, the author, to symbolise the big bucksgrading of the shadowy community occurring at the time in which the novel was set. Crooks is besides signifi washstandt as he provides an insight into the reality of the the Statesn Dream and the timbreings of the nation in the banquet their desolation and need for company. Steinbeck presents Crooks as a victim of racism and through break the book, he is called by the note jigaboo. organism morose, Crooks is hated on the ranch. Ya see, the stable consigns a nigger.The routine of this boy dehu whileises Crooks and shows how s give noticedalous pot at the time, had no rights at all. He similarly says, If I say several(prenominal)thing, w presentfore its merely a nigger sayin it and this shows his anger well-nigh being brutalised. However, an new(prenominal) extract shows how threatened violence is riding habitd agown(prenominal)st melanize great deal and how the same term nigger is repeated throughout the book. Listen nigger( ), you father out what I can do if you on the fence(p) your trap? ( )I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it psychealt still funny. Curleys married woman carry aways utility of Crooks having a go at her and threatens Crooks into acquire lynched.Lynching was very(prenominal) common in the 1930s and Crooks seemed to grow smaller. The utilization of this oxymoron strains how he tries to fight covering however Curleys wifes kind status was better than Crooks primarily because of his race. Furthermore, Curleys wife uses the word nigger and it a comparable dehumanises Crooks and puts him in his right place. Curleys wife is besides to the higher(prenominal)est degree the hind end of the hearty ladder as thoroughly as Crooks worldly Despite the concomitant that Crooks is a victim of racism, Steinbeck presents Crooks as a ennoble human being.At start glance, this is not obv ious as Crooks residuums in what is described as a foresighted box filled with straw. This cite shows how he is presented as an animal because black hatful at that time, were treated as break ones backs. Not precisely does Steinbeck give him a tutorshiper and a voice, entirely he tries to show Crooks life in the book with how black people were treated in real life. Steinbeck everywherely tries not to represent Crooks as just a slave. Steinbeck tries to defend Crooks by writing near how he stood up for his rights against Curleys wife when she entered his private space, I had enough ( you got no rights comin in a coloured mans means.You got no rights messing aroundwhat in here at all. This iterate shows how Curleys wife tries to use her superior social status against Crooks as well as dehumanising him. an differentwise(prenominal) credit shows how not altogether does he cargon about himself and how he treats himself, hardly he in any case c bes for the horses an d the other animals in the barn. Crooks has his orchard apple tree box over his bunk, and in it a range of medicine bottles, both(prenominal) for himself and for the horses.It alike shows that he is well organised and that he c bes for the animals like he cares for himself. He too takes pride in what he does. Another refer shows how scour though he hit the sacks he has rights, they are still charge nothing, And he had books too a dilapidated dictionary and a mauled copy of the calcium Civil Code for 1900s. This mention also shows that he is worried about his education and that he is intelligent even though others on the ranch purview that black people arent clever. The books must(prenominal) start been use a piling and so he knows the rights that he should suck. in that locationfore, Crooks is presented as a dignified human being despite the fact that he is cut and mistreated by others on the ranch. Although Crooks is a dignified human being, Steinbeck also presents him as a brute(a) and unpleasant man at times. This is shown to the highest degree obviously when Lennie attempts to get a show friends with him in part four of the novel. At first, when Lennie tries to enter his room, Crooks says, you got no rights to fall down in my room. This heres my room, and he be get intos very defensive. The fact that he repeats the explicate my room shows he is feeling vulnerable.His room is the only place where he can have some privacy and have a sense of safety and this is important to Crooks because he doesnt have ofttimes and is frequently abused by those around him. Steinbeck also writes, Crooks said sharply and the word sharply supports this idea because it shows it is an immediate answer to the intrusion. It is also like a falsifying mechanism as he feels slightly paranoid about what is about to happen. He lets Lennie in his room eventually only if he continues to torment him, his voice grew delicate and persuasive.Crooks tries to use per suasive talking to in order to insult Lennie and take advantage of his condition. Spose George dont fuck off back no more( )whatll you do hence? Crooks takes the chance to fight back from how he has been tortured in the past. He also wanted to make Lennie feel how he has been feeling for most of his life lonesome and isolated. Yet Lennie tries to fight back and Crooks gets excite and tries to carm him down. Crooks is also presented as powerless, as previously discussed it is perhaps this lack of power that leads to his bitterness. one(a) quote shows how Curleys wife threatens him and Crooks sits down and doesnt fight back, Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego-nothing to arouse any like or dislike. Steinbeck tries to use metaphorical language to show that Crooks doesnt want to be seen and that he fears for himself. It also shows that he is at the bottom of the social hierarchy mainly because he is the only black person on the ranch. The rep eating of the word no and nothing dehumanises Crooks and makes him feel like he has nothing and he has no rights.He is also absurd because sometimes he insists on himself having some rights even so he is still sole(a). This is why when Lennie tries to enter his room, he has a go at him rationalizeing them. It wasnt until afterwards he spoke that he realised that he could finally have some company. In those days, black people were presented as abase class compared to others and Steinbeck embeds this in the novel to make Crooks feel powerless Another quote shows how Crooks does have some rights even though he doesnt like them, A coloured man got to have some rights even if he dont like them.It shows how Crooks knows he has rights and that it is a defensive structure mechanism against others being racist towards him. However, when Curleys wife interrupts them, he tries to defend himself explaining his rights exclusively they were all worth nothing and after she went, when Crook s said do Candy that he was jus foolin soon enough on the inside, he knows that he can never get out of the situation others put him in. When Steinbeck presents Crooks as powerless, this also links in with him being lonesome(a) and isolated.When Crooks is talking to Lennie, he explains how a black person like him has no friends and no company, Books aint no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him, he whined, A guy goes zesty if he aint got zero. This shows how he is a symbol of loneliness and Crooks tries to express his feelings. Out of all the people in the ranch, the only person he could express his feelings to was Lennie, who cannot fully sympathise or understand Crooks situation. Not only is Crooks a symbol of loneliness, but so are Candy and Curleys wife because they are also marginalised in the ranch.The way Steinbeck doesnt give Curleys wife a name dehumanises her and makes her feel lonely. Another quote goes to Crooks past and how things in those days were the same, i n time he didnt know. I aint a Southern negro I was born right here in California The colour kids come to place at our place, an sometimes I went to cinch with them My ol man didnt like that. I never knew till recollective later why he didnt like that. But I know now. Racism was a big final payment in those days and thats why Crooks dad didnt like him mixing with the other duster kids.The way he says I aint a Southern black shows that he isnt the typical slave that other black people were in the 1930s and that most of the black people in America were from the South. He currently became aware of racial prejudice and he doesnt mix easily with others on the ranch, He kept his distance and demanded that other people kept theirs. Crooks is also disjointed because he cant sleep in the bunk house with the others mainly because of his race. Crooks is also presented as weak and change as he suffers both forcible and emotional pain.His name represents how he has a crooked back, Hi s body was bent over to the left by his crooked spine, and his eyeball lay deep in his head And he had thin, pain-tightened lips which were lighter than his face. Steinbeck tries to emphasise how Crooks is in a lot of pain, yet he is still treated hard by the ranchers. His physical disabilities parallel with other characters including Lennie who is taken advantage of by Crooks because he behaves like a child. Crooks is also the only person in the novel who doesnt have any hopes or breathing ins. 1 moment in chapter four shows how Crooks has high hopes when Lennie and Candy talk about the dream but he dismisses it after Curleys wife destroys him verbally, I never seen a guy really do it, I seen guys nearly crazy with loneliness for territory If you guys would want a hand to take form for nothing-just his keep, why Id come an lend a hand. Crooks duologue about how he has seen many people who have passed through the ranch with dreams yet most of them have failed. When Candy sprea ds their dream, he has high hopes, but when Curleys wife interrupts them, she reminds him that he has no hope of sharing the dream.In my opinion, Steinbeck does present Crooks as a victim of racism as he is like an outcast because of his colour and Steinbeck used him to show the hatred of black and blanched people in the 19th century. He also presents him as a dignified human being because unlike most black people at the time, Crooks did have an education. He likewise presents him as cruel and unpleasant because he enjoys torturing Lennie because he is weakened by his mental disorder and he is also powerless because he is treated like all the other black people in America at the time, he has no rights at all.He is also presented as lonely and isolated because he is dehumanised and disjointed from the other ranchers mainly because of his race, and he is also presented as weak and damaged both physically and mentally because of his crooked back and the loneliness that he feels. Ul timately, Crooks is a very complex character, one who has suffered and slightly gained but he is definitely presented as a victim of society. Crooks Crooks is a lively, sharp-witted, black stable-hand, who takes his name from his crooked back. Like most of the characters in the story, he admits that he is extremely lonely.When Lennie visits him in his room, his reaction reveals this fact. At first, he turns Lennie away, hoping to instal a point that if he, as a black man, is not allowed in white mens houses, then whites are not allowed in his, but his bank for company ultimately wins out and he invites Lennie to sit with him. Like Curleys wife, Crooks is a disempowered character who turns his vulnerability into a ordnance to attack those who are even weaker. He plays a cruel game with Lennie, suggesting to him that George is bygone for good. Only when Lennie threatens him with physical violence does he relent.Crooks exhibits the corrosive effects that loneliness can have on a pe rson his character evokes sympathy as the origins of his cruel behavior are made evident. possibly what Crooks wants more than anything else is a sense of belongto enjoy simple pleasures such as the right to enter the bunkhouse or to play cards with the other men. This desire would explain why, even though he has indicate to doubt George and Lennies talk about the farm that they want to own, Crooks cannot help but ask if there might be room for him to come along and till in the garden.