Of Mice and Men

what does crooks room and the things in it tell you about his character?

crook's room

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Crook's room is a small hovel connected to the horse stables. Crooks is fiercely defensive of it because it is the only space that is his own. He is not allowed anywhere else on "account of being black" In his room Crooks has a "tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905". We can surmise that Crooks strives to be literate on his own. Crooks also wants to be aware of the few rights he has as a black man. Crooks is an intelligent man with little or no schooling but does what he can to better himself.

Crooks has been pushed away by everyone else, so he pushes others away. He keeps to himself, supposedly by his own choice, but we can see that he wishes he could be in the bunk house with the other men.

The fact that he has his own room with quite a few possessions shows that he is a more permanent fixture on the ranch than the "bindle stiffs" who go from ranch to ranch looking for work.

The fact that his room is part of the barn indicates that he is treated like an animal by the whites. The room itself is also a tack room for harnesses and such.

Its situated in a shed which proves that the theme of racism was high at the time and thay the white people had to be and were seperated from the blacks.

The bunk of Crooks was a 'long box filled with straw' which shows that he has been discriminated and judged just for the colour of his skin.

Crooks seemed to look after himself and the horses because he kept medecine in an apple box over his bunk in range of if there is an emergency.

'Crooks possessed several pairs of shoes, a pair of rubber boots, a big alarm clock and a single-barrelled shotgun' which means that a being a black stable buck, Crooks is more permanent then the others. This is also shown when it says ' he had accumulated more possessions then he could carry on his back.'

Crooks also had books too: a tattered dictionary, and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905. There were battered magazines and a few dirty books on a special shelf over his bunk. This shows that he is educated. One of the books that he possesses is the California civil code for 1905 which is ironic considering if that time was 1905 then the civil code wasnt fair at all.

He had golden rimmed spectacles which shows that he is educated and smart.

Source(s)

Of Mice and Men book

can someone give me a really good killer paragraph on crooks from 'of mice and men'

Source(s)

'of mice and men'