Crooks seems to be becoming useless in his line of work, people then prefer not to talk with him.He is considered useless because of his crooked back which is also why they call him Crooks in the novel.Steinbeck mentions that Crooks can only work at the stable because of his permanent injury.“Crooks could leave things about, and being a stable buck and a cripple, he was more permanent than the other men, and he had accumulated more possessions than he could carry on his back.”(Steinbeck pg.66) The novel purposely mentions Crooks’ broken back to add to the burdens he has to deal with. It seems that he has the most problems too out of everyone in the farm because of his race and injury.
