How Does Steinbeck Use Literary Devices to Convey Crooks' Character

For example when the other guys go in the bunkhouse Crooks can never really go in with them. “a colored man got to have some rights even if he don’t like em”(90). Crooks has rights but he doesn’t agree with them. He is happy he has his rights but wants to be treated equal to the other men. So Crooks really dosnt have anyone and it really has nothing to do with his personality, or anything, but is has to do with his

words, Crooks, a character from "Of Mice and Men," shows his pride for being the son of a landowner instead of a slave of the South. However, living in California does not liberate him from the clutches of racial prejudice during the Great Depression, the era in which "Of Mice and Men" was written by John Steinbeck. His novel depicts Crooks, an African-American farm worker, as a man threatened by the racism of the 1930s. Steinbeck describes the effects of discrimination on Crooks, including his loneliness, crushed aspirations, and bitter attitude, to illustrate the hopelessly bleak situation for African-Americans during the Great Depression.

Just as Havisham and Curley’s wife’s isolation is because of their gender, Crooks in “Of Mice and Men” is presented as the epitome of the frustration and loneliness caused by isolation. However, Crooks’s isolation is not due to his gender, but his colour and race. In “Of Mice and Men”, Steinbeck presents Crooks as an isolated character due to his race. He names Crooks as Crooks because he has a crooked back and he is called “Nigger” implying that he is unimportant. Steinbeck portrays Crooks’s loneliness through “this is just a nigger talking a bust-back nigger. So it don’t mean nothing” and “nobody’d listen to you”, these can be inferred as Crooks has a low status in the ranch, no one has ever listened to him. This can also be referred to the

Lennie disarms Crooks’ initial hostility with his simplicity which results in Crooks becoming softened by Lennie’s smile. Due to the fact he has been discriminated against and been isolated for so long, Crooks torments Lennie by suggesting George may not come back from town. His cynical behaviour isn’t deliberate but I think Crooks feels like Lennie has invaded his personal space to insult or bully him.

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

Lennie being mentally much less able gives the ideal opportunity to help exercise some authority in Crooks‘ life. Page 71 for instance, “S’pose George don’t come back no more. (…) What’ll you do then?” is terminative. By this stage of the chapter, there has been a power shift. Crooks is fully aware of the distress this would cause Lennie, as he would struggle to manage alone. The terminative comments are cruel and are linked to his jealousy of the companionship of George and Lennie, page 71 one quotes a “private victory” and even pleasure in some way. Steinbeck is presenting the bad streak that loneliness is drawing from Crooks, as a minority character.

Steinbeck used more than just indirect and direct characterizations to show Crooks’ personality, he also used literary devices. Steinbeck used tone to relay Crooks realistic down to earth side. When talking to Lennie, Crooks had a more realistic down to earth feeling, while Lennie’s tone was more dreamlike, with everything working out in the end and everyone happy. While talking to Lennie and Candy about the dream, Crooks says, “You guys kiddin’ yourself. You’ll talk about it a hell of a lot, but you won’t get no land.” Although Steinbeck doesn’t say it directly, he shows us through Crooks and Lennie’s dialogue that Crooks is a very down to earth person. While Candy and Lennie are both fooled by the dream, Crooks shows himself not to be so gullible. Steinbeck also uses the setting to show Crooks’ loneliness. Crooks’ shack is literally separated from everyone else. The setting is detached from everyone else, just as Crooks’ is. Even though Lennie comes and gives Crooks some company, that does not help him at the root of the problem; Crooks lives being separated from everyone else, all he did was bring comfort with the ideas of a dream, one that Crooks knew would not happen.

Some characters in this novel are alienated by mainstream society because they do not fit society’s ideal image of a person. And they are all not accepted as human beings. Throughout John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, the social injustice of how people were treated during the Great Depression is explored through the characters Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Lennie, to show that society actually needs to become stronger than it really is.

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

     Crooks is fascinated by the strength of the friendship of Lennie and George especially how close they are. Crooks said, "Well, s’pose, jus’ s’pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then?" (Steinbeck, 79) Crooks asks these questions because he does not have any friends. He was curious about the friendship of Lennie and George. He wants the people to feel the way that he did when he was lonely, having nobody with them. He is striving to achieve sympathy and understanding from others. Crooks would work for

Steinbeck also writes, ‘Crooks said sharply’ and the word ‘sharply’ supports this idea because it shows it is an immediate reaction to the intrusion. It is also like a defence mechanism as he feels slightly paranoid about what is about to happen. He lets Lennie in his room eventually but he continues to torment him, ‘his voice grew soft and persuasive’. Crooks tries to use persuasive language in order to insult Lennie and take advantage of his condition. “Sp’ose George don’t come back no more(...)what’ll you do then?” 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; lonely and isolated. Yet Lennie tries to fight back and Crooks gets scared and tries to carm him down.

Crooks is mentioned in chapter four as the black guy who has his own living area due to the color of his skin. Because of Crooks’ age and race, readers can learn that he is isolated from from white people and made “invisible” by society. Despite his experiences, Crooks longs to

Crooks seems powerless because the other workers on the ranch isolate him as a result of his race. In the novella, Crooks has his own living space and bedroom that is separated from the others; he rarely lets anyone come into his room. One day, Lennie, an outsider with a mental disability enters his room and starts to talk with Crooks. “‘Why ain’t you wanted?’ Lennie asked. ‘Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink’” (Steinbeck 68). Crooks knows that because he is

This here's my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.’ “ (Steinbeck 68). Since Crooks was black, he couldn’t play cards with the other men, which means he was isolated from the other men. In addition, he was already an outsider since he was a Negro. At first, he acted as if he hated Lennie’s presence by saying, “Well go see your pup, then. Don’t come in a place where your not wanted.” Crooks acts as if he is not happy that someone came into his room, but after a while, when Lennie was going to leave, “Crooks scowled, but Lennie's disarming smile defeated him. ‘Come on in and set a while,’ Crooks said. ‘Long as you won't get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down.’ His tone was a little more friendly.” Crook recognizes that he is lonely, "This is just a nigger talkin', an' a busted-back nigger. So it don't mean nothing, see?" He says this because that was the way he was treated, not fairly and equally with white men. Steinbeck represents all the colored people in the book as Crooks, and implies that they are lonely and hated being segregated from the mainstream. Crooks used to have friends that were white that he used to play with when he was young, but now he is on the edge of society, alone because he was a

In the novel "Of Mice and Men" John Steinbeck, the author, uses the character of Crooks to represent racism and symbolize the marginalization of the black community occurring at the time in which the novel is set. Crooks is significant as he provides an insight into the reality of the American Dream and the feelings of all the ranchers: their loneliness and need for company and human interaction. Crooks got his name from his "crooked back," this suggests he represents something different and he is not your average ranch hand. The reader has to decide whether Crooks deserves sympathy, or if he is just a bitter, cruel and gruff stable-buck.