Of Mice and Men: Part 4 Summary & Analysis

Crooks, the stable hand, doesn’t sleep in the bunk house with the other laborers—instead, he has a bunk in the harness room, a little shed leaning off the wall of the barn. His room is both his sleeping quarters and his workshop, and he makes his bed on the straw-covered floor. Crooks has more possessions than the other men—he owns books that reflect a wide range of interests, many pairs of shoes, and medicines for both himself and the horses. Crooks keeps his room neat and never has visitors. 

On Saturday night, Crooks sits on his bunk alone, rubbing liniment into his sore back, when Lennie appears in the open doorway and looks in on him. Though Lennie smiles amiably at Crooks, Crooks warns Lennie not to come into his room. Lennie says he simply came to visit his puppy and wanted to say hello to Crooks when he saw the man’s light on. Crooks says that just as he isn’t wanted in the bunk house, Lennie isn’t wanted in his room. Lennie asks Crooks why he isn’t wanted, and Crooks replies that he isn’t wanted because he’s black.

Lennie says he’s all alone and wants company—everyone else except for Candy has gone into town, and Candy only wants to sit in his bunk and budget for the place they’re going to buy. Crooks tells Lennie to go visit his puppy if he wants company, warning him to stay out of places he isn’t wanted. Lennie says he’s already looked at his puppy and is afraid to pet it too much. Crooks softens and agrees to let Lennie come in and sit with him awhile. Lennie thanks Crooks for letting him come in.

Crooks begins telling Lennie about his past, explaining that he grew up in California—his family was the only black family “for miles around.” Now, Crooks feels similarly isolated—he is the only black man on the ranch, and no one listens to him, takes him seriously, or respects him, all because of his race. Lennie, having seemingly absorbed nothing from Crooks’s story, asks how long it will be before the puppies are “old enough to pet.” Crooks marvels at Lennie’s inability to understand or remember anything anyone says to him, and remarks that too often, men just talk at one another without listening to each other.

Crooks asks Lennie what he’d do if George never came back from town. Lennie insists George wouldn’t leave him—but at the same time begins to fear that maybe Crooks is right, and George has abandoned him on the ranch. Crooks continues messing with Lennie, coming up with different hypothetical reasons why George might never return to the ranch. Lennie asks Crooks what he’s doing. Crooks responds that he’s trying to show Lennie that without George, he’s nothing—they’d “tie [him] up with a collar.” Lennie grows hysterical—and a bit angry—and asks where George is. Crooks assures Lennie that George will be home soon.

Lennie calms down. Crooks urges Lennie to see things from his point of view—he is alone all the time because he’s not allowed to spend time with the white laborers. “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody,” Crooks says. He tells Lennie once again that he didn’t mean to scare him and was just trying to talk about his own situation. Crooks continues lamenting his profound loneliness and wishing he had someone to talk to and draw comfort from, the way Lennie has George.

Crooks continues reminiscing about his childhood, telling Lennie about how he and his two brothers used to all sleep in the same bed, tend chickens, and grow alfalfa. Lennie says that he is going to grow alfalfa for his rabbits when he and George have a farm of their own. Crooks calls Lennie “nuts” and tells him that every laborer who passes through the ranch has “a little piece of land in his head,” but “never a God damn one of ‘em ever gets it.”

A horse whinnies in the stable, and Crooks calls out to ask if Slim has come into the barn. Candy answers, saying he’s come looking for Lennie. Crooks tells Candy that Lennie is with him. Candy comes to the doorway but makes no attempt to come inside. Crooks invites Candy in, stating that if Lennie has come in, Candy might as well, too. As Candy enters the room, he remarks that though he and Crooks have both been at the ranch a long time, it’s the first time he’s ever been in Crooks’s room.

Candy tells Lennie that he’s been doing some figuring and has found a way for them to turn a profit on the rabbits once they move onto their farm. Crooks “brutally” interrupts Candy to tell him that he and Lennie are kidding themselves—he predicts that they’ll never get any land, that Candy will work on the ranch until he’s carried “out in a box,” and that Lennie will have moved on in a couple weeks’ time. Candy insists that he, George, and Lennie are going to work hard and get their land, but Crooks points out that George is out at a whorehouse as they speak, wasting his money.

Candy says that he’s spent his whole life working other people’s land and harvesting other people’s crops, and is determined to finally work his own land and reap for himself what he sows. Crooks seems touched by Candy’s resolve, and offers to “lend a hand” to the three of them if they should ever realize their dream.

A voice from the door startles the men. It is Curley’s wife, asking if any of them have seen Curley. Candy tells her they haven’t seen him, but Curley’s wife doesn’t move from the doorway. She says she knows where all the men have gone. Candy, looking demurely at the ground, asks why Curley’s wife is asking after him if she already knows where he is. Curley’s wife remarks that all the men on the ranch will only talk to her one-on-one—they’re so scared of one another, and of someone else getting dirt on them, that they won’t talk to her in front of one another.

Crooks urges Curley’s wife to go back up to the house—he tells her they don’t want any trouble. Curley’s wife says she doesn’t want any trouble, either—she just wants someone to talk to. She is sick of Curley and his ridiculous bravado, she says. She asks the men to tell her what really happened to Curley’s hand, but Candy insists Curley simply got it caught in the machine. Curley’s wife laments her horrible circumstances, and states that she could’ve had a career in the movies if she’d wanted to. Candy gets upset, stating that he, too has options—he’ll soon have his own farm. Candy tells Curley’s wife to run along and leave them alone. 

Curley’s wife looks at Lennie’s battered face and asks where he got his bruises. Lennie, staring into his lap, replies, “He got his han’ caught in a machine.” Curley’s wife continues messing with Lennie, prompting Crooks to “coldly” order her out of the barn. Curley’s wife turns on Crooks, cruelly telling him that if he talks coarsely to her once more, she will have him “strung up on a tree.” Candy warns Curley’s wife that if she does anything to get Crooks hurt, they’ll tell on her for framing him. Curley’s wife tells Candy that no one would listen to him.

Candy warns Curley’s wife that the men will be back soon and urges her to get up to the house before her husband catches her in the barn. Before leaving, Curley’s wife looks at Lennie and thanks him for “bust[ing] up Curley a little bit.”

Crooks, clearly shaken by Curley’s wife’s words, tells Lennie and Candy that they should go. Candy tries to comfort Crooks, but Crooks plainly states that what Curley’s wife said is true. A voice in the barn calls out for Lennie—it is George. Lennie calls back, and George appears in the doorway. He chides Lennie for bothering Crooks, but Crooks insists he doesn’t mind Lennie visiting. Candy excitedly begins telling George what he’s figured about the rabbits. George reminds Candy that he was supposed to keep their venture a secret. Candy retorts that he only told Crooks. George tells Lennie it’s time to return to the bunk house, and the two of them leave.

As Candy stands up to go back to the bunk house, too, Crooks asks him to stay back a minute. Crooks tells Candy that he wasn’t serious about lending them a hand on their land—he says he wants to stay where he is. Candy bids Crooks goodnight and leaves. Crooks reaches for his liniment bottle and rubs the medicine into his back.