‘Of Mice and Men’ Analysis Essay

Steinbeck presents some of his characters as being weak in some way. But the characters I think that are even weaker than the other characters are Crooks and Candy. They both are weak in many ways but they are also similar in some ways. Crooks, who is weaker of the two, is a black and a stable buck. He is weak in many ways. Firstly, he is the only black man in the ranch which would make him isolated. This means he can’t go into the bunkhouse or socialise with the other men. Because of this he is very lonely and has no one to talk to. â€Å"S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk house and play rummy ’cause you were black†¦A guy needs somebody-to be near him†¦.I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.† He is always called the â€Å"nigger† by the men and he receives a huge amount of insults and racism most of the time. A good example of this is when Curley’s wife calls him a â€Å"nigger† and tells him â€Å"You know what I could do† which would make anyone weak and inferior to others. Secondly, he is also weaker in his physical state. This is because he has injured his back in an accident and gives his back a constant pain; â€Å"Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him.† However, Crooks has also some strengths such as, he is intelligent because he has a numerous books, beats everyone on the ranch playing horseshoes and makes an attempt to stand up against Curley’s wife racist threat. But his strengths and abilities are covered up and blinded by his weakness. Candy, the oldest man on the ranch, has lost his right hand in an accident at work. He also has many weaknesses. Firstly, being old and disabled is a massive weakness for him because he knows one day he will be thrown out the ranch put â€Å"on the county† when he is too old to work. The reader understands this when he compares himself to his dog who get shot by Carlson; â€Å"Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunk houses they’ll put me on the county.† Secondly, he is also lonely and isolated like crooks because he doesn’t have any friends other than his dog who dies when it get by shot Carlson. A good example of this is when the all men has gone to the town; Candy comes looking for companionship and a conversation in Crooks’ room where he obviously have never been in. â€Å"You got a nice cosy little place in here†¦Must be nice to have a room all to yourself this way.† Candy also have some strengths such as, when tries to defend Crooks from Curley’s wife threat and tries to stop his dog been shot. But all the time he fails which means also his strengths are overtaken by his weakness like Crooks. In conclusion, the both characters have some similarities such as, their physical weakness and the amount of the social interaction they get for various different reasons. They also have some similar strengths but again they are overshadowed by their weaknesses.