Crooks quotes with analysis

Half and half method

The boss gives

him hell when he’s mad.

• hyperbolic metaphor

• Crooks suffers abuse from the boss

They let the

n***** come in that night

• Unusual for crooks to participate in social events in the ranch, he is forbidden from entering the bunkhouse due to segregation

“Sta-able Buck! And then,”

Where the hell is that Goddamn n*****”

• nameless reference

• derogatory language

Crooks bunk was

a long box filled with straw

• animalistic imagery of Crooks bed dehumanizes him

“a tattered dictionary and a mauled

copy of the California civil code for 1905

• texts are well read shows Crooks is intelligent who knows his rights

“He kept his distance

and demanded that other people keep theirs.”

• He has been hurt

• so he isolates and protects himself from further pain

“S’pose George

don’t come back no more”

• starts to manipulate Lennie to compensate for his own lack of power

Crooks’ face lighted

with pleasure in his torture.”

• metaphor

• indulging in schadenfreude ; deriving pleasure from another persons misfortune

Nobody never gets to heaven,

and nobody gets no land.

• despairing tone

• shows Crooks’ cynicism

“And a manure pile

under the window. Sure, it’s swell.”

• Crooks proximity tot he animals further dehumanizes him

It was difficult for Crooks

to conceal his pleasure with anger

• despite his initial fear of Lennie and candy, he enjoyed a their company as he is momentarily relieved from his loneliness

If you… guys would

want a hand to work for nothing”

• ellipsis conveys Crooks’ hesitation as he enters the dream and tentatively offers his help

Crooks had retired into

the terrible protective dignity of the n****”

• Crooks found truth in Curley’s wife statements

• becomes realistic

“If I say something,

why it’s just a n**** sayin’ it.

• He acknowledges his powerless position on the ranch

Crooks seemed

to get smaller

• oxymoron