What Do You Learn About Steinbeck’s View of Human Nature from Reading His Novel ‘of Mice and Men’

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

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

Crooks is a literate black man who tends horses on the ranch. He has long been the victim of oppressive violence and prejudice and has retired behind a facade of aloofness and reserve, his natural personality deadened and suppressed by years of antagonism. Crooks is the only black man in the novel. He has a cynical intelligence and a contemptuous demeanor that he uses to prevent others from inevitably excluding him because of his race. This sign of intelligence is conveyed when Steinbeck describes Crook’s bunkhouse:

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

In his short book or novella Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck draws attention to migrant farm workers in the Depression era of the 1930s. Through his story he looks at human nature in the areas of men’s friendship, loneliness, and meanness or bullying. This essay looks at Steinbeck’s depiction of the tendency to bully others and that the tendency seems to come from their own weakness. This meanness is shown in the relationships of the characters. The bullying is physical, psychological, and emotional and nearly all of the characters demonstrate it, including George, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife and it is contrasted to the unintentional violence of Lennie.

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.

Steinbeck has written ''Of Mice And Men '' about an adventure of George and Lennie trying to accomplish their American dream's during the Great Depression during the 1930's where thousands of people lost their jobs in the Wall Street Crash making them feel hopeless. George and Lennie come to work at a ranch near Soledad in California. There they meet fellow ranch mates and a woman called Curley's Wife. In this essay I will focus on how Curley's Wife's personality and actions change throughout the novella and who she affect her and other bunkmates throughout the novella. In addition to that I would be showing how Steinbeck creates tension by using Curleys Wife.

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 the short novel Of Mice and Men, there are many lessons that can be learned. These lessons help bring the story to life. The lessons show how the characters react under certain amounts of pressure revealing what kind of person they are. They also bring out some of the character attributes more than others, showing that every person is different. The lessons helped the novel become as great as it is today.

In the novella, ‘Of Mice and Men’, the characters of Slim and Curley are created to have a strong influence on the other workers’ lives. While both the characters make an impact with the way they are presented, Steinbeck portrays them both very differently. He does this by giving the reader different impressions when each of the characters are introduced, the idiosyncrasies the author has given them, the way they treat others, how the rest of the characters react to the characteristics of Curley and Slim and why they influence particular characters.

In life human nature can be known to be thought of as a high quality and/or low quality. Naturally, human nature is there without thought about what it actually is. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the author sprinkles clues and evidence of how human nature was and still is today. The themes that Steinbeck used throughout the novel were, for example friendship, loneliness, and weak vs. strong.

John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men is an extraordinary novel with unique characteristics. The novel is about an uncommon friendship between two extremely different individuals who are living and working together. This story belong to the genres tragic realistic fiction, historical fiction and drama. The linking between the novel and The Great Depression emphasizes throughout the story, which makes the novel very realistic and down to earth. The author touches on several themes such as: the unreachable American dream, the economic injustices, loneliness, friendship and people’s propensity for cruelty. In this book review, we will get into a deeper understanding of what the actual story means.

Award-winning novella Of Mice and Men (1937) written by Nobel-prize winner John Steinbeck is a tale revolving around the life of two ranch workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, who are looking to grasp the American dream during the era of the ‘Great Depression’ (1929-1939). John Steinbeck’s interpretation of the bias and discrimination towards African-Americans is shown in advance within American society during the 1930’s, by implementing a character known as Crooks who is the stable buck of the ranch. The attitudinal apprehension towards Lennie, the reproval from Curley’s wife and the oppression which he deals with on a day to day basis, portrays Crooks’ struggles due to racism during the 1930’s. It’s evident that Steinbeck had intended to symbolize the struggles of

“The greatest writers and the best readers know that literature is not always mere sugar candy;it can sometimes be a strong medicine:sour perhaps-at least to the untrained taste - but necessary for continued health” (1). A statement written by Professor Thomas Scarseth shows how without value in books, a reading life would never reach its intended purpose. By learning to apply knowledge that books provide through characters, we can improve ourselves as individuals. This particular book, Of Mice and Men, has values such as linguistics, sociological value, and historical value. Linguistics are shown through Steinbeck’s use of poetic devices such as imagery and repetition. Sociological value is given through the perspective of Crooks, who shows the struggle of achieving the great American Dream of having a place to call your own. Finally, historical value is provided through racism and how it affected Crooks, or any other black man at the time.

While reading the book, the feeling of Crooks being so lonely just because of his skin colour is really sad, because he might be a really nice person . Lennie was trying to get to know Crooks when “Crooks said sharply,