Post 5 of 7- Julianna

Julianna Hale
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck
Read by Oct. 6
Post by Oct. 6

Hi Griselda

As I was reading your post for section 5 (pgs. 65-81) I do agree with you that a theme in this section in loneliness but I think a more appropriate theme is bravado. Crooks is just sitting in his room and he says, "Don't come in a place where your not wanted" (69). Then he tells Lennie to "Come on in and set a while" (69). At first Crooks thinks that Lennie wants to come in and bother him because he is Black but after he realizes Lennie wants to pet the puppies, he lets him in but is still very cautious. He acts like he wants to be left alone but he really does like having the company of other people. I do agree with you that he does show confidence. He does stand up to Curley's wife but then he loses all that confidence after she says, "Listen, Nigger, you know what I can do to you if you open your trap?" (80), which is exactly what you said.  He stands up for what he believes in but he treasures his job more and doesn't want to lose it. I like that Crooks is a quiet guy. When Lennie talks about petting the rabbits and living off the fat of the land, Crooks brings up living with them but doing a lot of the house work and farming. He doesn't want to lose his job but he doesn't like his current job on the farm; he seems like a very conflicted man.