How Does Steinbeck use the Character of Crooks to convey important idea’s about race in 1930’s America?

Steinbeck uses the character of Crooks to convey the ideas that racism was an important issue in 1930’s America. Crooks experiences prejudice and persecution on the ranch but Steinbeck does not present him purely as a symbol of race issues- he’s a fully developed character with the same hopes as other characters. He dreams of freedom and dignity but he is destined to experience the same fate as millions of other black men in the 30’s, that of poverty, loneliness and abuse.

Crooks’ experiences on the ranch are typical of black men in 1930’s America. He is separated from the other white workers and he is not allowed into the bunkhouse with the other white men which was considered ‘normal’ as black people were seen as inferior to white people. In some ways this is an advantage for Crooks as he gets privacy and “being alone, he could leave his things about”, something that none of the other workers had or could do. On the other hand, Crooks is very lonely and he tries to hide this by reading. It was very unusual for a black man in 1930’s America to be educated and able to read, but Crooks was very interested in the rights that he had. On the shelf above his bed he had “a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code.” This shows that Crooks is probably just as intelligent, if not more intelligent than the white men on the ranch.

Racial prejudice on the ranch was typical of the 30’s however, Steinbeck is careful not to portray Crooks in a stereotypical way. Steinbeck portrays Crooks as a fully rounded character as he has a past, he does not have the stereotypical upbringing of a black man. His father was the boss on a “chicken ranch,” this hints that he may once have been in the same position as Curley. This reinforces Steinbeck’s