In Chapter Four of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, George has gone into town on Saturday night along with some of the other ranch hands, leaving Lennie behind. While in the barn playing with his puppy he sees the light from Crooks's room. Crooks is the black stable buck who tends the horses and mules on the ranch. Because he is black, Crooks is segregated from the other men and has his own room. In the beginning of the chapter, Steinbeck describes the room, noting several of the objects, including books, medicine bottles and the implements of Crooks's work. When Lennie appears in the doorway, Crooks is defensive and tells Lennie to go away:
Crooks said sharply, “You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.”
Lennie, however, in his innocent and friendly way, stays in the doorway and repeats that he had seen Crooks's light. Crooks explains to Lennie that he doesn't want Lennie in his room because the men never let him into the bunkhouse to play cards or for conversation. When Lennie questions this, Crooks says,
“’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.”
Eventually Crooks gives in and allows Lennie into his room. Steinbeck suggests that Crooks was happy to have the company:
Crooks scowled, but Lennie’s disarming smile defeated him. “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. “All the boys gone into town, huh?”
In the next part of the chapter, Crooks reveals his intense loneliness to Lennie as he talks about his childhood and how difficult it is to live by himself and not have anyone to talk to.
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