Crooks In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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In “Of Mice and Men” a character who is not as detailed as Slim or the other characters would be Crooks. Candy mentions Crooks on page 20, he talks about how Crooks was allowed to work on the ranch and of how he has a crooked back. Crooks does not have a specific chapter for himself but we learn about him when he talks with Lennie and Candy. Crooks symbolizes how people of that time viewed race and how they responded to other races. The way Crooks was never included in fun activities shows he is not considered equal by the white men, this is shown on page 72. When Lennie and Crooks are talking we are shown a side of Lennie that has been shown only a few times. The side which is able to become violent. When this side is drawn out Crooks has been expressing how others leave him and how he does not have a companion with him the way Lennie has George. While Lennie and George talk we learn a little about Crooks life before the ranch. We learn that Crooks was born in California and that his father owned a chicken ranch…show more content…
He expressed this on page 76 when he spoke about how he “ain’t so crippled I can’t work like a son-of-a-bitch if I want to.”. This shows that Crooks wants to work with Lennie and George and feel equal because he would have been included. Crooks motivation to keep working as is that maybe one day someone will consider him equal. When Lennie mentions his and George’s dream Crooks is hesitant to consider the idea of actually getting land to live on. The possibility of becoming equal and working beside and being “inside” with other men motivated Crooks to partly agree with Lennie’s dream. This small piece of hope is shattered once Curly’s Wife condescendingly told Crooks where his place was as a “nigger” on page 80. Crooks shows how strong of a man he is when he brushes of the wrongful comments made by Curly’s Wife. The strongest characters are not always the main characters in a
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