Crooks is the black stable buck character in John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men. The dislike and prejudice against Crooks is expressed through the dialogue of the story, mostly in Crooks's own words but also by Curley's wife. It centers around racism and segregation.
In chapter two, Candy reveals that he likes Crooks ("Nice fella too.") but does relate the story of the time Crooks is allowed into the bunkhouse and is involved...
Crooks is the black stable buck character in John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men. The dislike and prejudice against Crooks is expressed through the dialogue of the story, mostly in Crooks's own words but also by Curley's wife. It centers around racism and segregation.
In chapter two, Candy reveals that he likes Crooks ("Nice fella too.") but does relate the story of the time Crooks is allowed into the bunkhouse and is involved in a fight, presumably because of racial tension. Candy says,
"They let the nigger come in that night. Little skinner name of Smitty took after the nigger. Done pretty good, too. The guys wouldn’t let him use his feet, so the nigger got him. If he coulda used his feet, Smitty says he woulda killed the nigger. The guys said on account of the nigger’s got a crooked back, Smitty can’t use his feet.”
In chapter five, Crooks agonizes over his loneliness and that he is the victim of racism. He tells Lennie that he is not allowed into the bunkhouse where the white workers live, and when the mentally challenged Lennie asks why, Crooks says,
“’Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me.”
Crooks lives alone in a room in the barn. He explains to Lennie the loneliness he feels as a result of being segregated because of the reality of racial relations in 1930's America. He tells Lennie,
"S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black."
Later in the chapter, Curley's wife reinforces the racism which victimizes Crooks. When he tells her to leave his room, she lashes out at him and puts into words the brutality of racism. She informs him that she could get him "lynched" very easily, and she is right. All she would need to do was say he had touched her or made improper advances. She says,
“Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.”
Because of Curley's wife's retaliation, Crooks retreats back to his normal demeanor of quiet and "aloof." In the end of the chapter he tells Candy he doesn't care about going to the farm. He says he was just fooling. He realizes the level of dislike there is for him in the white world.
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