Of Mice And Men Crooks Companionship

Quotation number one from John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men shows the human need for companionship, especially during the era of the Great Depression. Crooks is talking to Lennie after Lennie makes his way into Crooks’s room, significant in the fact that Crooks is African-American and usually turns any caucasians who try to enter his room away. Crooks is initially wary but ultimately allows Lennie to sit down in his room and reveals to him his exasperation over his loneliness and lack of company. This demonstrates the lengths a person will go to to seek another’s companionship, especially when deprived of it for a long time.
Crooks longs for companionship, and gets worked up as he vents his frustrations to Lennie. Crooks never speaks directly about himself, but it becomes evident in the way Crooks speaks that he is discussing a personal struggle he faces. Crooks asks Lennie to “S’pose [he] didn’t have nobody. S’pose [he] couldn’t go into the …show more content…
Crooks wishes for a bond with another human, whether or not it is one of empathy. He wants a companion, a friend, someone he can make a connection with. The inclusion of the word “black” simultaneously confirms the suspicion that Crooks is subjected to constant racism, which may contribute to his inability to find somebody “to be near him.” Crooks must also trust Lennie because of the apparent sensitivity about the topic. As Crooks speaks to Lennie, he becomes exceedingly worked up. At the beginning of the passage Crooks spoke “gently,” near the middle of the passage he “whined,” and at the end Crooks had climaxed and “cried, ‘I tell ya a guy gets too