In this practice essay, I will be explaining how Steinbeck presents Crook’s character through

themes, symbolic objects, the idea of society, and context in the 1930s that link to Crook’s
character.
Steinbeck uses the description of Crooks’ room and objects to represent his character and
how he relates to the context in the 1930s. For example, in the opening of Chapter 4,
Crook’s room is described with symbolic objects: “There were battered magazines and a few
dirty books on a special shelf.” This suggests that Crooks spends his time educating in
contrast to the other men in the bunkhouse who are more respected than Crooks.
In addition, another example possibly states that Crooks is strict and serious in terms of his
rights. For example, ‘…A tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code
for 1995.’ Coming back to the first example, when Steinbeck uses the word ‘special’ it
shows that Crooks is proud of his possession and that only he owns it and no one else can
use it, similar to owning human rights. No one can take away someone else’s human rights.
However, here, Steinbeck is explaining how black people like Crooks did not own as many
rights as white people did, which puts Crooks outside from the men’s society. This brings up
one of the key themes of the novella-loneliness. Because Crooks is black, he is disrespected
from the men at the ranch which makes Crooks an outsider-the odd one out.
In the second example, Steinbeck describes the copy of the Californian Civil Code as
‘mauled’. This brings up the sense of animal imagery that has been used repetitively in the
novel. This not only links to the copy itself ripped, but to Crooks as well. It represents that
he is treated like ‘an animal in a cage’ confined in his room and wants freedom like what all
animals and black people desired. Here, Steinbeck has also brought up the themes of
captivity and loneliness because Crooks is trapped with nothing to do but spend his time
educating to get his rights back as both the Californian Civil Code and the dictionary are
powerful references for Crooks to fight back and to show he’s not an animal and he wants
equality- what Steinbeck critiques in the American Dream- everyone’s dream back then.

Steinbeck also presents Crooks as one of the least powerful characters in the novel. One
example is that he’s black so he is the least disrespected in the ranch therefore he’s ignored
and also restricted to what the other men do at the ranch. A quote that states this is when
Crooks is intimated by Curley’s wife; “Crooks stared hopelessly at her…Crooks seemed to
grow smaller, and he pressed him against the wall.” This shows that Crooks is weak and
vulnerable to the people at the ranch just because he’s black and it was acceptable to
‘neglect’ someone with this race. Even for someone who is powerless, like Curley’s wife, can
control Crooks due to his race. This links to racism in the 30s, black people did not gain
enough rights as white people did and here, Steinbeck is creating this imagery in this novel
for the readers to understand and feel sympathy.
Steinbeck presents Crooks as a lonely and confined character when he is presented. Crooks
wishes someone who can communicate and have a nice friendship with, no matter who the
person is. An example is when Crooks expresses his issues- “A guy goes nuts when he ain’t
got nobody.” Crooks is painfully aware that he is lonely because he’s the only black man on
the ranch and just like everybody else on the ranch, he wants someone next to him. Lennie
is probably the only person who Crooks can share his feelings with since Lennie doesn’t
understand anything at all. Also, Crooks can trust Lennie because he knows he’s not going to
tell everyone so this is Crooks’ opportunity to bring his speech of feelings out of his mouth.
A quote matches this is when Crooks first encounters Lennie; “A guy can talk to you an’ be
sure you won’t go blabbin’.” Finally, Steinbeck is teaching the theme of loneliness; how it’s
difficult without anyone to communicate with. This is a motif and occurs almost everywhere
in the novel, no matter who it is.

Steinbeck also presents Crooks with a dream, just like everybody else on the ranch. George
Candy, and Lennie’s dream was to own a piece of land, Curley’s wife’s dream is to become
an actress, and Crook’s dream is to have human interaction and to be equal with white
people. However, Crooks is sceptical primarily with Candy’s and Lennie’s dream. He
suspiciously asks if that ‘dream’ is possible to achieve and makes him think about where he
is: “So you say you got the money?” Crooks cannot believe Candy that they have got the
money to fulfil their dream as American dreams back then were almost a miracle to achieve.
Crooks also seems as if he wants to join George, Candy and Lennie’s dream: “…If…you guys
would want a hand to work for nothing-just his keep, why I’d come and lend a hand.”
Crooks wants to escape the captivity and have freedom and human interaction to also fulfil
his dream too. The least he wants to do is escape from being lonely for the whole of his life.
Steinbeck is bringing up the myth of the American Dream. Although it sounds true and
successful that George and Lennie have got what they wanted, there is always an obstacle
preventing them from going ahead- it’s the same with everyone’s dream.

When I first read about Crooks when he was first introduced, he sounded crippled, as shown
in this quote: “His body was bent over to the left by his crooked spine”. He sounded really
bitter. His crooked spine represented his crooked character as he was mean to Lennie when
they first met. However, I started to doubt my impressions and showed some sympathy for
him. When he started to engage with Lennie, he stated that being alone is difficult and he
had to read books whenever alone in his shed. Secondly, he was black and I understood that
racism was highly acceptable so black people were ignored and were the outsiders.