Crooks

• [Chapter 4, Pg 82]

  "A guy needs somebody"

  • He confesses to Lennie his feelings of Isolation
  • The VERB "Needs" illustrates how, he feels that Friendship is absolutely NECESSARY for a man to function
  • Crooks LACKS this feeling of COMPANIONSHIP
  • Steinbeck uses this so that we feel Sorry for Crooks, who is Alienated, just because of the COLOUR of his SKIN

  A) -

  
• [Chapter 4, Pg 77]

  To Lennie: "You got no Right to come into my room ... Nobody got any Right in here, but ME"

  • The ABSTRACT NOUN "Right", shows that he is using his intellectual understanding of the Civil Code to STAND UP for himself
  • The POSSESSIVE PRONOUN "My", emphasises how little his possessions are, as he is trying to PROTECT the Very SMALL possessions he has

  A) -

  
• [Chapter 4, Pg 80]

  "And now, There ain't a Coloured man on this Ranch"

  • The ADJECTIVE "Coloured" again, illustrates how isolated he is, and how the colour of his SKIN makes him lonely and ALIENATED from the other men on the ranch

  
• [Chapter 4, Pg 91]

  "Crooks had reduced himself to Nothing"

  • Curley's Wife threatens to have Crooks LYNCHED, just because he stood up for himself a little bit
  • The VERB "Reduced" shows how the LAYERS of Protection and Privacy he had built up for himself, have been KNOCKED down by the Threat from Curley's Wife
  • The HYPERBOLE "Nothing" represents how African Americans in a Jim Crow Society FELT in the face of RACISM and INJUSTICE. They were expected to just ACCEPT it and REDUCE themselves to NOTHING

  A) -

  
• [Chapter 4, Pg 81]

  "Crooks’ face lighted with pleasure at the torture."

  • The VERB "Lighted" show that Crooks clearly ENJOYS TORMENTING Lennie (by suggesting that George will abandon him)

  His cruelty towards Lennie, who is very INNOCENT and has been NICE to Crooks, can make the reader see him as an UNPLEASANT character

  • However, when Crooks goes on to talk about the racism he has experienced, it becomes more understandable WHY he behaves in this way

  (To feel some sort of triumph, by inflicting the pain he may feel on a daily basis, towards someone who is "above" him in the Racial Hierachy)

  A) -

  
• [Chapter 4, Pg 80]

  "This is just a nigger talkin’, a busted-back nigger. So it don’t mean nothing, see?"

  • Racial SLURS are used as a COLLOQUIAL term to address Crooks frequently on the ranch
  • Crooks uses the language of the white men to address even HIMSELF, to show that he is aware of how LITTLE he is respected, and how no thought is shown for his feelings
  • No one on the ranch is interested in anything that Crooks has to say, and he is FULLY AWARE of this

  A) -