'Of mice and men' By John Steinbeck
'Of Mice And Men'Of Mice And Men | Crooks | Racism
In the famous novel 'Of Mice And Men', Steinbeck represents the racism evident in that period of history through the character Crooks. Crooks' situation mirrors the racial discrimination in America during the 1930's. Crooks is the stable buck and is the only permanent employee on the ranch as he injured his back in an accident. He is also the only coloured on the ranch The other ranch workers obviously have little to no respect for this character as they gave him the nickname 'Crooks' as a derogatory term referring to his crooked back. Racism is reflected by7 the fact that because he is coloured, the men that work at the ranch neglect him by not allowing him to play cards with them let alone enter the bunk-house. He is also isn't given much and is put with the horses and additionally, his wages are lower than the other ranch members as a result of him being black and being physically disabled. Crooks, the negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness; a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn. On one side of the little room there was a square four-paned window, and on the other, a narrow plank door leading into the barn.' - Pg. 98 - Chapter Four 'Crooks retaliates "Cause I'm black, they play cards in there but I can't play because I'm black. They say I stink. Well I tell you, all of you stink to me' - Pg. 100 - Chapter Four 'S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you were black... A guy needs somebody - to be near him... I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick.' - Chapter Four Racism is again evident as Curley's wife threatens to get Crooks lynched as a result of his impoliteness when ordering her to exit his bunk. She was dominant and made him submissive by making him fear for his life by saying "you know what I could do". This made Crooks answer to Curley's wife as if she was a higher status than him and his reply was "yes ma'am". |