He also feels he is not wanted by the other members on the ranch. This is also supported by ‘I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room.’
Crooks then lets Lennie sit down and asks why he is in the stable ‘ I don’t know what you’re doing in he barn anyway’ ‘ you ain’t no skinner.’ Lennie then explains he is looking for his pup and he doesn’t want to cause any trouble and he doesn’t see Crooks in the same way as the other workers. Crooks then confides in Lennie and they start to talk.
Lennie then starts ranting on about his dream of living on the ‘fatta the lan’ and Crooks laughs telling him how he’s seen so many people try and fail.
Crooks thinks about it for a while and then tests Lennie to see if he’s been listening and then tells Lennie about when he was a boy. Lennie still isn’t properly listening as he’s OBSESSED with the pup and the rabbits. Crooks finds this funny as he knows Lennie wouldn’t or can’t tell anyone as he hasn’t taken in anything Crooks has just said.
Crooks then taunts Lennie by asking him ‘S’pose George don’t come back no more. S’pose he took a powder and just ain’t coming back. What’ll you do then? I think that crooks is insecure himself and wants Lennie to see what it would feel like if he was to have no one. Lennie clicks in when he hears that George might not be coming back as Lennie would be nothing is George wasn’t there to look after him. After Crooks repeating it and still Lennie saying ‘George wont do that’ Crooks then adds in that George might be Hurt or dead. Lennie then looses his temper and says ‘George is Careful. He won’t get hurt. He ain’t never been hurt, ‘cause he’s careful’ Lennie then stands up and comes towards Crooks demanding who hurt George. Crooks ‘saw the danger as it approached him’ so he tells Lennie that George IS coming back and he was only kidding with him.
Crooks then goes into telling Lennie how he’s going insane being alone in his room, as he is bored of books and how he isn’t allowed to play cards as he ‘smells’ but Crooks says that all of the workers smell anyway. Lennie (funnily enough isn’t listening) and says miserably ‘George wun’t go away and leave me. I know George wun’t do that’ and then goes on about the rabbits again. Saying how he’s going to live of the ‘fatta the lan’
We then hear noises outside of horses whining. ‘I guess somebody is out there’ says Crooks. Then we hear Candy’s voice and he enters the barn and he asks if anyone’s seen slim. As no one really comes into Crook’s room slim is slightly embarrassed to be in there and compliments Crooks for having a nice little room. Crooks then reply’s ‘sure, and a manure pile under the window. The convocation then goes back to the Dream of living on the ‘Fatta the Lan’ as soon as Crooks finds out that they nearly have all the money to buy a place and settle down he becomes very interested. He then asks f he can join them. He wouldn’t get any pay but just his keep. Now Curley’s wife enters the barn asking if any one has seen Curley. None of them know where he is at the moment
She then makes a comment ‘if I catch any one man, and he’s alone, I get along fine with him. But just let two guys get together an’ you won’t talk.’ You get the impression that the guys are afraid of talking to Curley’s wife and getting attracted to her, as they know Curley will kill them if he finds out! But then again when there alone they do speak to her, because no one is around to point the finger. This is backed up by Crooks saying ‘Maybe you better go along to your own house now. We don’t want no trouble’
After some discussion about Curley she asks did they know what happened to his face. Candy says that he caught it in a machine. She says ‘Baloney!’ the convosationt hen carries on and it comes back to the dream of ‘fatta the lan’ (again) and she says ‘Baloney!i seen too many you guys. If you had two bits in the worl’, why you’d be in gettin’ two shots of corn with it and sitckin’ the bottom of the glass. I know you guys.’ But then she spots Lennie in the corner with bruises all over his face. She said ‘Where’d you get those bruises on your face. Lennie acts himself (dumb) and says ‘whoo----me.’ She walks over slowly. Lennie looks around helplessly and says’ he got his han’ caught in a machine’. Which obviously means Lennie is veering up he did it to Curley. But he’s to thick to realise he’s doing it. She laughs and says ‘O.K.. Machine. I’ll talk to you later. I like machines.
Crooks then takes over the situation and says to Curley’s wife ‘You got no rights comin’ in a coloured man’s room. You got no rights messing around in here at all. Now you jus’ get out, ad’ get out quick. If you don’t, I’m gonna ask the boss not ever to let you come in the barn no more. At this Curley’s wife replied’ Listen, Nigger’ you know what I an do to you if you open your trap?’ she repeated again ‘you know what I could do’ he replies sullenly ‘yes ma’am’. ‘well keep your place then ,Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny. Crooks has reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego – nothing to arouse either like or dislike. he replies ‘yes Ma’am’ his voice was toneless. At the end of the chapter nothing has changed. His hopes are dashed and he resumes his routine as normal, rubbing liniment onto his back
In conclusion I think Steinbeck choose to add in about Crooks life because racism was a major part of the way of life those days. And I don’t know if Steinbeck was black or not. But if he was he could be trying to put the point across about blacks and how hard life was back then.
