Does Crooks Deserve Sympathy In Of Mice And Men

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

Chapter 4 of the ‘Of Mice and Men’ novella introduces a character named Crooks. Crooks isn’t shown as a main character of the story, but is given much light in this chapter. Crooks is a black man set on a 1930’s ranch, working as a stable buck. Steinbeck presents the Character of Crooks to us as he wouldn’t of been considered during the times of the ‘Great Depression’ and shows us the negative stereotypes of black people in an American 1930’s society.

In the story Of Mice and Men, it follows a disabled man and his crafty caretaker looking for work on a farm. The few characters that are shown in the book possess very diverse personalities that fit into different archetypes, many of them challenge the stereotypes that surrounded them during the early twentieth century. Archetypes are characteristics that are commonly seen in literature and real life. In the book Of Mice and Men there are seven distinct archetypes that all have different characteristics in them. One thing that all the characters have in common, though, is loneliness. Throughout the book the theme of loneliness is constantly there, and one of the loneliest characters is Crooks. Crooks fits the archetype of an outcast

Regardless of how intensely the characters of this novel hope and dream, their plans do not find fulfillment. Due to the lack of fulfillment of their dream, the characters face loneliness setting each apart from the other. Unlike George and Lennie, the other character of Crooks has no one to support him and be there for him as Lennie and George have each other. In the story, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck contrasts the loneliness and isolation experienced by Crooks, whom life has made abandon his dream of equality, with the closeness of Lennie and George, establishing a false sense of hope for the achievement of their dream, making the ending tragic because they lose both the dream and their unique friendship no

The character of Crooks is used to symbolize the social standing of the black community occurring during the time at which the novel is set. Crooks is a lonely African American on the farm that feels out of place. As George and Lennie explain their dream to Crooks he brushes them off and says that no one around here can implement their dreams. This realism gives the reader an impression that Crooks has absolutely no hope. However, Crooks may be pessimistic, but yet even he has a dream, which is the hope of one day experiencing the joys of his childhood again. Crooks' character is portrayed as very lonely in the novel, this is evident when Crooks explains, "A guy needs someone." (Mice 77). Crooks is telling the reader the need of human interaction. This realism that Steinbeck uses shows the reader the harsh realities of the black community during the time of the depression in the 1930's

In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck utilizes loneliness as an overarching theme, there is however one character that is noticeably longer than the others in Steinbeck's novella. This character is Crooks, a bitter and aloof man, he used to have a family with brothers and a 10 acre chicken ranch. Now he lives the life of a stable buck isolated by his race (he is the only African American on the ranch) among other things (Steinbeck,2002). This loneliness truly characterises him and causes no end to his bitterness. John Steinbeck Portrays Crooks as the loneliest character because, he is isolated by race, disability, location and a lack of companionship.

When reading Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck made me feel a lot of sympathy while reading this book and I can honestly say I have never felt any type of sympathy while reading a book before. I felt angry, sad, and hate all throughout this book. I believe the characters I chose for the most

The character Crooks has shown loneliness throughout the whole story and that drives him to a point where he doesn’t want to be existent to all the other men. In the middle of the book Lennie and Crooks start a conversation and Crooks explains how he’s feeling. Steinbeck writes, “‘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’”(68). Crooks doesn’t get much sympathy from the men because he is black. He is so desperate to play cards with the guys, but all of them leave him out and makes him feel even more lonely. Crooks experiences the most desolation because the men tell him that he “stinks” and can’t play cards because he’s “black. In addition to the last example, the novel also explains in the story how separated Crooks is from everybody else and shows us how alone he actually is. Crooks is the most lonely character in the novel and it shows by his actions and personality. Steinbeck shows, “This room was swept and fairly neat, for Crooks was a proud, aloof man. He kept his distance and demanded that other people keep theirs” (67). He felt desperate enough to tell the men to keep their distance so he

Also he tends to react in this way because he is insecure about himself. Crooks, and his character development, is the outcome of him being isolated, lonely, separated from others, and discriminated against. Loneliness drives the way that people think, and how they feel. As Crooks trys to explain to Lennie how lucky he is to have someone to lean on, he feels a sense of sorrow, because what he is telling Lennie, is his life. Crooks proclaims to Lennie, “Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he’s goin’ to come back. S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black. How’d you like that? Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain’t no good. A guy needs somebody--to be near him.” He whined, “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya,” he cried, “I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (72-73). This quote specifically is talking about Crooks life, and what he goes through everyday. That day Lennie became Crooks somebody, which is something he has never experienced before. At first he was hesitant about Lennie, but because he never talks to anyone, Crooks let him in because he realized that Lennie could be that somebody, somebody to talk to and connect with. Crooks symbolically represents loneliness, and the negative effects of not building/having

Chapter Four of John Steinbeck's emotionally moving, but bleak, novel, Of Mice and Men, is devoted to the character of Crooks. The chapter begins and ends with this recluse character applying liniment, a medicinal fluid rubbed into the skin to soothe pain or relieve stiffness, to his "crooked" back. One of the first impressions given to readers is of his physical pain- which presumable parallels his emotional, or spiritual pain. More to the point, however, the first five words of the chapter, "Crooks, the negro stable buck.." (66), characterize the key element driving this characters particular shade of lonliness. For in contrast to the lonliness of Candy or of Curly's wife, Crooks is devided from the world by his race. So, on one level,

In Of Mice of Men, John Steinbeck presents the theme that Crooks is upset because he is discriminated against using diction and dialogue throughout chapter four. Steinbeck explores Crooks’ feelings about life as a black man during the time when Crooks is encountered by Lennie. Crooks explains that “ [He] ain’t wanted in the bunk house”... and “ can’t play because … [He’s] black.” (Steinbeck 68) because of this he was alone while everyone else went out to

Crooks brings into perspective the loneliness experienced by all the characters in "Of Mice and Men" by saying "a guy gets too lonely, an' he gets sick." He is telling of the need for human interaction, the need for company and the need for someone to care and provide security. The oppression Crooks experiences in living in a barn and not in the bunkhouse where he could play rummy as one of the group leads him to this desperate plea to be realised as equal. Just because when he cuts himself, the blood he bleeds is looked upon as different from a white perspective, this does not mean he is not entitled to benefit from human nature. John Steinbeck is portraying here the feelings of Americans of his day and age: their aloneness and their salvation - in the American Dream.

In Steinbeck’s novel, when individuals feel like someone doesn’t belong with them, their instinct is to treat that person cruelly. Crooks is a black stable buck that is discriminated against throughout the book because of his race. The other men believe that Crooks doesn’t belong because of his skin color, so they make him sleep with the horses. As a result of the torment they put him through, Crooks becomes a very bitter person. When he is talking to Lennie in the stable Crooks tells him, “They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink.” (68) Their intentions are cruel. They treat Crooks like he is an animal. They feel uncomfortable around him, so they just ignore him completely. Crooks gets fed up with all of the negative treatment and his heart hardens. He feels like he is doesn’t fit in with the others on the farm. People have told Crooks that he is different throughout his life. He starts to believe

In our society we have faced many struggles and conflict within our country. Shootings that occur every week, threats putting innocent lives in danger, clowns that spook the minds of Americans who are trying to live a normal life, terrorists who we feel are planning more attacks. At first these actions happened and we would all have sympathy towards the families, now that it occurs so often we see it as normal. Yes it’s upsetting and sad, but it’s just how we have lived for years. In the book Of Mice and Men we are returned to a state of sympathy for the characters the John Steinbeck creates through beautiful strings of words. Although other characters go through their own struggles, Crooks has no one while others have at least one other person.

In conclusion, Lennie, George, and Crooks are characters in which the readers of Of Mice and Men, can sympathize with. We all know someone like Lennie, slow on the draw and not very bright. I can relate to George, as he too had to watch over someone who was mentally disabled. And we definitely all know a Crooks, who is mad at the world for not being treated as an equal. So as a whole, crappy book, somewhat understandable