A question about Of Mice and Men?

Ive got homework to do and im not really sure what the question is telling me to do.





The question is: There are some intresting minor characters created by John Steinbeck. Choose two minor characters and explain their significance to the text as a whole.





I have chosen Crooks and Candy but what does the rest of the question mean?A question about Of Mice and Men?
You've definitely chosen the two best ones, I did my GCSEs last year and I had almost that exact same question.





There are several key themes in the novel, friendship, loneliness and isolation, failed dreams and prejudice.





Candy ties in with all of these. The oldest of all the characters, he views himself in the light that all his co-workers do. Being so disabled after his accident he knows that he is kept on only out of duty, and that may all change. You can see his happiness and excitement at the prospect of living with Lennie and George, as it would be the first time that he, like many of the other itinerant workers, would have had a true home since childhood. he is crucial to the novel in this sense because it is his dream that dies along with Lennie. His desperation is seen when he looks to George for reassurance, desperate to be told that they can still buy the little house.





Candy experiences prejudice. He is left, along with the other outcasts of society, when the men go to the brothels and bars in the town. The cripple, the retard, the woman and the black man represent many Americans living in the Great Depression, but they, above everyone, have the hardest time. This is ket to the novel, becasue in the end everyone ends up as helpless and pathetic as each other.





Crooks is perhaps an even more extreme case of this. He has the worst deal of them all, simply because he is black. Steinbeck presents as highly intelligent; his room is piled with books and, ironically, a battered copy of the California civil rights code. This is a prime example of failed dreams; Crooks expected a new life, but despite being treated like an animal, sleeping away from the white men, he holds on to the thought that they are, technically, equal.





Another instance in which you see Crooks being key is when he is with Lennie in his room. He objects in vain to him coming in, but clearly enjoys human company. However he quickly turns on Lennie, taunting him that George will not come home. This is shocking to see, as Crooks is a character who hase experiences all kinds of cruelty, yet here he is tormenting someone who simply doesn't understand. It is this cut-throat desperation that makes Of Mice and Men so tragic and so real. Each pathetic small character desperately tries to pick on someone weaker than them, Candy to Curley's Wife, CW to Crooks and Crooks to Lennie. None of them unite in their loneliness,





I hope that helps, it was a bit of an essay...It really is a great book, I found that it was the only book that wasn't ruined by analysing again and again.





Good luck!


A question about Of Mice and Men?
how do they contribute to the texts as a whole... basically the themes of the text. Crooks is black right? so you need to talk about the theme of prejudice and race, and how he is not equal to the others because of his race. just like Lennie isnt equal to the others because of his retardation (belittled by his friend.. george? always told what to do.)


candy is old and also not equal, he cannot do most things everyone else can and this is established when the flirty woman says ,';left all the weak ones in here.'; Candy also supports the theme of if something is useless and old (like he's dog) then it should be killed.


which is eventually what happens to lennie
Just explain what impact they bring to the story I forgot the story completely as it's years since I learnt it but if any of the characters have anything related to death just explain that it hints to the ending I did that and got an A*!





If you are stuck ask your teacher :)
It means choose two small characters and show the impact they have the story overall. Like Candy getting fired, no friends, etc.
Ask a teacher :P