of mice and men

In this passage, how does Steinbeck present Crooks? Refer closely to the passage in your answer.

From this passage we can learn a great deal about Crooks, through the many way in which Steinbeck presents him.
Through the brief description at the start, Priestly presents Crooks as a literate and intelligent man, shown through his large collection of books, including a ‘ mauled copy of the California code for 1905’. Here Priestly is showing that not only is Crooks aware of his rights as a black man but the way the book being described as ‘mauled’ suggests that Crook’s regularly reads this document which could suggest that this is also his favoured possession as he holds it close to him because knowing his rights ironically gives him little freedom. The little possession's he owns are important to him, regardless of the fact that he owns so little. However despite owning what he has he is still segregated to the back of the stables which makes him very possessive and he guards his room, fiercely demanding that people kept their distance if he did too.

In the passage Steinbeck describes Crook’s as a ‘proud aloof man’ which seems ironic for someone who owns so little. His pride may come from the fact that he has no dreams and no illusions on a ‘fair life’ which enables him to have the strength to get through life and it means that no one can hurt him. Steinbeck says Crook’s body was bent over to the left by his crooked spine, which is a clear reference to his name and disability and then goes on to say ‘His lean face was lined with deep black wrinkles and he had thin, pain-tightened lips’ which leads us to suggest that he had spent his whole life being dominated by pain- the pain of being the only black man on a ranch full of white people coming and going on their own freewill and the pain of having a ‘crooked’ back. The description of ‘lined with deep black wrinkles’ and ‘pain-tightened lips’ Steinbeck makes the reader sympathise for the pain Crooks feels due to racial discrimination but then it also leads to the reader to question the fact that Crook’s doesn't help himself and maybe contributes to his own loneliness. This is suggested when Lennie walks into Crook’s room ‘noiselessly’ which startles Crooks and leads him to sharply and aggressively say ‘You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.’ Once again Steinbeck is showing that Crook’s knows his rights and is once again possessive over what little he owns and when Lennie enters his room it makes Crooks react in an aggressive and hostile manner.