crooks Flashcards
what can we assume about crooks when we get to know his room?
crooks is permanent as he “ he had accumulated more possessions than he could carry on his back”
he reads and thinks - sign that he’ll be a full developed character with a personality and background
how does crooks hide his loneliness?
by being proud and aloof. He tries to act like it doesn’t effect him
quote to prove that crooks is lonely
“a guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody”
quote to prove Crooks is hopeless
“hell i seen too many guys”
‘Crooks had reduced himself to nothing’
Quote to justify why Crooks decides to open up to Lennie
“a guy can talk to you an’ be sure you won’t go blabbin’”
“you couldn’t remember it anyways”
quote to prove crooks is cynical (disbelief in sincerity)
“nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land”
quote to prove crooks is vulnerable
“I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny”
Crooks is mistreated
“Stable buck”,
“nigger”
“Crooks”
-DEROGATORY (disrespectful) terms / nickname
Racism is deeply entrenched in the system
Ya see the stable buck’s a n**r….Nice fella, too.”
Crooks is a litteral example of the tough working conditions
“Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him in”
“Thin, pain-tightened lips”
- impact of living in a prejudice society
Crooks is not treated like a human
“Crooks bunk was a large box filled with straw”
-Bed like a horses’ - dehumanising conditions
when was slavery abolished?
50 years prior to the great depression, but that didn’t mean that people were’nt racist still
Crooks is even weaker than Curley’s wife
“I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.”
CONTEXT - Black people in the Great Depression
- The KKK still had a lot of power;
- African Americans were hit hardest by the economic crisis - by the end of 1932, 50% of black Americans were unemployed;
- In some states black people were fired becuase whites needed jobs;
- Linching blacks was common
Crooks is MARGINALISED
he isn’t shows much outside of chapter 4
Crooks is segregated
“A little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn”
Crooks has feelings
“I tell ya a guy gets too lonley an’ he gets sick”
What were the Jim Crow Laws?
Laws enforced in America (1876-1965) that provided a legal basis for segregating and discriminating against African Americans. People had equal rights, but not the same right e.g black people could have education, but not as a white would
Crooks is ALOOF in order to gain an ounce of power in the situation
aloof - not friendly
“I don’t blame the guy you travel with for keeping you out of sight”
“S’pose George don’t come”
- Crooks seems to RELISH in upsetting Lennie
- Power is drawn from weakness
- Exploits Lennie to gain power
Crooks is distant
“You got no rights to come in my room”
“He kept his distance and demanded that other people kept theirs”
- his ISOLATION made him ALOOF
-protection?
Crooks is intelligent
“Gold rimmed spectacles”
- symbol of intelligence
“Mauled copy of the California Civil Code of 1905”
- Crooks spent time educating himself about his rights
-“Mauled” - frustration with the injustice of the law
-desperate attempts at understanding his rights seem FUTILE (pointless)
“Tattered dictionary”
A black persons right to vote
A black persons right to vote was in the fifteenth amendment of the constitution of the United States (1870). However it was common to demand that a voter could read, which disproportionately affected people of colour.
Crooks challenges the steryotype of African- Americans
The steryotype was that Arican Americans were uneducated / ignorant. Crooks could read. Steinbeck wanted people to recognise the potential of the black community.
Crooks is has no hope
“small, electric globe threw a meagre yellow light”
-symbolises the little hope Crooks has in his life
- Crooks had become DISILLUSIONED by the American Dream
disillusioned - (lost faith)
“Nobody never gets to heaven and nobody gets no land”
- He has no faith, even in God
Crooks doesn’t have the privilege of mentally escaping this brutal life like the others
Crooks only allows himself to get seduced by the dream for a short moment
“Well, jus’ forget it”
“I didn’ mean it, Jus foolin’. I wouldn’ want to go no place like that”
- he is robbed of the ability to dream
