Crooks Character Analysis



Crooks Character Analysis

In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the character named Crooks was segregated from the other men because he is black. This caused him to be lonely. He was forced to sleep in a separate bunk than the others. Trapped in solitude all night long; he resorts to books as his only companion. Trying to portray himself as proud and aloof by his own will, but inside is happy to be around the other men. Crooks first tried to make Lennie leave his room but then he decided that Lennie would not understand and that he actually wanted someone to talk with. During his conversation with Lennie Crooks reveals his loneliness on the ranch. “I seen it over an’ over a guy talkin’ to another guy and it don’t make no difference if he don’t hear or understand.” Although he is talking to Lennie about George, he is actually speaking of his own life. He needs someone, someone to talk with, a friend. After Lennie explains his dream to Crooks, he says he would work free. Later he decides that he does not want to face rejection. “I don’t wanna go to no place like that. I’d never wanna go to a place like that”

Crooks is also a proud man, sometimes causing him to forget his lack of authority of the ranch. Crooks grew up on a farm owned by his father where he was respected as an equal to the white men. Now on this ranch on California he is discriminated against and segregated. His pride is shown when he defends Lennie against Curley’s wife, but when she lashed out at him, he knows he must back down or face the consequences. Those consequences would probably be being lynched. Inside he knows he is equal to every other man on the ranch, but if he expressed these thoughts he would probably be forced out of the farm, or even worse possibly. Crooks is a bright man. He knows his rights, but he also knows that being a black man in California his rights didn’t mean anything if he made a mistake and crossed his boundaries.

A third characteristic of Crooks is intelligence. Crooks, unlike the other men, reads books. He grew up as a free man, an equal to the whites. While he is not a slave on the ranch, he certainly was not treated fairly. His knowledge only adds to his anger and loneliness that he feels because he knows what it could be like, he knows that this is not right. By reading, Crooks occupies his time and gains knowledge, but being with another human being on the ranch would be much more important to him than any book he could ever read. When Lennie comes into his room, Crooks knows exactly what to say to make Lennie upset. However, he was kind and stopped saying that George would not return when he realized Lennie was genuinely upset.

Lennie's Guilt in Of Mice and Men

Lennie Small, the strong but dull-witted farm hand, experienced a psychotic break-down near the end of Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. This episode was brought on by a tremendous feeling of guilt. While Lennie's head was full of the thoughts of the death of Curley's wife, his burden upon George, and his mental relationship with his aunt Clara and the giant rabbit, a somewhat confusing portrayal of Lennie's true guilt was shown.

Lennie feels guilty about the death of Curley's wife. He accidentally broke her neck while trying to calm her down. He was scared that George would get mad at him and not let him tend the rabbits. Lennie felt guilty because he knew he had done a "bad thing." Whether or not it was an accident, Lennie had killed Curley's wife. Lennie liked Curley's wife, though he was not permitted to associate with her. When he killed her, it was as if he was losing a companion, leaving Lennie with a sad feeling of loss. Lennie truly does feel guilty about her death, not only because it was a "bad thing," but because he had lost a friend.

A few times throughout the story, especially near the end, Lennie realizes how much of a burden he is on George. George had always taken care of Lennie. Even when times were rough, George always made sure that Lennie was alright. Although most of the bad events the had taken place were Lennie's fault, George protected Lennie from people and things that might have caused him harm. George tells Lennie that he could have a wonderful time without him. Lennie knows that this is true. George could do many activities that he cannot do without having to watch out for Lennie constantly. He

could spend his money in cat houses and in pool parlors. Lennie feels guilty because he thinks that he is holding George back from money and women.

Lennie sees his aunt Clara and the giant rabbit during his psychotic episode. His aunt Clara took care of Lennie when he was young. Lennie's brain remembers her as an authority figure. For this reason, Lennie's brain chooses an image of her to place guilt upon him. In their dream, Lennie tended the rabbits. Lennie's interpretation of this great, fuzzy creature is an understandable object in which to relay his unaware guilt. The rabbit, being one of the most important symbols of Lennie's life, is used to show Lennie that his dream will not come true. This thought is a picture of his dream turning on him. The thought of rabbits normally makes Lennie happy, but the guilt he feels conquers him. The images of his aunt Clara and the rabbit are his way of coming to an understanding of the

guilt in which he is not consciously aware.

Lennie's mental break-down was brought on by a heavy feeling of guilt lingering in his simple mind. His brain's simple thought process showed Lennie what he was thinking in the unconscious part of his mind, mainly guilt. This dream was triggered by the death of Curley's wife, along with the under-lying thought of George's life, Lennie's aunt Clara, and tending rabbits.

Loneliness is the central theme in the novel Of Mice and Men. Many of the characters show signs of being lonely, some more than others. Loneliness haunts Crooks deep inside. Crooks accepts things the way they are though. Crooks does not talk to the other men and they do not talk to him. This causes the greatest amount of loneliness in Crooks out of all the characters. Rejection can cause most people to become crazy, as it

did to Crooks. Other characters on the ranch show signs of loneliness also. But what makes the others different is the fact that Crooks does not have anyone to talk with, the others atleast have one person to talk to. Crook’s actions along with not having any friends show why he must be the lonelinest character.

Not having any friends is one of the reasons why Crooks is lonely. The other workers on the ranch take place in fun activities, such as horseshoes and card games. Crooks never gets invited to play. This resentment is due solely to the color of his skin. The other characters all have someone to talk to. George and Lennie have each other, Candy had both his dogs. The other workers are friends with one another. Curley’s wife is also lonely, but still has Curley. The men sit in the bunk house, talk and have fun on occasion. Meanwhile Crooks is in his shed all alone. Crooks tries to explain to Lennie in

the shed why he is lonely. “ A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you...I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick” (80). This is showing Lennie exactly how Crooks is feeling. Also, it explains what Crooks has to deal with. He is trying to scare Lennie. Crooks is forced to explain that he needs someone to talk to. The reader now becomes aware of Crooks terrible loneliness

Readers can infer Crook’s loneliness by the way he acts. There are many signs throughout the novel that support this. Because Crooks stays in the shed all day one can detect a sense of loneliness. Since Crooks does not ever talk to anyone his social life is all in books. Crooks reads very much to suppress his loneliness and to When Lennie comes into the shed a conversation arises between the two. Crooks tries to get Lennie to see what it is like to be lonely. “ S’pose George went into town tonight and you never heard from

him again. S’pose he took a powder and just ain’t coming back. What’ll you do

then?...Le’s say he gets hurt or killed and he can’t come back” (78). Crook’s face lighted with pleasure in his torture. This shows that Crooks is trying to make Lennie feel lonely because he is lonely himself. Crooks is also trying to make him feel the hurt that he feels everyday. By recognizing these actions taken by Crooks anyone can tell he is a lonely guy.

Crook’s actions along with not having any friends show why Crooks must be the loneliest character. After looking closely at these examples one can conclude Crooks was the loneliest in the novel. The most significant point why Crooks was the loneliest was that he had no friends. Everyone else on the ranch had someone to talk to except Crooks. The readers come to sympathize with Crooks throughout the novel. This is because most people know what it feels like to be lonely.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

At first glance, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a tale of two best friends traveling the countryside looking for work. This would seem like the norm for lower class people trying to survive in the rat race of society. Yet, the story isn’t merely George and Lennie’s search for jobs. Rather, it is about their all out quest for the American Dream, the dream of owning their own stake of land and ending their subservience to their bosses. In order for this to happen, however, George and Lennie had to remain a team. They had to pool their resources as well as their manpower, something their apparent mutual love for each other seemed to take care of. Yet, an irrevocable rift between them sent the dream crashing down. This caused George’s feelings of love and understanding to change from being existent to non-existent.

Since the passing of Lennie’s aunt, George felt an obligation to take care of Lennie as well as to act as his guardian. George fulfilled this role with love and understanding. We first see change in George’s attitude towards Lennie when they moved onto the ranch, their place of work. George immediately feels that he is jeopardizing his relationship with other men in order to defend Lennie’s actions. George is further discouraged when he realizes, based on Lennie’s behavior that he can never be left alone- even to go to the bathroom. Lennie can’t even be trusted not to kill puppies while petting them. Lennie, in fact, goes so far as to kill the owner’s daughter-in-law. By this point, George, a nice yet overly ambitious individual, could no longer control this growing contempt towards his once beloved Lennie.

As George’s feelings changed, he started vocalizing his frustrations towards Lennie. Before, George would plead with Lennie with words of love to run away. Now, George actually suggests it. George relates to Lennie that he feels that he is “holding me (George) back from the good life”, and that he could get his own little stake of land if he freed himself of Lennie and his shortcomings. This is something the old George would never dream of saying. George further alienates Lennie by scolding him mercilessly after Lennie innocently told Crooks their future dreams. These comments reflected George’s sentiments exactly. Lennie had become more of a nuisance than George could even handle.

Once it becomes obvious that Lennie killed Curley’s wife, George knew what they had to do. There was no place for a retarded man in George’s coarse, hard world. George killed Lennie for both their own goods. Neither of them could handle the constant fleeing that Lennie’s condition caused them to do. Lennie was too much of a trouble for himself, and for that matter, George as well. George could not deal with the responsibility of taking care of Lennie anymore. George’s loving feelings towards Lennie changed drastically, so he killed him and them went on with his life.

George didn’t have to bother with Lennie; he could have abandoned him and gone on his own way. But, he did not do that. He stayed with Lennie watching over him almost like a parent to a child. Even though Lennie always got George in trouble, George never stopped loving him and always stood by him. The friendship they shared went beyond what was transparent. They each shared a dream and both knew they meant the world to each other. For all their relationship shows for friendship and loyalty, it also shows how sometimes you have to do things you never thought you would do. When George is forced to shoot Lennie in the head, we would have never thought he would do that. But, we can see that under the circumstances, George had no other choice. He only had two choices. He would have let the other people get to him first and watch them torture Lennie while he died a long horrible death. Or, George would do it himself and get over it quickly where Lennie would not know what hit him. This is also true in life. Many times we are faced with tough choices and even though they maybe the hardest we would have to go through, we know that that is the only way there is. Suddenly, come to a realization that everything we thought we were about can all change with a blink of the eye.

Naturalism is a literary style that displays action or thought that is derived exclusively from natural desires and instincts (The Reader's Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary, p. 901). John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men contains several instances of this element. Some of these are found when Lennie breaks Curley's hand, when Lennie kills Curley's wife, and when George kills Lennie.

When Lennie breaks Curley's hand, Lennie's honesty is contrasted with Curley's hotheadedness and arrogance. "Then Curley's rage exploded. . . . He crouched cowering against the wall. 'You tol' me to, George,' he said miserably,"(Steinbeck 68). This scene contributes to the novel the knowledge of the full extent of Lennie's honesty. The reader is shown that Lennie doesn't want to hurt Curley even when Curley is hurting him, and feels remorse when he is forced to go against his nature and inflict harm upon Curley.

When Lennie kills Curley's wife, it becomes apparent that Lennie's honesty is too stubbornly childlike for the good of himself or anyone else. "Lennie was in a panic. . . . And then he whispered in fright, 'I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing,'"(99). This scene makes the reader aware that Lennie is too honest to fit easily into society and not smart enough to understand how or why he must stifle his honesty. This helps the reader to understand Lennie's strength and the childlike openness that drives him. Being forced to stifle this honesty expedites his death.

When George kills Lennie, the reader sees that George is every bit as honest as Lennie, but is smart enough to realize that such brutal honesty is impractical. He would rather deceive and kill his friend than watch him die at the hands of a stranger. "And George raised the gun and steadied it, . . . Slim's voice shouted, 'George. Where you at, George?'"(117). George kills Lennie because it has now been proven that Lennie is no good to himself or anyone else. This scene contributes to the knowledge of George's honesty, but also shows that George must stifle the honesty of how he feels about Lennie and get on with his own life.

Naturalism in this novel has the overall effect of making the conflict clearer and showing more of a contrast between the opposing forces. The three events mentioned have the overall effect of heightening the conflict and the contrast between Lennie's frank honesty and brute strength with the other men's stifled honesty and false courage. This courage appears to be lacking until the climax and final resolution resulting in Lennie's death.

Of Mice and Men (1937), written in the same genre as The Grapes of Wrath, that of a story about migrant farm workers and their lives as a reflection on society, was the book that thrust Steinbeck into the limelight as a national celebrity. He won many awards and honors including being picked as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Year. Steinbeck's style is what earned this praise, that of a natural flow of words which are simple in form but complex in their meaning. He painstakingly describes each setting as the reader is introduced to it, showing not just the general layout but an "insider's view" detailing the sensory perceptions evoked by the area ("A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool.") Feelings evoked by Steinbeck's entrances are unable to be duplicated except by those who know the subject matter personally, a trait that he possesses having grown up in an agricultural valley in Salinas, California. His upbringing on the backdrop for many of his books enables Steinbeck to go beyond the paper and print of a book and create life in his characters. He expresses their joys and pains with such precision that the reader feels as if the characters were personal acquaintances and not just fictitious. The following is a brief synopsis of Of Mice and Men. George, a small man with restless eyes and strongly defined features, is leading his companion Lennie, a large, clumsy man with a shapeless face and wide sloping shoulders, down a path to a pool of water. There they drink and camp before heading to a ranch the next day to start work. George scolds Lennie for petting a dead mouse and overall treats him as a parent would a child. George tells Lennie that if anything bad happens while at the ranch to hide in the brush by the pond. The next morning, they reach the ranch and have an "interview" with the boss who becomes suspicious of Lennie for not answering any questions until George reassure him that although Lennie is not bright, he is an excellent worker. Curley, the boss's son and a small "handy" type of man, gives Lennie a hard time which an old swamper explains is on account of Curley disliking those who were bigger than he was. The swamper also said that Curley had just gotten married to a "tart." George tells Lennie to stay away from Curley. Curley's wife comes into the bunkhouse looking for Curley and Lennie thinks she is "purty." George tells Lennie to stay away from her so they can "roll up a stake" and buy their dream of their own land with crops of their own and rabbits. George promises to ask Slim, the jerkline skinner, for one of his dog's puppies for Lennie. Slim and George talk about Lennie while he pets his puppy in the barn. Carlson, another ranch hand, convinces Candy, the swamper, that his old, half-blind dog should be shot to keep it from suffering. Carlson shoots it in the back of the head with his Luger. Curley comes looking for his wife and hurries to the barn when he finds out Slim is there. George tells Lennie about their dream again. Candy hears it and offers to give his $350 to share in the dream. They plan on buying ten acres in a month. Candy thinks that he should have shot his dog himself. Lennie is smiling about their dream and his rabbits when Curley and Slim come back with Curley on the defensive ready to lash out. He picks a fight with Lennie for smiling and beats on him until George tells Lennie to let him have it. Lennie mauls Curley's hand. Everyone but Lennie, Candy, and Crooks, the Negro stable buck, goes to Susy's for prostitutes and whiskey. All three end up in Crooks' room with Crooks revealing his loneliness and asking to be included in the dream. Curley's wife stops by Crooks' room out of loneliness and finds she is unwanted there. The next day, while everyone was playing horseshoes, Lennie lay in the barn with his now dead puppy.(He killed it by smacking it for trying to bite him). He worries that George won't let him tend the rabbits now. Curley's wife comes in out of loneliness and lets Lennie touch her soft hair. When she worries about him mussing it, she gets agitated and starts to yell. Lennie is scared by this and shakes her to make her stop, breaking her neck in the process. He realizes this is a bad thing and goes to the brush George told him to go to. When Curley's wife's body is found by Candy, George steals Carlson's Luger and goes to the brush. He shoots Lennie in the back of the head with it to avoid him suffering at the hands of Curley and the others who wanted to lynch him. The main theme of this novel is that "mean" people are not animals but are fragile, lonely people whose cynicism, regret, and confrontational attitude are the results of their rejection by the majority. Every character in this novel is depicted on a scale of "meanness." This assessment is detailed as a recurring motif throughout the novel. "Meanness" directly correlates to loneliness or being an outcast and vice versa. The following descriptions of Crooks and Curley's wife are examples of this connection. Crooks does his job well and "can pitch shoes" better than the others, but he is isolated from any friendship by his race. Being black, Crooks is forced to live in a small room off of the barn and is not allowed in the bunkhouse. Thus he keeps to himself and is perceived by the others to be "aloof." He is so conditioned to his constant solitude that when Lennie tries to "set down with him" he rejects his unconditional friendship at first with harsh words and a "mean" attitude, scaring the simple-minded Lennie by suggesting that George might never come back. Eventually his "meanness" crumbles when he realizes Lennie's uncorrupted views are sincere, revealing a lonely man who only wants someone to talk to. Curley's wife is regarded by the men as a tart who is only a harbinger of trouble since she is married to Curley, the boss's son and a very "handy" man. Due to this, she is put off whenever attempting a conversation with anyone and is seemingly always looking for Curley or companionship of any form throughout the book. She is "mean" to Crooks and Candy, a black man and an old swamper, pointing out their inequities, but when Crooks reverses the situation on to her, she plays the "race card" and reminds him that she "could get [him] strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny." She is the most pathetic character of this novel. Not only is she nameless, but she is stuck in a loveless marriage, isolated from all her former dreams of being in "pitchers," and is so lonely that she must seek a relationship with Lennie, a man she thinks is "nuts" and would normally be below her standards. Her death at Lennie's hands is ironic because it actually improves her well-being, allowing "the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention" to all leave her, making her "face sweet and young." On the other hand, Lennie, a simple childlike man of enormous strength, is known by all as a guy who's not mean at all. He kills everything he loves (the mouse, the puppy, Curley's wife) yet is never thought to be mean. But without George's constant mantra emphasizing that Lennie is not mean, Lennie would have been sent to the "booby hatch" where they would "tie [him] up with a collar, like a dog." Thus, to not be considered "mean," Lennie relies on his relationship with George to verify his "innocence." But ironically, George has to kill Lennie and consequentially their relationship in order to maintain Lennie's "innocence." This pervading theme of "meanness" being a fragile shell of loneliness signifies Steinbeck's sympathy for the outcasts of society, relating their demeanor to be a product of their environment and no fault to themselves. The title is also significant for it symbolizes the circular pattern of the novel. The "mice" of the novel, or the things Lennie loves to pet (the mouse, puppy, and Curley's wife), are killed by being loved too much, while the men of the novel, George and Lennie, have their relationship and thus their lives destroyed by the "mice." Overall, Of Mice and Men, is a masterpiece of American literature. Its simplicity of style in its freeflowing dialogue veils the complicated nature of the story, with its statement on society's judgements. This book is a significant piece of American literature in that it reveals the basic truth that man needs companionship; without it he loses himself in a cloud of contempt, rejection, and loneliness. I loved reading this book. I was enticed by its abundance of analogous characters and was constantly thinking up new ways to interpret them. For me, this is the fun part of reading and it is what made this book great in my mind. Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is not so much a novel of two men and their friendship as it is a strong statement that society's judgements of people are subject to the position that the majority shares. Thus only those who know the judged well, their friends, can make such judgements for otherwise we would all be thrown in the "booby hatch" and be "collared, like . . . dog[s]." Each one of us has irregularities, but if judged solely on those differences, without explanation of them, we would all be guilty.

The same gun is used in the same manner to kill two beings, a smelly, old dog and a man named Lennie, in the novel “Of Mice And Men.” This story deals with love and death while displaying an everyday scenario about friends and isolation. The symbols in this book represent the basic elements of human love.

Some of the characters in this novel, such as Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife, epitomize loneliness. Lennie, bearing his retardation, has trouble fitting in with the current workers at the ranch. Even though all the ranch hands praise Lennie for his hard work, they leave him out of nightly activities such as horseshoes. George, Lennie’s traveling buddy, is smart and fits right in with all of the employees of the ranch, adding to Lennie’s isolation. The black stable hand, Crooks, sleeps alone in a tiny room in the stable and is disliked by everyone except for Lennie. Since he is black, segregation is the ultimate reason why no one tries to like or befriend Crooks. Lennie, who, as an innocent person, has no bigotry in him, visits Crooks one night when everyone else is in town. Even thought Crooks does not show it, he enjoys Lennie’s company, and it seems that he and Lennie form a small friendship that would had developed more has the book been longer. Another soul not included with the ranch clique, Curley’s wife, whose name is not mentioned in the book, is new to the ranch as well. She married Curley just weeks before Lennie and George arrived. The ranch hands do not accept this lonely soul into their social group because she is new. However, the ranch hands also do not accept Curley’s wife because she obviously is so lonely that the only way she can get attention is by flirting. The only one who does not dismiss her when she flirts is Lennie who is obviously trying to make a friend with another lonely person. These lonely individuals make this novel into a very sad story of real life situations of when people really do not “fit in.”

The idea of obtaining a little farm with animals and crops raised by George and Lennie, and later joined by Candy, an old man, shows how dreams may cause a man to do anything to fulfill that dream. Lennie is the most enthusiastic and determined to gain the small farm and the all-important things -- the rabbits. Lennie repeatedly states that he wants to take care of the rabbits. One reason that Lennie wants the rabbits is because he loves soft things, but he also wants to prove George that he will not mess up by forgetting to feed them. George is halfhearted about the idea, but fakes his enthusiasm just to satisfy Lennie. To get away from his nomadic way of life, George supports the farm idea. From his intimations given in the book, George ultimately is searching for a wife and to settle down and start a family. The only way he thinks he can do that is via a small farm. Candy, an older man, wants the farm as a nice place to await his coming death. Candy offers his life savings towards the purchasing of the farm. Since he had a lot of money saved up, the story suggests that Candy has been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time. Everyone has his or her perfect dream, whether it is a house on the countryside, or a mansion in Beverly Hills.

Many of the characters epitomize friendship in each of their different pairs or groups of friends. The friendship between Lennie and George is the strongest in the book and they both watch for each other in different ways. George obviously is the smarter one of the two and handles everything that Lennie cannot comprehend, which is most of the day-to-day events. George’s faithfulness to Lennie may be due to a huge promise to Lennie’s aunt or he really loves Lennie enough to take really good care of him. In return for George’s watchful eye, Lennie provides protection and security to George. Lennie looks up to George, much like a younger brother would look up to a big brother. The relationship between George and Slim, although not as developed as the relationship between Lennie and George, is still important. When George first arrives at the ranch, Slim instantly befriends him and advises him to keep an eye on Lennie. Also when Lennie kills Curley’s wife, Slim comforts George and again advises him to find Lennie before Curley catches him. This type of friendship symbolizes a sort of father-son relationship, with the “parent” watching over the “children,” or in this case, the new ranch hands. Lennie, George, and Candy together demonstrate another small friendship that mainly falls out of pity for the old man Candy. When Candy hears of George and Lennie’s idea to buy a small farm, he jumps right into the planning and financing. This friendship is the kind that develops over time due to common interests and convenience. There are many types of relationships – strong and weak ones – but most result in the comfort and happiness of the friends.

In summary, Of Mice and Men is a powerful story about human relationships that uses Lennie to symbolize pure intent while using the others to demonstrate that many have hidden reasons for their behavior. The murder of Lennie by his best friend in the end and the killing of the dog give proof of the love that friends have for each other. In this case, the love George had for Lennie was enough to put him out of his misery, instead of being tortured and hanged by Curley. Pure trust and love in adult relationships is an ideal that may be the sole domain of the child-like charm of a retarded adult.

Of Mice and Men, a novel written by John Steinbeck, clearly develops three themes:

man’s desire to create and seek dreams, man’s desire for companionship, and man’s

responsibility to other members of society.

First, a person’s want to pursue their dreams is expressed through many of the

characters. The primary example of this would be George and Lennie’s attempting to

earn a stake and purchase a small farm. They had plans to “live off the fatta the lan’.” (14)

Never again would the two have to work on cultivating another man’s crops. Lennie, of

course, would get to feed the rabbits. Another example of man’s need of having a dream

is Candy wishing to join in on George and Lennie’s dream of getting the farm. Candy is

willing to give up his life savings so he won’t have to worry about getting thrown out after

he becomes worthless. Curley’s wife also has created a dream for herself. Before she

married Curley she had the opportunity of being in the movies and pictures. Now she

wishes for that to happen once again. All of these people have fantasies they wish to

attain.

Secondly, the topic of man’s aspiration for companionship is indicated throughout

the story. Crooks has an immense hunger for genuine fellowship. Being black, he was

separated from the rest of the men, which made him lonely. Crooks said, “Sure you could

play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain’t no good. A

guy needs somebody- to be near him.” (72) Curley’s wife is also in need of having

someone to spend time with. Sure she is married to Curley, but it’s an intensely poor

relationship. Every chance she gets she tries to talk to someone, but for the most part is

ignored because she is married. Unlike most guys that work on ranches, George and

Lennie have a friendship. The two spend roughly all their time together. They show the

companionship the others characters want.

Lastly, the subject of man’s dependability on his fellow man is shown in the novel.

Unlike the other themes, this one is mainly displayed through only two characters. Of

course I’m referring to Lennie and George. As they say so many times “I got you to look

after me, and you got me to look after you.” (14) Lennie’s aunt used to take care of him,

but she passed away and George said he would look after him. Since he is unintelligent,

Lennie is greatly reliant on George for all the necessities such as: food, shelter, and

guidance.

Man’s need to produce and chase dreams, man’s craving for camaraderie, and

man’s responsibility to his fellow man are the main themes of the novel. They are

distinctly elaborated through numerous characters in the tale.

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is a story which shows how weak the human trait of loyalty can be if put through the test of time. It shows how people can turn on their family, best friend, and even their life-long companions if they are presented with the opportunity for advancement in life. This novel shows the reader the true animalistic nature of all humans through the use of highly developed characters as well a thoroughly developed story line.

George is not a strong man physically, but what he is lacking physically he makes up for in his mentality. Although his abundance of mental strength does not become apparent until later in the story, it is fairly obvious from the beginning that his physical strength is lacking. Lennie, on the other hand, is physically “strong as a bull”(22), according to George, but mentally is a weak as George is physically. Together, as they travel from place to place looking for their chance at making their dream a reality, they use each other’s strong points to help them complete the task. Without one another the two characters would have absolutely no chance at success, for what one is lacking the other has an ample amount of. George and Lennie are the perfect example of how opposites attract.

The two of them have spent the majority of their adult lives together and know each other better than they know anybody else in the entire world. They share their hard times and the good, their victories and their defeats, but most importantly they share a common dream. That dream is of having “a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs an’ live off the fatta the lan’”(14), where Lennie can take care of the rabbits just as George has been taking care of him over the years. This is Lennie’s chance to pay George back for all of the kindness that he has had bestowed upon him out of his true love and loyalty towards George.

When they arrive at the ranch where they will be working the first person that they meet is an older gentleman named Candy. Candy has lived a long and hard life on the ranch and has nothing to show for it. During his time on the ranch he has lost his hand, grown old, and feels that he has become worthless. The name “Candy” is an interesting one for this character though. When you think of candy you see children eating it while running around in the yard having a good time without a care in the world. This is the exact opposite of what the character in the novel is. The restless demon of age has caught up with him and he is not able to move as fast as he once did; even his dog is unable to ward off the negative effects of time.

Candy loves his dog with all of his heart; it has been his best friend for years and according to Candy he has “Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him.” (44) Even though he cannot run as fast as in his prime or herd sheep like he did when he was younger Candy loves him just the same. He appreciates all of the joy and loyalty that his once great dog has brought to him during his life and is ready to let his friend now live out the rest of his natural life. Unfortunately that is not the way that some of the other people in the room see it. Carlson feels “This ol’ dog jus’ suffers hisself all the time. If you was to take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head… right there, why he’d never know what hit him”(45). Carlson even offers to give him a new dog to replace the one that he is about to destroy. The way that Candy sees it is that he is not hurting anyone and that there is no reason to have to end his life prematurely. Even though Candy loves his dog more than anything else in the world he chooses to let someone shoot his dog in the back of the head. After all that they had been through and all the years of loyal service that his supposed best friend had performed for Candy, when pressured into a decision, he chose to defy his loyal companion and make the decision on when he should die. This leads one to wonder why he made the decision that he did. What drove Candy to defy the trust his loyal companion of years? Candy knew that his pet had limited time left in his life, and after he passed, who would Candy have to call a friend? He let Carlson kill his dog in hopes that the other workers would then give him the friendship and loyalty that his dog had provided him for years. If this happened, Candy would not have to spend the rest of his life alone and desolate in his old age; he would then have friends and people who he could talk to. He had been lacking this for years and wanted to obtain it desperately, even if it meant betraying his oldest friend.

George and Lennie have the same relationship that Candy and his dog have shared for so many years. They are as close to each other’s hearts as any two people can be in life. George has given up his chance at a somewhat normal life to help Lennie live as full of a life as he is mentally capable of doing. As the story progresses you see that George starts to resent the fact that he is being held back by Lennie: “…crazy son-of-a-bitch. You keep me in hot water all the time”(11). After George said this “His anger left him suddenly.” When George blows up on Lennie he then remembers that although he does a lot of Lennie, Lennie does a lot for him. Without each other both would be lost in life and have nobody else to turn too. This all changes once the two characters get their jobs on the ranch together. George fits in very well with all of the other workers on the ranch and sees that for the first time in his life, he has a chance to live a typical life. He becomes almost infatuated with the idea of being able to have friends and not have to travel all over the place running from the trouble that Lennie has got them into. As time goes by on the ranch where the two characters are working, George starts to become a little slack on looking out for Lennie. He knows that Lennie cannot take care of himself and that it is hard for him to stay out of trouble, but he still leaves him alone more than he has before. It seems that George’s priorities have been switched around and that he is more concerned with having a good time with the guys than he is about making sure that his life-long companion is safe and not getting himself into trouble on the ranch. This is shown rather clearly when George goes into town and leaves Lennie behind to do as he pleases. He is not worried about what kind of trouble Lennie may get in to; all he is thinking about is having the chance to go out with the guys and have a good time. This is something that he could not have done in the past because he had to worry about Lennie and make sure that he was not going to get into any trouble that would endanger himself or George. For some reason he does not seem to worry about this when he makes the decision to leave. Is it because he is happy that Lennie is not going to be around him this time and that he can go and do as he pleases without having to have Lennie tag along and put George in an awkward position with the rest of his fellow workers? It seems that this is exactly what he is thinking when he totally disregards the idea that Lennie could make a mistake which would lead to dire consequences.

Later in the story George once again puts his new found friends in front of the obligation to take care of his best friend in the entire world. While George is outside playing horseshoes with all of his coworkers from the ranch he lets Lennie wander around and do as he wishes, which he knows can lead to trouble. While outside having fun with the others he never even seems to worry about where his traveling partner is or what he is doing. George is preoccupied with his other life, the one spent away from Lennie and his responsibilities.

When George finds out that his neglecting to supervise Lennie has led to a tragedy he never once blames himself. If he would have been watching Lennie and taking care of him as he promised to do, none of this would have happened and nobody would be dead. Now, due to George’s lack of loyalty to Lennie and his promise to take care of him, Lennie is doomed to suffer the consequences of an action that could have been prevented had he not been left alone.

George knows that the workers from the ranch will kill Lennie when they find him and gives only a half-hearted effort to try to persuade them from pursuing this act of destruction and murder. As the story closes, George, in a somewhat noble act of kindness, makes the effort to find Lennie before any of the workers from the ranch can. He has a choice to make after he finds Lennie: he can run away and hide as he has done in the past, therefore insuring the safety of his onetime closest companion, or he can take Lennie’s life himself. Due to his lack of loyalty to Lennie and his selfishness he chooses to take Lennie’s life. It is significant to the story how George decides to kill his friend. He does not even give Lennie a chance to get away from his pursuers but instead he shoots him in the back of the head just like what had been done to Candy’s dog.

After all of the loyalty and love that both of these creatures had given to their respective “friends”, both of the superior creatures decide that they don’t need them any more and choose to end the dominated creatures lives in a less than honorable manner. When given the chance to gain something that he wanted, George chose to alienate and kill his most loyal friend in the world in the same manner that dogs and other less than human creatures are disposed of when they are no longer needed. This display of George’s animalistic nature when presented the chance for advancement in life shows that loyalty, when put to the test, is never as strong as the person’s desire to achieve his own dreams.

Although Steinbeck is not trying to say that you can never trust the people that you call your friends, he is saying to be careful of those who call you a friend but only think of themselves while saying it. Even after spending the majority of his life calling Lennie a friend, George still betrayed him for the chance to become who he wanted to be. The animalistic nature of people tends to come out when they have the chance to seize what they believe is rightfully ours. So don’t trust everyone who can trust you because everyone has got an agenda in life that shows us where they want to be. If you stand in the way of obtaining their goal they may be likely to step over you to get to it. As George has showed us, the human trait of loyalty can become very weak if put through the test of time, so avoid trying to test it so that you may not end up as Lennie did, being treated no better than an old man’s dog.

In Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" the characters struggle with loneliness and loss of dreams. These themes are highlighted by the use of parallels that tie the novel together. The relationship between Candy and his dog parallels that which exists between George and Lennie. There are also parallels between the outcasts and Lennie which emphasize the pain of lonliness. The opening scene mirros the final scene.

The relationship between Candy and his dog parallels that which exists between George and Lennie. To the men who live in the bunkhouse, Candy's dog is nothing more than a "dragfooted sheep dog, gray of muzzle,...with pale, blind old eyes," (p. 24) but Candy sees him as a companion. To George, Lennie is more than a "big guy" (p. 25) who can't speak for himself. On the ranch Lennie is suspected to be of no value because of his lack of intelligence, and Candy's dog is thought to be of no importance because he has no teeth, can hardly see and can't eat. The dog is "no good to [Candy]" (p. 44) and he is "no good to himself" (p. 44). After Lennie kills Curley's wife, he's no good to George or himself. Carlson's luger, which is used to shoot Candy's dog in the back of the head, is also used by George to shoot Lennie in the back of the head. Slim had said earlier that he wished "somebody'd shoot [him] if [he] got old an' a cripple" (p. 45) and he also acknowledges that George has to shoot Lennie, telling him that he "hadda" (p.107). Both Candy's dog and Lennie are killed out of love. Candy feels that his dog no longer needs to suffer and George never wants Lennie to suffer for a crime he did not mean to commit.

The parallels that exist between the outcasts and Lennie emphasize the harsh pain of loneliness. Crooks tries to shut out another outcast, telling Lennie that "[he] ain't wated in the bunkhouse and [Lennie] ain't wanted in [his] room" (p. 68). Curley's wife, an outcast herself, sees Crooks, Lennie, and Candy as "a nigger an' a dum-dum and a lousy ol' sheep" (p. 78), but she is not even wanted there with them. All the outcasts have been left at the ranch while the other go into town. This further shows their separation from all the ranch.

The opening scene of the book mirrors its final scene. In the beginning the pastoral settin symbolizes the opportunity and hope that lie before George and Lennie, while at the end of the story the calm setting is a reflection of a find of heaven. Lennie's blissful ignorance is present both times. A heron and a periscope-like snake are there in the beginning and the end. George speaks of his living off the fat of the land in both instances to pacify Lennie. The rabbit motif is seen in the beginning and the end, but its meaning has turned. In the opening Lennie wants to tend rabbits, and in the end the giant rabbit crushes his dreams by telling him that he is not good enough. The opening scene is an exact reflection of the closing scene, yet this time the dream has been crushed.

Dreams are a train of thought or images passing through ones mind. Of mice and men’s two main themes consist of dreams and pipe dreams. Dreams can lead to problems, success, or neither. Dreams can also lead to new dreams as well. Some individuals can carry out their dreams, others cannot. Dreams involve commitment and one can never achieve it if you’re not dedicated in following through. This goes with just about any goal or dream. Each individual character has different and specific pipe dreams. These pipe dreams help to go more in depth in understanding each individual character. The pipe dreams shape the characters’ behavior and affect the way the character makes his/her decisions. Throughout the story, “Of Mice and Men,” focus’ a lot on pipe dreams. The title of the book relates to Burns’ poem when it states:

“But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane

In proving foresight may be vain:

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men

Gang aft a –gley

An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain

For promised joy”

This also states that others encounter problems as well when they look into the future and try to make plans. Others as well, find that their planning might be futile and fruitless as time goes on.

George and Lennie both fit into the category of wanting to carry out their dreams and be different than everyone else by taking care and looking out for one another. Although, many of their individual pipe dreams followed a different view, but there were still some in which they shared. George was the “base” of his and Lennies friendship and loyalty. He was the “root” or “leader” so to speak. George would be the one who would keep things going on properly and more in order, to an extent. George had to be the “base” since Lennie was not strong enough. Proof of this is when he stated:

“If George don’t want me, I’ll go away. I’ll go away.” (Page 110)

Lennies pipe dreams were more selfish and related to himself rather than Georges. Lennie wished for rabbits, and furry creatures to satisfy his urges. This showed his lack of control, intelligence, and his liking towards soft things. George and Lennie did share their goal about the farm and both wanting to succeed at it. They also knew that they would be different from the others because they had each other to rely on. Their dream of the farm in the future and the pipe dreams symbolized their security. Even though problems arose between George and Lennie, George had to always be the leader and this helped preserve both of their hope. Still, George’s loneliness doesn’t really begin until the end.

Candy’s loneliness is similar to Georges loneliness at the end of the book because of their relationship to their close companions is lost. Candy’s close companion is his dog and Georges is Lennie. Both relationships involved loyalty and friendship. Candy is extremely attached to his dog, the way Lennie was attached to George. A part of Candy dies when his dog is put down.

“Candy looked a long time at Slim to try to find some reversal. And Slim gave him none. At last Candy said softly and hopelessly, “Awright-take ‘im.” (Page 52)

Candy’s dreams shifted in the story when his dog dies and he suddenly becomes interested when George gives him the idea to come and start a ranch with him and Lennie. It almost seemed as if Candy had no reason to go on after his dog died. Having new dreams arise to him made him look ahead and kept him more interested in life.

Curley’s wife had a similar form of loneliness as Candy’s when his dog was put down. Curley’s wife didn’t feel as if she had anything to live for. She seemed to have raised nothing but trouble and temptation between the men. Curley’s wife didn’t lose all that much in the end because she had nothing ahead of her, nothing to look forward to, and she was effected and suffering with her dreams and loneliness.

“I get lonely, she said. You can talk.” (Page 95)

Even her marriage was admitted by the author as a mistake. Curley, on the other hand, was the opposite and took his problems using anger and frustration.

“By Christ, he’s gotta talk when he’s spoke to. What the hell are you settin’ us into it for?” (Page 28)

Curley is more antagonistic and it seems he’s angry when his own thoughts or dreams aren’t happening the way it wants it to. Basically, he gets angry when he doesn’t get his way.

Crooks’ dreams on the other hand, are not selfish. He just wants to fit in with everyone else. Crooks’ dreams are more involved in receiving self-respect, and fairness from the rest. He’s different from everyone else on the ranch and because of this, he is singled out and not treated the same due to his race and color. An example of this is stated:

“I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, you ain’t wanted in my room.” (Page 75)

The three main themes in the novel are similar in many different ways. All the different dreams and pipe dreams of the characters reflected their behaviors and decisions throughout the story. Dreams are similar to pipe dreams just by the fact that the goals of a character reflect on his/her decisions and attitudes towards problems or issues. George’s life was most changed by the end of the story because of the fact that he is now finally starting to really be alone. It’s somewhat ironic. Throughout the story, all the characters’ different types of loneliness’ is described with George and Lennie being one of the prime examples. However, in the end, George is back at square one, maybe even behind square one since Lennie is gone, and now he doesn’t have a companion to take care of him, help him get through problems or anything. George killing Lennie at the ending of the story was more proper because it at least gave Lennie the decency to die with some peace, loyalty, happiness, reassurance, and comfort rather than by the workers in which Lennie would have been scared, confused, and killed with no dignity. In respect to Burns’ poem, mice are the individuals that dream their dreams but men actually carry out their dreams

Of Mice and Men Essay

If you try hard you can achieve anything, That is what most people say and think it is true. But that’s not the case all the time. Sometimes you can’t achieve everything you work for. Achieving what you want, such as a goal or a dream mostly comes true to the common hard worker. Yet there are some people left out into the cold. This relates to The Novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. The characters, such as George, Crooks and Curley’s Wife prove that not all dreams come true.

In the book Lennie killed George’s dream to having his own farm. The dream George had was to have a farm of his own one day and live off the fat of the land. With this Dream he allowed Lennie to help with the dream since he always has to do things with him. Later into the book one of the men also working at the farm decided to join to insure their possibility of getting the farm since George wouldn’t be able to do it by himself. But as luck would have it nothing worked out the way it should have. Lennie, being the not so smart person he is killed Curley’s Wife unintentionally by snapping her neck. From this George knew that the dream would not be accomplished and had no choice but to shoot Lennie. This is one perfect example of how not all dreams come true.

Crooks’ had his dream shattered by Curley’s Wife to keep him from dreaming at all. In Chapter 4 of the book Crooks found out about the dream that Lennie and Candy had put together and thought about join them in the farm. At first he was skeptical about the whole situation because he thought that Lennie was acting crazy. Being in the time he was and the color of his skin he thought that there would be no hope for him. But after talking to Lennie he began to think of how nice it would be if he had a farm of his own since he wouldn’t ever be able to have it actually happen. While in this state of mind where he thought that he could do anything, Curley’s Wife comes in to give him some discriminating words. This brought Crooks back down to Earth and allowed him to think realistically. Crooks soon realized to forget about dreaming because he would never have a successful one anyway. This is a great example on how a made dream can yet be achieved.

Curlye’s Wife’s Dream would never come true not leaving her with anything at the end. She dreamed of being and actor and living in the big times. She was never able to be successful through it. The directors said they would give her a role but never did. With never being able to be an actress she saw Curley and decided to marry him since she knew she wouldn’t be able to achieve her dream. From this she had to settle with a husband she didn’t like leaving here with a very unhappy for the rest of her life. Not having any of her dreams accomplished she thought it was over with her, no one would talk to her or care about her. She was down to her last resort. From this she was unfortunately killed by Lennie, having her neck snapped. This is a perfect example on how dreams that are set don’t always happen.

George, Crooks and Curley’s Wife, are three good examples of what happens to dreams sometimes. This book deals greatly on dreams. With these three characters I don’t see any one of them to be able to rebuild his or her dream. I don’t see George being in charge of a farm with no one big to help him out. Crooks won’t ever be respected to leave him with being an outcast for the rest of his life. Last is Curley’s Wife, who is dead so that explains it right there. Dreams come true a lot, they even come true every day. People achieve a lot, get metals and do extraordinary things. But there are some people who don’t achieve much leaving them with nothing such as bums. This is why I say; even the hard worker won’t achieve everything he or she has hoped for.

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