Crooks Character Analysis

There are many ways in which Steinbeck creates sympathy for the character of Crooks in his novel ‘Of Mice and Men’.

Firstly, Steinbeck makes the reader feel sorry for Crooks by making them empathise with him. When Crooks sees Lennie in his stable, he tries to make Lennie understand how he feels by saying: “S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse ’cause you was black. How’d you like that? S’pose you had to sit out here and read books.” Steinbeck uses parallel structure in Crooks’ words by repeating the same pattern of words within the speech, and this technique helps to accentuate Crooks’ loneliness. The repeated word ‘S’pose’ has a greater impact on the reader, because it allows them to imagine themselves …show more content…
The phrase “… they let the nigger come in…” is written in such a way that it seems like a special favour was granted when Crooks was let into the bunkhouse, so when the reader reaches the next part of Steinbeck’s words, where he reveals that it was only an excuse to physically hurt Crooks, it would have an even greater effect on the reader as it is even worse for the reader to elevate their hopes for Crooks’ acceptance into the bunkhouse only to be disappointed again. The entire scene underlines the irony of the idea of compassion and generosity at Christmas, and Steinbeck uses situational irony to convey what may have been a cleverly disguised message about the severity of social disparity, and the pity that he creates for Crooks is intensified by the ironical representation of civilisation at a time of supposed altruism and humanity. The idea echoes the ruthlessness of white Americans towards any relegated members of society, possibly changing the reader’s opinion of their attitude toward black …show more content…
When Crooks is told about George and Lennie’s dream farm, his answer is scornful: “Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of land… Nobody never gets no land and nobody never gets no land.” The simile ‘just like heaven’ compares the thought of George and Lennie owning land to the idea of heaven. Although at first, it may seem like Crooks is characterised as a bitter, dislikeable person, and the reader may not agree with Crooks’ scornful reply, the reader can gradually infer that there is a reason behind Crooks’ apparent acrimony. The words ‘nobody never gets no land’ could, possibly, be a reference to Crooks’ past, when Crooks had stated that his ‘ol’ man had a chicken ranch’, and his misanthropy could have been a result of his family’s land being taken away without reason. His pessimism suggests that he has abandoned all hope of ever finding a better place to live, and he is not just sceptical of idea of the American dream but the thought of going to heaven seems like an empty promise to him too. The initial cynicism of Crooks proves that he does not believe that the world can have enough goodwill and integrity for a place like heaven to exist, directing the reader to the thought that the cause of Crooks’ disheartened reply is the prejudice and abuse that he has encountered. Steinbeck himself once said, “And this I must