HOW IS CROOKS USED IN THE NOVEL TO TELL US ABOUT LIFE ON THE RANCH?

Ranch Life

WORK! WORK! WORK!

- It’s a mans world- Strict timetable and a highly competitive environment

Isolation shows that there is a hierarchy of people on the ranch.

The Boss

Curley

Slim

Whit, Carlson and George

Candy and Lennie

Crooks

Crooks is an outcast

because he is BLACK.

Crooks

Crooks is a stable buck on the ranch. He is the only coloured man on the ranch.

He is: •Cynical•Scapegoated•Crippled•In pain most of the time•Proud •At the bottom

Effects of Ranch Life on Crooks:

He has become a ‘proud aloof man’ His eyes seem ‘to glitter with intensity’

Proud and Arrogant

He gives all the people that enter his bunkhouse a ‘frosty reception’.

Anti-Social

He has his own room; separated from others

Social Isolation

He says “Nobody ever gets to heaven and nobody gets no land

Negative view to

life

Racism is a Big Part of Ranch Life In 1937 America was a very racist place. Steinbeck

has used this as a key feature of this novel, expressed through the character of Crooks.

It is difficult to cope with because you are excluded from everything.

1. The bunkhouse

2. People in general

3. ‘ the boss gives him hell when he’s mad’ , said by

Candy about Crooks.He is abused by Curley’s wife: “Listen, Nigger, You know what I can do if open your trap loss of dignity because he got insulted by a female and is not able to respond as he has less power compared to her.

Another theme of ranch life is Loneliness.

This theme is also expressed by all characters, and especially through Crooks.

Since Crooks is coloured he has no friends within the ranch. When he is given the pleasure of company, he rejects it as he

has got used to the loneliness He PREFERS to be lonely.

Historical Significance: Steinbeck himself was sensitive to loneliness; he knew the importance of companion ship and love.

“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family.

They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then go inta

town and blow up the stake. They got nothing to look forward to.’’ This quote sums up the theme of loneliness in Of Mice

and Men.

Dreams can be infectious

Dreaming is allowed, no matter where you are placed on the ranch; you have the right to dream.

Crooks is used to show this because when he meets Lennie and George; he also joins in with their dream.

Dreams allow the ranch worker to have an aim. This aim allows them constantly be working towards it.

There is no Justice on the Ranch

No working man on the ranch has rights. This point seems to be emphasized through Crooks

because he is black. America is and was a free country; so why are there

no rights for the black men? Crooks always talks about his rights all the time, ‘ you

got no rights comin’ in here’.

So in conclusion, a small character such as Crooks is used to express many themes and ideas within the novel. Many of these themes and ideas are taken from actual life at that time. Crooks is

used to generalize many of the ranch workers life as one. This is how Crooks role is important in

the story and telling us how ranch life was difficult at the time.

CONCLUSION

Thank you for watching our presentation without falling asleep.

BY: Shruti, Naeema, Reichel, Momina & Jaffrin