Of Mice and Men Essay

            This book generally is about all of the migrant workers, all with their own dreams. The main characters George and Lennie go from farm to farm, trying to work up a stake and save enough to buy their own farm. The other characters in the book are also all lonely in their own way. Crooks is black and the blacks are seen as outcasts in this time. Candy has become old, and without his hand is next to useless. .
             George is a typical migrant worker. He's not particularly strong, but he's smart and good at his job. The difference between him and the rest of the workers is that he has someone to call a friend. George enjoys going to brothels, getting drunk and generally wasting his money. He wants to own his own farm with Lennie because he wants to have the freedom of working how he wants. "It ain't enough land so we"d have to work too hard. Maybe six, seven hours a day" (58).
             Candy is an old man who has been at the ranch for some time. "I been here a long time" (75) He can remember people who have come and gone previously. He doesn't do much on the ranch, but he can do small odd jobs about the place. He has lost his hand in an accident, which makes him even less useful. The others do not hate him, he just gets left out because he is old.
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             Crooks is the stable buck. He is different from the rest because he is black, in a time where racial prejudice is strong. He has also been crippled, and so his life is very bad. Now and then he poured a few drops of the liniments into his pink palmed hand and reached up under his shirt to rub again. He flexed his muscles against his back and shivered" (67) He lives separately to the others in his own room, the harness room. He has books on his shelves, which shows that he is more intellectual than the others. He has fond memories of his past, when he and his white friends would play on their chicken ranch, and were oblivious as to why their parents didn't like it. Now he knows why, and he hates the fact that he can't come into the bunkhouse to play cards, but has to spend all his free time by himself.