Of Mice and Men, Curley's Wife and Crooks

In this essay I will explore and analyse the language, the background and connections between the two minor characters Crooks and Curley’s wife. Although they’re minor characters both have a significant role in the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ by highlighting the segregation between the characters because of race and gender.

Both characters are introduced in topic of conversation rather than being introduced as walking into the scene. Crooks is first mentioned by Candy when he is talking to George and Lennie when they first arrive, Candy tells them about how the boss took his anger out on Crooks. The identity of Crooks is revealed when Candy is describing Crooks to George; ‘Ya see the stable buck’s a nigger’ George replies with ‘Nigger, huh?’ From George’s response you can see that it is unusual to have a black person working and socializing with white people. Similar to Crooks’, the introduction of Curley’s wife is not a formal occasion and she is the topic of gossip between Candy and George. Identical to Crooks the identity of Curley’s wife is revealed before they are formally present, Steinbeck does this to make the reader feel like they know these characters before they are present. The fact that Curley’s wife is never named Curley’s wife is described as a ‘tart’ and is seen as ‘jail bait’ by the ranch hands in the quotation on pg 53. ‘She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up...’ Steinbeck refers to the detail of her makeup and clothes rather than to her personality. He may have done this so the reader can gather hints and ideas to what the personality of Curley’s wife is. Similarly to Curley’s wife, a lot is described about Crook’ appearance which gives the reader a pre-judgmental idea of who Crooks is. Crooks is portrayed as ‘being a stable buck and a cripple’ this already tells the reader that he is weak. Despite being the ‘stable buck’, Crooks is proud, independent and intelligent. But none of these admirable features stop the boss from...