Crooks's Role and Themes in Steinbeck's Novella

Why is Crooks not allowed to join the other men in the bunkhouse?

• Because he is too busy caring for the horses

• Because he is black and the men are racist toward him

• Because he is older and doesn’t get along with the others

• Because he prefers to be alone

What does Crooks mean when he says, “A guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick”?

• Loneliness can affect a person’s physical and mental health

• Only strong men can survive working on a ranch

• People should spend more time working than socializing

• Illness is caused by being around other people

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How does Steinbeck use Crooks’s dialogue in this passage?

• To show that Crooks is weaker than the other men

• To develop Crooks into a complex and multi-dimensional character

• To emphasize Crooks’s role as a minor, background figure

• To suggest that Crooks has no interest in companionship

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How does Crooks’s experience expand the novella’s theme of loneliness?

• It shows that loneliness only happens to ranch workers who move often

• It highlights how racism intensifies isolation and makes loneliness even harsher

• It proves that Crooks is the only character who feels lonely

• It suggests that loneliness has no real effect on people

Why might Steinbeck have chosen to give Crooks a larger role in Chapter 4?

• To explore how racism and loneliness intersect in a deeper way

• To shift the novel’s focus away from George and Lennie

• To introduce a character who will become the new leader of the ranch

• To show that Crooks is the most dangerous man on the ranch

Before Chapter 4, how is Crooks mostly presented in the novel?

• As one of the most talkative ranch hands

• As a background figure mentioned by others

• As George and Lennie’s close friend

• As the boss’s main helper

What does Crooks’s defensiveness toward Lennie reveal about him?

• He dislikes everyone equally

• He is trying to hide his intelligence

• He has been hurt by being excluded and protects himself from more pain

• He believes he is better than the other men

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When Crooks says “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody,” what kind of literary device is Steinbeck using?

• Hyperbole, to exaggerate Crooks’s loneliness

• Symbolism, using “nuts” to stand for isolation itself

• Character voice, showing Crooks’s authentic voice while explaining a truth

• Foreshadowing, suggesting Crooks will become violent

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Why does Steinbeck choose to give Crooks more dialogue in this chapter than in earlier parts of the novella?

• To show that Crooks is secretly the smartest man on the ranch

• To shift the story toward Crooks as the main character

• To give readers insight into a marginalized character’s perspective on loneliness

• To distract the reader from George and Lennie’s dream

How does Crooks’s loneliness compare to the loneliness of the other ranch workers?

• It is the same, since everyone on the ranch is equally lonely

• It is less intense, because he has his own room in the stable

• It is made worse by the racism he experiences, which keeps him even more isolated

• It is solved when he talks to Lennie, who immediately becomes his best friend