Isolated by race and disability, Crooks is the proud, cynical stable buck in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.
He offers a piercing perspective on loneliness, prejudice, and the elusive nature of the American Dream during the Great Depression.
Forced to live apart in the harness room, Crooks guards his meager space fiercely, yet his sharp observations reveal a deep yearning for companionship and a painful awareness of his marginalized status.
His intelligence, honed by reading, provides no escape from the crushing realities of his existence. Explore the depths of Crooks’ character through 20 poignant quotes.
Witness his initial defensiveness, his vulnerability when faced with Lennie’s innocence, his cynical dismissal of dreams, his brief flicker of hope, and his forced retreat into isolation, all presented with analysis and page numbers.
Walls of Isolation: Defending His Space
Forced into segregation, Crooks initially reacts to intrusion with hostility, fiercely protecting the only domain where he has any semblance of control.
“You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Isolation, Territoriality, Defensiveness, Chapter 4, Page 68)
Crooks immediately establishes boundaries, reflecting the enforced separation and perhaps an internalized sense of needing to guard his space against a hostile world.
“You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Segregation, Resentment, Exclusion, Chapter 4, Page 68)
He directly links his exclusion from the white workers’ bunkhouse to his exclusion of Lennie, revealing the bitterness born of systemic racism.
“‘Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Racism, Segregation, Othering, Resentment, Chapter 4, Page 68)
Crooks bluntly states the racist reality of his exclusion and throws the dehumanizing accusation back, asserting his perspective despite his powerlessness.
“Come on in and set a while,” Crooks said. “‘Long as you won’t get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down.” His tone was a little more friendly.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks to Lennie Small, Theme: Reluctant Acceptance, Loneliness vs. Pride, Thawing Defenses, Chapter 4, Page 69)
Despite his initial hostility, Crooks’ deep-seated loneliness allows Lennie’s innocent presence to slightly breach his defenses.
Beneath the defensive exterior lies a profound loneliness, born from years of enforced solitude and the denial of basic human connection.
The Ache of Loneliness
Crooks voices the debilitating effects of isolation, revealing the universal human need for companionship and validation.
“I seen it over an’ over – a guy talkin’ to another guy and it don’t make no difference if he don’t hear or understand. The thing is, they’re talkin’, or they’re settin’ still not talkin’. It don’t make no difference, no difference…It’s just the talking. It’s just bein’ with another guy. That’s all.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Loneliness, Need for Companionship, Communication, Chapter 4, Page 71)
Crooks identifies the fundamental human need “to be with” another person, suggesting companionship itself matters more than perfect understanding.
“A guy needs somebody―to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Loneliness, Mental Health, Desperation, Need for Connection, Chapter 4, Pages 72-73)
This is one of the most powerful expressions of the novella’s central theme: Crooks explicitly states that extreme loneliness leads to psychological breakdown (“goes nuts,” “gets sick”).
“A guy sets alone out here at night, maybe readin’ books or thinkin’ or stuff like that. Sometimes he gets thinkin’, an’ he got nothing to tell him what’s so an’ what ain’t so. Maybe if he sees somethin’, he don’t know whether it’s right or not. He can’t turn to some other guy and ast him if he sees it too. He can’t tell. He got nothing to measure by.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Isolation, Subjectivity, Lack of Validation, Reality vs. Perception, Chapter 4, Page 73)
Crooks eloquently describes how isolation erodes one’s ability to validate reality, lacking the “measure” provided by shared human experience.
“I remember when I was little kid on my old man’s chicken ranch. Had two brothers. They was always near me, always there. Used to sleep right in the same room, right in the same bed – all three. Had a strawberry patch. Had an alfalfa patch. Used to turn the chickens out in the alfalfa on a sunny morning. My brothers’d set on a fence rail an’ watch ’em – white chickens they was.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Memory, Lost Companionship, Childhood Innocence, Contrasting Past and Present, Chapter 4, Page 73)
This nostalgic recollection of familial closeness and shared simple moments starkly contrasts with Crooks’ present, profound isolation.
Hardened by years of witnessing failed aspirations and enduring prejudice, Crooks views the dreams of others, particularly the ubiquitous land-owning fantasy, with deep skepticism.
Cynicism Born of Experience
Crooks’s intelligence and experience have led him to a cynical view of the migrant workers’ dreams, seeing them as futile illusions.
“You’re nuts… I seen hunderds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads. Hundreds of them. They come, an’ they quit an’ go on; an’ every damn one of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a … one of ‘em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Cynicism, Broken Dreams, Realism, Futility, Shared Illusion vs. Reality, Chapter 4, Page 74)
Crooks dismisses the dream shared by George, Lennie, and Candy, viewing it as a common, unrealizable fantasy based on his observations of countless others.
“They come, an’ they quit an’ go on; an’ every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a…one of ’em ever gets it.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Broken Dreams, Futility, Cycle of Migrant Life, Transient Hope, Chapter 4, Page 74)
“Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Cynicism, Disillusionment, Impossibility of the Dream, Chapter 4, Page 74)
“In town in a whorehouse. That’s where your money’s goin’…. I seen it happen too many times. I seen too many guys with land in their head. They never get none under their hand.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Cynicism, Broken Dreams, Temptation, Realism, Chapter 4, Page 76)
Crooks points to the immediate gratification available in town as one of the key reasons why the long-term dream of land ownership consistently fails.
“This is just a n***** talkin’, an’ a busted-back n*****. So it don’t mean nothing, see?”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Internalized Racism, Powerlessness, Self-Dismissal, Chapter 4, Page 71)
Crooks preemptively dismisses his own words, reflecting an internalized awareness of how society devalues his perspective due to his race and disability.
Despite his cynicism, the possibility of joining the dream momentarily penetrates Crooks’ defenses, revealing a buried longing for belonging before external threats force him back into retreat.
A Momentary Hope, Swiftly Crushed
Hearing the tangible possibility in Candy’s plan, Crooks briefly allows himself to hope, offering his labor in exchange for inclusion, only to have that hope viciously extinguished.
“Everybody wants a little bit of land, not much. Jus’ som’thin’ that was his. Som’thin’ he could live on and there couldn’t nobody throw him off of it.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, echoing Candy, Theme: The Dream, Security, Belonging, Universality of Desire, Chapter 4, Page 76)
Echoing Candy’s earlier sentiments, Crooks acknowledges the deep, universal appeal of the dream – the desire for a place of one’s own.
“He hesitated. “…If you…guys would want a hand to work for nothing – just his keep, why I’d come an’ lend a hand. I ain’t so crippled I can’t work like a son-of-a-bitch if I want to.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Vulnerability, Hope, Desire for Belonging, Offering Value, Chapter 4, Page 76)
This hesitant offer represents a rare moment of vulnerability for Crooks, briefly overcoming his cynicism to express a desire to join their dream.
“Crooks stood up from his bunk and faced her. “I had enough,” he said coldly. “You got no rights comin’ in a colored man’s room. You got no rights messing around in here at all…”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks confronting Curley’s wife, Theme: Assertion of Dignity, Resistance, Claiming Space, Chapter 4, Page 80)
Buoyed perhaps by the shared dream and the presence of others, Crooks momentarily asserts his rights and dignity against Curley’s wife’s intrusion.
“Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego–nothing to arouse either like or dislike. He said, “Yes, ma’am,” and his voice was toneless.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: The narrator about Crooks, Theme: Dehumanization, Impact of Threat, Powerlessness, Fear, Chapter 4, Page 81)
After Curley’s wife’s threat, Crooks retreats completely, extinguishing his brief assertion of self and hope, demonstrating the devastating effectiveness of racist intimidation.
“Well, jus’ forget it,” said Crooks. “I didn’ mean it. Jus’ foolin’. I wouldn’ want to go no place like that.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Retreat, Crushed Hope, Self-Protection, Resignation, Chapter 4, Page 82)
Humiliated and reminded of his precarious position, Crooks withdraws his offer to join the dream, protecting himself by feigning indifference.
Reduced to his enforced isolation, Crooks asserts the few rights he has left, accepting the grim reality of his situation.
Resignation and Rights
Having his brief hope extinguished, Crooks retreats into a quiet, dull resignation, aware of his limited rights but lacking the power or hope to demand more.
“Maybe you guys better go,” he said. “I ain’t sure I want you in here no more. A colored man got to have some rights even if he don’t like ’em.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Withdrawal, Resignation, Assertion of Limited Rights, Chapter 4, Page 82)
“It wasn’t nothing,” Crooks said dully. “You guys comin’ in an’ settin’ made me forget. What she says is true.”
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, (Character: Crooks, Theme: Resignation, Acceptance of Powerlessness, Truth of Prejudice, Chapter 4, Page 82)
Crooks acknowledges the bitter truth behind Curley’s wife’s threat – the societal power imbalance that validates her cruelty and renders him vulnerable.
Conclusion: The Voice from the Harness Room
Crooks serves as the novella’s stark conscience, offering a perspective ground down by relentless prejudice and isolation. His intelligence and past experiences give him a clarity about the harsh realities of the ranch and the futility of the dreams nurtured by men like George and Lennie.
Though initially guarded, his profound loneliness allows moments of vulnerability, revealing a deep yearning for the companionship and belonging he cynically dismisses.
His eventual retreat into silence after being cruelly reminded of his powerlessness encapsulates the tragic weight of racial oppression in this world.
Crooks’ quotes remain essential for understanding the societal context and the crushing weight of loneliness that permeates Of Mice and Men.
A Note on Page Numbers & Edition (Handle With Care!):
We hauled these quotes from the Penguin Books Mass Market Paperback edition (September 1, 1993), ISBN-13: 978-0140177398.
Please be aware that page numbers, like the tattered covers of the books in Crooks’ room, can differ while the core story remains! Always double-check against your copy for essays or citations – you want your points clear and properly shelved.
Jeremy Mortis, founder of Ageless Investing, applies a rigorous analytical approach (the AAM framework) to distill timeless wisdom and contextualized quotes from classic literature, saving you time while deepening understanding. Learn more about Jeremy’s unique background and methodology on his author bio page.