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Crooks Essay Questions

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Crooks Essay Questions
Crooks' importance in "Of Mice and Men"
In "Of Mice and Men" Crooks is a black stable back segregated from the rest of the men on the ranch because of the fact that he is black. Crooks' name suggests that there is something physically wrong with him. His physical disability is one of the many ways that he suffers on the ranch. We see Crooks mostly in chapter four. He is not shown much in the first three paragraphs and this indicates his position in society as very low because he is not noticed, and therefore is not important. At the begin of chapter four we see Crooks in a room of his own from this we see he is separated from all the other men. His room is simple and small to suit his needs "Crooks' bunk was a long box filled with hay.” The fact that his room is so basic shows that he is lower than rest of the men on the ranch. Although that he is seen as less of a person, he looks after his room which shows he is "a proud, aloof man." Although he is separated from the other men, he still has many personal possessions. Like the other men on the ranch his possessions say a lot about him. In his room he has "rubber boots", "a big alarm clock", and "a shot gun" which shows that although he is a cripple he is very active and practical. He also has many tools; here John Steinbeck is trying to show that although he is black he is very skilled and capable with his hands. The medicine is a symbol of his life time worth of work and unlike other men he permanent on the ranch. As he is black he does not have much of a relationship with any of the other characters, because of this he finds it shocking that Lennie enters his room. He says: "You go on get outta my room. I ain't wanted in the bunk house, and you ain't wanted in my room.” Here we see that Crooks knows about his rights and that he has accepted that he is discriminated against because of his colour and because of this he has learnt to treat white people how they treat him. When Crooks finally

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