Of Mice and Men - Crooks Flashcards
Main points for Crooks
- Powerless
- Isolated
- Realistic
Powerless: ‘harness room’ ‘rattle of chains’
Repeated mention of chains = lack of freedom + reminder of slavery
He is metaphorically chained by society’s attitudes and discrimination
Powerless: ‘I could get you strung up a tree so easy it ain’t even funny’
Curley’s wife threatens to get Crooks lynched
Powerless: ‘Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. “Yes ma’am” and his voice was toneless’
Even Curley’s wife, one of the weakest characters can cause him to retreat so quickly
Crooks realises that the threat is real
Powerless: Context
Social hierarchy on the ranch reflects society at the time (Crooks is at the bottom, even below women)
Lynching of black was still common, and occurred without a fiar trial. Ku Klux clan still had a lot of power. Was a hate group against African Americans
African Americans were affected the most by the economic crisis. Sometimes blacks would be fired to make place for whites
Isolated: ‘A little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn’
He is physically segregated due to his colour from the other bunkhouse members
Isolated: ‘I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick’
Crooks opens up to Lennie
Draws empathy from the reader
He also has feelings
Isolated: Context
Jim Crow Laws provided the basis for segregation + discrimination against African Americans
According to these laws, all people had equal rights, but equal does not mean same, it means equal but seperate
Realistic: ‘Small, electric globe threw a meagre yellow light’
Symbolises little hope in Crook’s life
Realistic: ‘Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land’
Crooks has seen others come and go with the same dream
Crooks has lost all faith in god
Steinbeck uses Crooks to:
- Highlight mistreatment of African Americans
- Challenge stereotypes of African Americans as uneducuated
- Shows brutality of society
