What textual evidence is there of Candy using racist language towards Crooks in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men?
When Candy talks with George and Lennie in Chapter 2, he refers to Crooks as a n****r, but when he speaks directly to Crooks in Chapter Four, he does not use racist language.
John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men exhibits characteristics of both Modernism and Realism. Certainly, in the narrative of Lennie and George, men dispossessed during the Great Depression, Steinbeck adheres to realistic detail and the Modernist technique of imitating authentic language.
This realistic detail and imitation of authentic speech is exemplified in Chapter 2, when George and Lennie report to the ranch and old Candy is sweeping out the bunkhouse. There, he talks to the new men and tells them about the others at the ranch. Also, Candy tells them that the boss was very angry when they were not at breakfast:
"[He]Come right in when we was eatin' breakfast and says, 'Where the hell's them new men?' An' he give the stable buck hell, too."
George patted a wrinkle out of his bed, and sat down. "Give the stable buck hell?" he asked.
"Sure. Ya see the stable buck's a n****r."....Nice fell too. Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him....He reads a lot. Got books in his room."
This seems to be the only time that Candy uses the "n" word, and it is only in talking about Crooks, not to him.
After Curley barges in and out, Candy informs George and Lennie about him and his wife, then says he must leave to set out the wash basins for the men who are due to return from the fields. Once he leaves, the sound of a jingling harness is heard, and "from a distance came a clear call":
"Stable Buck--ooh sta-ble Buck! Where the hell is that God damn n****r?"
While this language may be construed as coming from Candy who is outside, it is more likely from the driver of the wagon pulled by mules that hauls the men back because it is heard "from a distance," not nearby where Candy would be.
In Chapter 4, Candy enters the barn as he searches for Lennie, and Crooks tells him that the "big guy" is in his room with him. While Candy hesitates at the doorway and seems embarrassed to accept the invitation to enter, he uses no racist language. In fact, he does enter, although still embarrassed.
Candy leaned against the wall beside the broken collar while he scratched the wrist stump. "I been here a long time," he said. "An' Crooks been here a long time. This's the first time I ever been in his room."
When Crooks replies that "Guys don't come into a colored man's room very much," Candy quickly changes the subject. It is apparent that he is uncomfortable in the room, but he makes no racial remark. Instead, he tries to direct the conversation onto another subject. Even when he becomes angry with Crooks for mocking their plans to own land, Candy swears, but he does not use any pejorative or racial names against Crooks.
"You G--damn right we're gonna do it!...and don't make no mistake about it...."
Crooks asked, "You say you got the money?"
"Damn right. We got most of it....George got the land picked out, too."
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