Crooks 1 Why is Crooks annoyed when Lennie

Crooks 1. Why is Crooks annoyed when Lennie comes into his room? Why do you think Crooks behaves the way he does? 2. Crooks understands that George and Lennie are very important to each other because they keep each other company, and that we all need someone to make us feel less alone. Write down a quotation which shows Crooks understands this. 3. Crooks says, “’I seen guys nearly crazy with loneliness for land, but ever’time a whore house or a blackjack game took what it takes’” (Steinbeck 76). Crooks’s remark suggests that it is isolation as well as responsibility that prevent the disenfranchised of the novella from achieving their dreams. Discuss.

Marginalization: race and segregation Crooks is marginalized because he is black. In the United States during this time, black people were treated as second-class citizens. Segregation laws(known as Jim Crow lawsfrom a derogatory term for a black person) dominated every area of life and frequently affected Native Americans and people of Asian origin as well as African Americans.

Segregation Essentially segregation meant that black people were confined to separate and usually inferior areas and facilities. They lived in different neighborhoods, attended separate schools, and were barred from entering certain professions. Some states refused to allow black people to enter theatres and restaurants. Segregation laws differed from state to state and altered over time. In California in the 1930 s some of them had been repealed, but many white people still regarded black people as inferior.

Curley’s wife 4. Why does Curley’s wife come in to the harness room? Write down a quotation as evidence (see page 77). 5. Why don’t the men want her to stay? 6. Do you feel any sympathy for her? Explain.

Thinking about Curley’s wife is desperate for company because of her loneliness because of the way she is treated by her husband marginalized as a woman on the ranch; she is so desperate that her only option is to talk to the ranch workers who are often victims of injustice themselves.

Marginalization: gender Curley’s wife hangs around the bunk house and the stable because she is lonely and looking for companionship. But the men will not accept her as a friend because neither they nor she are capable of perceiving her as anything other than a sex object.

Double standards Now think of all the derogatory terms the men use about Curley’s wife. tart poison tramp bitch rattrap looloo What do you think these terms say about the men who use them?

Female stereotypes Think about the other women who are mentioned in the novel. • Lennie’s Aunt Clara • The girl in Weedwho, like Curley’s wife, wears red, and who apparently shares her love of attention (she “rabbits in an’ tells the law she been raped”) • Old Susy who keeps the brothel in Soledad • Susy’s rival Clara, who shares her name with Lennie’s aunt In the society depicted in the novel, women are perceived as falling into two categories or stereotypes: sex symbol or mother figure.

Loneliness, Dreams, and Power (questions 7 -9) In this section of the novel, four of the loneliest characters talk together about their dreams of a better life. Why are these characters lonely? Do you think they have a chance of achieving their dreams? Which character do you think has the most power in this chapter and why? Which has the least and why? Give reasons for your answers.

Loneliness and dreams Reread Candy’s defiant speech to Curley’s wife. “We ain’t got to stay here. We gotta house an’ chickens an’ fruit trees and a place a hunderd time prettier than this. An’ we got fren’s, that’s what we got. Maybe there was a time when we was scared of gettin’ canned, but we ain’t no more. ” Loneliness and dreams are closely linked in this chapter. All the men have dreams, but it is only when they stand together that it looks as if they may have a chance of achieving them.

Chapter Four: Irrelevant? (Question 10) Some critics might argue that Chapter Four is irrelevant as the plot does not really move forward in any way and little ‘action’ takes place. Why do you think Steinbeck included Chapter Four in the novella?