How Does Steinbeck Present Crooks In Chapter 4

In John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” he presents the reader with the issue of segregation in the opening of Chapter 4.With this we are introduced to Crooks and this foreshadows future problems related to his treatment and his life. This was illustrated from the meticulous description of this bedroom, which was actually the harness room. This is a very key aspect of life at that time and compared to our current generation and era, their times were very harsh and cruel.
I think Crooks is portrayed as a smart and clever man which is overwhelming despite his situation. Steinbeck highlights this when the narrator says “He has books too;” These hint to us that he was lucky enough to go to school and he was considered as a bright individual. The

Steinbeck writes "He keeps his distance and demands others to keep theirs." The word "distance" suggests that he doesn't want to be near anybody and he want to be isolated from the rest of the people at ranch. This gives us the impression that he despises them in some sort of way and he is not letting go of that thought. The way he "demands others to keep theirs" gives us the idea that if people do come near to him that something will be uncovered, like a secret. This inevitably creates tension which causes Crooks to demand his own privacy from his fellow colleagues. This links back to his mysterious character, in that time all you would have wanted is a friend and Crooks is hiding because of a fixed idea in his head that won't budge. This is also an indication of how he grew up. People could be very nice if they choose to, but he won't believe that because of how people like him were treated so he won't trust anybody else ever again. Although this could be quite true, I think Crooks should take a chance, which is why I think he is hiding a secret or its just his mysterious character. This also proves that the society was unfair, unjust and