Examine The Enduring Appeal Of The Novel Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

This modern classic, Of Mice And Men, written by John Steinbeck, expresses a touching tale of two men, Lennie and George. Lennie Small, a mentally disabled man, travels around 1930s California with his friend and career, George Milton, working on ranches. However, their friendship is tested when Lennie commits a heinous crime. I feel the character of Crooks played a powerful role in this novel, as he is very wise and prophetic in his words and ways. The novella is set in the Great Depression, when men and women alike had to search across America for work and food. The role of women is an issue explored in this story. In this novel, women are viewed as either troublemakers or motherly figures. ***** I feel that the character of Crooks, in the novella Of Mice And Men, is a powerful and endearing one. Crooks is an African-American stable-buck who works on the ranch in which the story is set. He is described as a proud, aloof man. During the course of the novel, this character is referred to as Crooks, a nickname given to him because of his crooked back. His back became deformed when he was kicked in the back as a child. The novel does not state his birth name. As he is African-American, Crooks receives a lot of hate from the other characters. They often call him nigger and refuse to let him play cards with them in the bunk house. They want little to do with him, purely because of his skin colour. As a result, Crooks viciously defends the few rights he has, even though it isolates him further from the other characters. Crooks proves to be quite a prophetic and clairvoyant element in this novel, as he accurately predicts the outcome of George, Lennie, and Candys dream to live off the fatta the lan. Crooks is also quite clever, but with that comes cruelty. Crooks knows that he is more intelligent than Lennie, and he uses that to intimidate him. Spose George dont come back no more. Spose he took a powder and just aint coming back. Whatll you do then?

Crooks, aware of Lennies fondness and dependence on George, taunts him until he becomes scared. Crooks continues to taunt the man, telling Lennie what would happen to him if George never came back. Theyll take you to the booby hatch. Theyll tie you up with a collar, like a dog. Lennie then becomes angry and aggressive, and Crooks backtracks immediately out of fear, showing that although quite a mentally capable and strong person, quite weak and cowardly when it comes to physical fights. ***** This novella is set in the 1930s, an era often described as The Great Depression. The economic depression in the 1930s was a result of the 1929 Wall Street Crash. The almost instant collapse of banks across the USA led to crippling poverty among its citizens. Between 1929 and 1933, unemployment rose by 607% a disturbing statistic. This poverty was a far cry from President Hoovers goal of: A chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage. However, people ended up starving, and living on the streets. As a result of this, many people were forced to travel across the country looking for work, just to stay off the streets. Lennie Small and George Milton were a fictional representation of people like that. Lennie and George travelled around taking whatever jobs they could, as did many of the population during the times of the Great Depression. ***** The role of women in the 1930s is an issue explored in detail in this novella. There were two important female characters in this story, Curleys wife and Aunt Clara. Both of these characters can be seen as negative stereotypes for women, for these characters are depicted as a rattrap and just a motherly figure respectively.