Development of Crook (of Mice and Men)

The tragic complex character of Crooks is introduced in the novella as a paradox, he is extremely intelligent yet he has such a low status, generally someone with intelligence is higher up in society but because he is coloured, he is below the uneducated people and the women. The women were considered to have a low status but on the ranch as Curley’s wife is considered to be quite powerful. He is also a paradox because he is lonely but doesn’t want company
At the beginning of the novella, Crooks is described as ‘a lean negro head, lined with pain, the eyes patient.’ This description introduces [although this is not the first time we come across him] Crooks as a solemn and quiet character. This is because of the fact that being a black person he is segregated from everyone else and the ‘pain’ of being the ‘nigger’ is suffocating and he is only just tolerating this ‘pain’. ‘Lined with pain’ suggests that he is wrinkled and wrinkles only appear when you are stressed this demonstrates that the racial discrimination was too intense and it was beginning to reflect from his emotions into his physical self. Alternatively the ‘lines’ could suggest that he has been on the ranch for a very long duration of time, longer than any ranch hand, that it has become visible that he is aging. The adjective ‘patient’ conveys the image of the everyday external struggle that he has to confront and cope with. Furthermore, in section 4 Crooks is described in his room with ‘eyes… glitter with intensity.’ This metaphorical image of ‘glitter’ suggests that like glitter, the light in his eyes seemed to flick on and off like a light switch. The fact that it says his eyes seemed to ‘glitter’ suggests that his normal sullen self had retreated into himself and a side that used to be ever present during his childhood. The loneliness of being a coloured person had concealed this side of Crooks and it only had emerged because of the innocence of Lennie displayed while talking about his and