'Of Mice and Men' Revision: Crooks (student notes)

Crooks

In of Mice and Men, Crooks is the stable hand on the ranch. Being the only black worker on the ranch, he faces constant discrimination from the other work-hands, leading to loneliness.  Crooks is forced to live away from all the other workers, near the stable, reducing his rights almost to those of an animal. He is shown to be very bitter by his exclusion, "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’ ,but in Chapter 4, it is shown how much he longs for companionship by how happy he is when Lennie and Candy stay in his hut for the evening ‘It was difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger.’ When Lennie originally comes in, Crooks takes of advantage of naivety and inattentiveness and talks a lot more than he normally would to the other workers, he when he gets a minimal response. The fact that Crooks is willing to admit to Lennie, who is basically a stranger, how deeply lonely he is shows his desperation for companionship.

Crooks is treated very unfairly due to his race and his status as a cripple, and is often victimised by the other men on the farm, shown when Lennie and George are told that that other men sometimes fight him for fun, in spite of the fact he cannot properly fight back, due to his disability.  He is referred unfavourably, frequently being called ‘nigger’ and never his own name, but he is unable to argue back or he will be ganged up on ‘If I say something, why it’s just a nigger sayin’ it’. An important example of the unfairness he faces is when Curley’s wife threatens him ‘Well, you keep your place then nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.’ He is also smarter and better educated than the men, shown by the amount of books and magazines he owns ‘there were battered magazines and a few dirty books’, but he is still of a lower rank.

Crooks dream is one of being treated equally, and having companionship. This is shown when he talks about his next-door neighbours who he used to play with, even though they were white, and how when he was young he didn’t see a problem with it, and wants to have this relationship with people again, regardless of race.  His dreams of equality are also shown by how well he knows his civil rights, and how closely he stands by them. He shows that he is capable of standing up for his rights, when Curley’s wife comes into his hut ‘You got no rights comin’ in a coloured man’s room. Crooks is shown to be quite cynical of George and Lennie’s dream, because he’s seen so many men come and go with that dream and never accomplish it ‘I ssen guys nearly crazy with lonliness for land, but ever’ time a whore house or a blackjack game took what it takes.’