Choose two characters from the novel Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Choose two characters from the novel Of Mice and Men Essay America in the 1930s was a class-based society where women had no choice. The Wall Street Crash in 1929 meant the Great Depression was occurring, people living in poverty because of this but most would travel round to find work. Racism was still a critical problem in this time so this was affecting many lives, only white people could get a decent job, if a black person could it would be living in the same conditions as slaves, even though slavery was abolished in 1865- over 60 years before. Crooks is the stable buck and is black, he is a clever but lonely man who just wants some companionship. Curleys wife is seen as a tart, we see that she is also lonely and very misunderstood. In the novel, even though Steinbeck had made the characters an isolated group, they all represent different sides of the society, this allows him to criticise what he sees as problems. Slavery started in America in the 15th century, thousands of slaves arrived looking for a better way of life than what they had left, but infact their new lives were worse. Slavery meant big business in America. In the north most Negroes were free but in the south it was the way of life. Slaves were employed as either field workers; they worked long hours, lived in huts and slept on the floor. Then there were the house workers who would cook, clean, run the masters house and bring up the children, they lived a more comfortable life, but caused mistrust between the two. Sometimes a way to solve this was to split up families, selling the children. Slave revolt was common and in 1831 people started to understand the need to abolish slavery, in 1833 it became more widespread but Lincoln and the civil war offered more help to the black society. Finally in 1865 slavery was abolished Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist in the United States. Crooks was not a slave but was still a victim of racial prejudice. He is lonely and very clever, He reads a lot. Got books I his room, and we see that he is aware of his rights, a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California Civil code for 1905-98 this in a way is worse as he knows that he could have a better life. He loves company but hides it, as he is sure this was the best his life would get. The men know that they can be racist towards him and get away with it; this is made clear when George asks give the stable-buck hell? Asking why its ok, he is given the simple answer from candy that its fine because he is a nigger. Crooks was still very much treated as a slave. The men tell the stories of how they make him fight for a use of entertainment but on the count of the niggers got a crooked back, Smitty cant use his feet the men think its fine beating Crooks up and that theyre being kind. The group do not realise that Crooks is scared of them and so isolates himself from everyone and everything going on around him he kept his distance and demanded everyone else kept theirs but by doing this he had to live alone in the stables while the men on the ranch lived together, however they did respect he was a human because they did keep away from him. Crooks pain-tightened lips show he is suffering and is punishing himself, he tells himself that he aint wanted in the bunk-house and so other people aint wanted in my room. He says this to Lennie, who doesnt understand why crooks doesnt want to talk to someone or why he doesnt go in the bunk house, Crooks response to this is that the men say I stink- another example of the racial prejudice; hes black so therefore he must stink. Crooks sees that with Lennie he has someone he can tease and so does, when he tease s him Steinbeck writes that, Crooks pressed forward some kind of private victory. Crooks victory is that probably all his life he has been teased because of his colour, now he has someone he can pick on that he can beat. There is a sense of war in which black verses white and unusually the black can easily win. Crooks know he can get away with picking on Lennie, his face lighted with pleasure in his torture, he is enjoying that he can pick on a white person. Crooks is a dreamer, he has one dream of the past; I remember when I was a little kid on my old mans chicken ranch. Had two brothers. They were always near me, always there. He dreams of his past because he knows that he has no future, and that the others do have a future, there is a slight sense of jealousy as he cant leave the ranch. This is also another example of Crooks need for companionship; he is showing how lonely he is. Lennie then tells Crooks of his and Georges dream to own some land, to which he replies, Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody ever gets no land he knows what societies like and has seen many men with dreams but none ever come true, but even though he is pessimistic he is right. However even saying this he is still tempted to join the dream, he wants to be around people and is happy when people talk to him. He says I didnt mean it. Jus foolin. I wouldnt want to go no place like that. He knows he has to support black people and that it wouldnt happen. Through the character of crooks we see that Steinbeck thought that Crooks was treated badly and that he obviously felt sympathy for him and all black people in America. We see examples of Crooks being afraid of all people, including Curleys wife, in a time where women werent listened to, Steinbeck puts the message across that he shouldnt have to pull back and have to live in fear, worrying about what is going to happen to him and who by. If Crooks had been white he wouldnt be treated in the way he was. Curleys wife is another character that is seen as by the men on the ranch as insignificant, like Crooks. There are many similarities between the two; they are outcast, misunderstood, and oppressed. Neither are treated as equals and are trapped in the same life with no future. Even so she does not see these similarities and picks on Crooks for the same reason he picks on Lennie, because she can she knows that he will listen to her and be afraid. Curley s wife is all she was ever called, she was not given a name showing that she means nothing and is only a possession to Curley. This suggests that women were on the same level as black people and in some ways the same position. As Negroes were victims of racial prejudice women were victims of sexism. Curleys wife has no relationship with her husband and she doesnt look after the household like she is supposed to, this suggests that she is trapped and is only there so Curley can say hes married. She doesnt love him and is only there for his satisfaction. Curleys wife is lonely and when she looks for companionship within the ranch, the men say that she is too flirty, they think that Curleys married a tart but they dont understand her and dont try to. The men dont trust her and there is a sense of danger when George describes her as jail-bait. This also proves what the men think of her. There is a description of her, it goes through that she has, full, rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages this is very superficial and shows that in a way she is covering herself and her feelings with a mask. Knowing that her husband is at a whorehouse she says I dont like Curley. He aint a nice fella this is very simplistic and suggests her interest, it also suggests that Curley does not love her either. She is obviously lonely and only gets a cold reception from the workers, she is isolated from the world and has lost all chance of having friends, and Steinbeck feels pity for her. He gives this message when she says think I dont like to talk to somebody ever once in a while? Think I like to stick in the house alla time? She questions them and gets no response from being kind. We see her lash out on page 111 when she is talking to Crooks, Lennie and Candy, she is angry because of Curley and so takes it out on them; people who she has a sense of power over; Ever body out doin sompin. Everybody! An what am I doing? Standin here talking to a bunch of bindle stiffs- a nigger an a dum-dum. This also gains her pity from the reader. Curleys wife is lonely and frustrated that there is nothing she can do or say make herself feel better but she does try by taking it out on the men, in this case Crooks. She says to him well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny although she is being so nasty we still feel sympathy for her, we understand that she is so lonely, we can relate to this. As Crooks does Curleys wife dreams of the past and what could have been, she says to Lennie I could of went with the shows. Not jus one, neither. An a guy tol me he could put me in the pitchers. She also talks about her dream later. She says that the only reason she married Curley was that she wanted to leave home. This is because she thought that her mother had stopped her from being an actress by stealing a letter from a man who had said he could make her famous. She explains I ast her if she stole it, too, an she says no. So I married Curley. Met him at the Riverside Dance Palace that same night she married him out of spite to her mother and no other reason. This is a tragic picture, she is being very naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve in thinking that a letter was being sent, she doesnt realise that the man was playing her for a fool, this gains her sympathy from the reader. When she is dead there is such a sense of calmness and tranquillity, and the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention was all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. This is saying that she is now at peace and in a way because her life was such a disaster in which she had no future she is better off dead. It was the only way she could be happy and escape Curley and her loneliness. The 1930s was a class- based society within America. Racism was an ongoing problem and black people were still being treated as slaves, even though slavery was abolished in 1865. The great depression was also still a huge problem with 3 million people unemployed in 1930 and 13 million in 1932. People were living in poverty and any jobs going were poorly paid. However life was worst for black people, who were victims of racial prejudice and discrimination and women who were seen as insignificant and possessions of their husbands or fathers and were only there to look purty and look after the house. In the novel, even though Steinbeck had made the characters an isolated group, they all represent different sides of the society, this allows him to criticise what he sees as problems. Curleys wife and Crooks are just two characters that illustrate what life was like in America in the 1930s.