Crooks Monologue Analysis

Crooks himself says, “This is just a nigger talkin’, an’ a busted-back nigger. So it don’t mean nothing, see? You couldn’t remember it anyways. I seen it over an’ over” (Steinbeck 71). His words show the prejudiced and unsympathetic opinions of society towards blacks. Nobody cares about what he says, simply due to his skin color, revealing an external conflict between Crooks and white society. In addition, Crooks further explains his treatment on the farm: "'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'" (Steinbeck 68). He is denied entertainment and the company with the fellow farm workers. "They say I stink" refers to their disapproval of Crooks, likely due to his race. However, Crooks shows his own negative feelings towards others on the farm when Lennie tries to talk to him, saying “‘Well, I got a right to have a light. You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room’” (Steinbeck 68). Since the whites on the farm physically isolate Crooks, in return, he dislikes any of their attempts to enter his room. For Crooks, his internal and external conflicts stem from racism, and the suffering that results is described

I ain't sure I want you in here no more. A coloured man got to have some rights even if he don't like 'em". Steinbeck describes this to create a contrast since he is the educated one, however because of his race, he doesn’t get any respect. There is a semantic field of pain here in “Of Mice and Men”, firstly Crooks is suffering from physical pain; “pain-tightened lips” and “face lined with pain” underline his injury. Secondly, Crooks’ comment that “a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” shows that mental pain. He is lonely; Candy has “been here a long time”, but he has never been in Crooks’ room, suggesting how rarely the other men visit Crooks. Steinbeck portrays Crooks‘s response to Lennie as “a guy needs somebody – to be near him”, implies that he wants to be around with people, he wants to have friends, lastly Steinbeck describes his loneliness as “a guy talking to another guys and it don’t make no difference if he don’t hear or understand”, pointing out that he is jealous of Lennie. Crooks tortures Lennie psychologically by saying “S’pose George don’t come back no more. S’pose he took a powder and just ain’t coming back.” and Crooks’s face is described as “lighted with pleasure in his torture”, implying that he is jealous of Lennie and he tries to convince Lennie to experience the same feeling as he

As a contrast with George and Lennie, Crooks, a black man never wants anyone to go into his room. He sets an invisible wall between him and the rest of the world. He’s like a prisoner, in a world with one person, himself. He never talks to anyone; he never wants anyone to talk to him. He thinks that he’s a black, no one would want to talk to him. So he had his own room, and wanted everyone to keep away from his little room. Although he seems like he doesn 't want anyone to talk to him, but still at the deepest place of his heart, he wants to talk to someone, he wants a friend. He cried in front of Lennie, he told all these things in his heart that no one knows to Lennie, he knows Lennie won’t understand so he won’t go out and blab about it. He just wants to relieve his feelings. Crooks wants a friend as well, everyone needs a friend: ”a guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don 't make no difference who the guy is, long he’s with you. I tell ya.”(Steinbeck, p72). Everyone needs a friend, even the people who say they don 't.

I knew he wouldn’t make it into the society ,but he didn’t see it. People had always looked down on him and excluded him from the society because he wasn’t ordinary like us. I agree, he wasn’t ordinary. He was extraordinary. You will never come across a man like Lennie in your life. Even when people thought of Lennie less than what he is, it never made it to him. He didn’t know what people thought of him because he viewed everyone the same. Whenever I thought Lennie was struggling, he showed me that he wasn’t. He showed me that he is able be a part of this society without looking down on others and not letting others to look down on him. When Crooks was neglected by others from ranch members like us, Lennie still talked to Crooks as if he was just a guy from next door. When Crooks told Lennie to go away, he didn’t. He stayed because he wanted to be friends with him. Lennie saw more than us. Lennie was like a kid who saw importance in everything. What Lennie didn’t see is the segregation between us humans. He didn’t see it. Lennie loved everything and Crooks, he loved you too. Well me on the other hand, I learned to love everything. That’s one thing I learned from

Crooks, the African American stable hand of the Tyler ranch, was discriminated for his skin color and could not imagine his dreams would ever to come true because of it. Crooks grew up on his father’s ranch with his brothers and they were happy. He worked hard for his American Dream of eventually living off the ‘fat of the land’ with George and Lennie. Crooks' home is, a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn “This suggests that he is isolated from the other men and treated like the animals he cares for and as such is made to live with them” (“Effects of Segregation and Racism in Of Mice and Men Chapter 4”). He came to the quick realization that it is impossible to go along with George and Lennie and he does not see any dream with white men possible.

One night when George goes out with the other men he leaves Lennie alone to play with his pup when he wanders into Crook’s room. Even though the majority of the time Crooks plays mind games with Lennie he ends up expressing his dream of equality. At this time period black people are still heavily discriminated against which effects how others treat him and how he accepts others. "'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, you all of you stink to me." (Steinbeck ___). Even though Crooks is just like all the other men on the farm he is still viewed in a negative way because of his skin colour. Afterwards, Crooks begins to describe his child hood discrimination does not exist and giving him a sense of

Crooks is the only black man on the ranch, and is often discriminated against by all the other workers at the ranch. He is usually excluded from many activities that all the other men participate in, and is ignored by most of the workers. “I ain’t wanted in the bunk house…cause I’m black…” This quote shows how the other men who work at the ranch reject and isolate Crooks, and how he is forced to have his own bunk house, since he isn’t allowed to reside in the same bunk house as the other workers. Crooks leads a harsh, lonely life, only because the

I ran and ran till the shouts of the men died down. I swung the door of the stables with so much force the hinges all most came of. I sank to the floor and cried my eyes out, for today I had lost a best friend. I continued sobbing until the rustling and pattering of little feet could be heard. One of the puppies Lennie cared for was peeking from behind the hay. As I stared at the little guy, I remembered how excited Lennie was to care for the puppies. He even stayed in the barn with them to watch over them. I smiled as I reminded myself of the kind, caring person he was. All he wanted to do was to tend the rabbits. I still cannot believe I killed him, but Slim was right if I hadn’t done it he would have been killed by Curley, who wouldn’t have had any mercy on him. As much as I wish Lennie were alive right now, next to me, I know it's for the best. He couldn’t have gone on living like the way he was. He would live a life without ever remembering people important to him and he would have to move all the time because he couldn’t control his strength. I wouldn’t want a life like that for

Even though Crooks, a black stable hand, has been around the Ranch longer than most people and he is still probably one of the most lonely. This lack of contact with other people has made him severely bitter especially when people enter his personal space. He creates his personal space with books because it helps him cope with the loneliness. So when Lennie tries to befriend him he freaks out by exclaiming, “You got no right to come in to my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in her but me.”(68) In addition to Crooks being lonely he is also segregated from all the other workers. He lives in the barn with the animals instead of the bunkhouse with the others. It’s also very hard for Crooks to associate with the others, because during the time period blacks are seen as a lower class of people. When Crooks states, “Guys don’t come in to a colored man’s room very much.”(75) It shows how little contact he has with the others because of how segregated he is. This segregation mirrors the Jim Crow laws that were active during this period. Crooks’s treatment on the ranch represents the racial discrimination against blacks in

The character Crooks is not accepted due to the fact that he is an African American male in a white dominated society. The ranch owner has Crooks segregated from the rest of the workers, and in his own separate room. All of the people treat him unfairly by the things they say to him just because of the color of his skin. Referring to Crooks as the n-word quite often, they only see this situation from their point of view. “‘Sure. Ya see the stable buck’s a nigger’” (20). Because of these characteristics of Crooks he is lower than the typical man in society. Crooks also does not fit society’s ideal image of a person because he is also handicap. When Crooks was younger he was kicked in the back by a horse, and now he has a crooked back. “‘Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him’” (20). One night, when George and all the other guys went out to town, they left Lennie behind at the barn with the puppies. Later on, Lennie found his way into Crooks’ bedroom in the back of the barn. Of course it was different at first, and they did not seem

Crooks experiences discrimination on the ranch. Crooks sleeps in a barn instead of the bunkhouse where all of the other men sleep. When Lennie first walks into Crooks’ room, Crooks gets defensive and announces, “‘You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room’” (65). Crooks alienates himself from society, because he thinks that society has alienated him. He desires to be included. Crooks wants to punish the men for not allowing him in the bunk house. Crooks feels rejected. Crooks describes to Lennie why the ranch workers do not want him near them: “‘Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink’” (65). Since the workers do not include him, Crooks thinks that he does not belong at the ranch. His self esteem diminishes when the men isolate him for something he can not change. Finally, Lennie reveals his dreams of owning a farm to Crooks. Crooks acts skeptical of the idea when he explains, “‘I seen hunderds of

Crooks the stable hand at the ranch that George and Lennie come to work at. Crooks has an American Dream just like George and Lennie. Crooks is African American so during this time period some people at the ranch are discriminating against him because of his race. “I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” (p.81). Even though Crooks supposed to be free from all discrimination people still haven’t changed. Crooks someday dreams of playing cards with the other fellows at the ranch but mostly he wants to be equal. “S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black...A guy needs somebody-to be near him” (p.72). Crooks wants to be treated just like the other people on the ranch. He’s not allowed in the bunkhouse because of his race. Crooks has been forced to sleep alone, away from the other workers on the ranch who sleep and play cards together in the bunkhouse. “‘Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black” (p.68). The dream of all becoming equal is very common with many African Americans during this time period. Curley’s Wife also discriminating Crooks. “You know what I could do to you if you open up your trap” (p.80). Every time Crooks stands up for himself he just gets pushed over and never really acknowledged. Crooks also threatened by Curley's wife. She’s nearly at the bottom of the pile in the leadership of the ranch, but she still has power over Crooks. Crooks dreams that there will be a place and time where people won’t judge people by the color of their skin. Even though Crooks has a great American dream in mind he’s likely to not complete his dream. The Boss and Curley have shown that they do not trust Crooks at

On the night of when they were sleeping near the pond, George and Lennie had a conversation about their new home. George started the topic by saying “O.K. Someday--we are going to receive the jack together and we are going to have a little house and a couple of acres and a cow and some pigs and---- “And live off the fat of the land,” Lennie shouted. “And have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we are going to have in the garden and about

Although the compact, filthy room attached to the barn doesn’t appear significant, the contents of Crooks’ room illustrates that equality is a fantasy, and no matter what is done to stop discrimination, people continue to be prejudice and alienate others. For example, “On the wall by the window there were pegs on which hung a broken harness in process of being mended…” (66). Crooks, like the harness, is broken having lost his sense of self after repeated acts of racism. He deeply wants to connect to the other men, telling Lennie he would like to play cards and live in the bunkhouse, but can only attempt to mend himself through education and hard work. In addition, “... scattered about the floor were a number of personal possessions;

Good morning/afternoon class. Today I will be performing a monologue. As part of the Beenleigh Quota Club Eisteddfod this year, there is a Literature themed showcase. The aim of this showcase was to give voice to a marginalised or minor character, one whose voice is not heard extensively. The book we had to read was ‘The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and the character I have chosen is Kurt Steiner, who is one of Rudy’s siblings and part of the Steiner family.