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Of Mice And Men: Character Analysis

Decent Essays

In the year John Steinbeck wrote, Of Mice and Men, many travelers left their homes with only a few of their belongings and dreamt of finding a new life purpose in life in California. Many of the families only had that dream to keep them working and trying to provide for their families. Miles and miles away from home, many settlers found themselves staring loneliness in the face instead of paradise. Also during those times, the black community, the mentally challenged, and the disabled people were all treated the same. They were shown different treatment as the rich white man or the strong abled body when it came to things such as work. Steinbeck shows the disabled point of view through Candy, the negro through Crooks, and the not so rich white …show more content…

Because the two characters are ranked the lowest in society, the moment the two shared in Crooks’ room was very significant to his role. Crooks is an outcast on the ranch, but has his own room and is surrounded by books. Crooks is very advanced academically wise, while Lennie is not mentally past a toddler's age. Besides the fact Crooks was kicked in the back, he is measured nowhere close to Lennie’s physical strength. Since Crooks is ranked the lowest on the ranch, he is a realist and sees things for how they are, “Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It's just in their head. They're all the time talkin' about it, but it's jus' in their head” (80). Crooks tells Lennie that no matter the amount of books he has, a man needs someone to talk to because a man can go crazy. Crooks does not really understand the bond that Lennie shares with George because he has never been able to understand that human connection, after he realizes what he says to Lennie is hurtful to him and uncalled for, he wants Lennie to try to understand where he is coming from at this point, he states, “This is just a nigger talkin', an' a busted-back nigger. So it don't mean nothing, see?" (4.39). Crooks defines his own notion of himself not based on what he believes he's worth, but on knowing that no matter how he feels, others around him

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