Part 4: Crook's Isolation on the Ranch

In part four in Of Mice and Men, I chose to write about Crooks. He is an African American working on the ranch, because of that he doesn't receive the same treatment as some of the other characters. One example of Crooks being isolated from the other workers is that his bunkhouse is, "a little shed that leaned off of the wall of the barn... Crooks' bunk was a long box filled with straw, on which his blankets were flung" (66) During this time, blacks in America often don't get treated the same as the other white workers, this comes up in part four. Crooks is treated so bad that he has to live in a tiny barn next to a bunch of smelly horses, where there is nothing more in his than a long box of straw and a few blankets for him to use! The next example of his isolation on the ranch is that Crooks made sure that he "kept his distance and demanded that other people keep their's". (67) In the past, the only few visits that Crooks has had is when Slim has come in to just check on him, so he is completely surprised when both Lennie and Candy come in and sit down in his small room. It seems that Crooks and some of the other members of the crew don't really get along and he doesn't want to start any trouble. Since he is black his consequences would be much more severe if he was to get in trouble so he demands others to leave him alone.