Crooks background

When Crooks and Lennie first meet and talk, he is introduced in a very unique way, it is only then when the reader (s) fully understand his background. Believe it or not, Crooks actually came from a wealthy family; so he is almost at par with the boss; or at least the bosses son Curley. In fact, Crooks is the black equivalent of Curley, but only with less arrogance and war like nature. Crooks wasn't a slave, but the reader can almost tell of how Crooks; said his 'old man' didn't like him playing with the white children because his parents themselves were slaves? He wasn't equal. 

Maybe the fact that Crooks is the only black man working at the ranch, this is the primary reason for keeping to himself. But apart from his skin colour, he is mentally isolated from the others. Although his room also has a sense of pride and personal touches; along with work tools. I think that Crooks is almost kept in the conditions of an animal, not only because of his skin colour but that his 'room' is right next door to the stable. Even more, his bed is made of straw like what animals lie on. 

The Crucial view which fits in with Crooks possessions, as described in the book;

Crooks, the Negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room; a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn. On one side of the little room there was a square four-paned window, and on the other, a narrow plank door leading into the barn. Crooks' bunk was a long box filled with straw, on which his blankets were flung. On the wall by the window there were pegs on which hung broken harness in process of being mended; strips of new leather; and under the window itself a little bench for leather-working tools, curved knives and needles and balls of linen thread, and a small hand riveter. On pegs were also pieces of harness, a split collar with the horsehair stuffing sticking out, a broken hame, and a trace chain with its leather covering split.

Crooks had his apple box over his bunk, and in it a range of medicine bottles, both for himself and for the horses. There were cans of saddle soap and a drippy can of tar with its paint brush sticking over the edge. And scattered about the floor were a number of personal possessions; for, being alone, Crooks could leave his things about, and being a stable buck and a cripple, he was more permanent than the other men, and he had accumulated more possessions than he could carry on his back.Crooks possessed several pairs of shoes, a pair of rubber boots, a big alarm clock and a single-barreled shotgun. And he had books, too; a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905. There were battered magazines and a few dirty books on a special shelf over his bunk. A pair of large gold-rimmed spectacles hung from a nail on the wall above his bed. This room was swept and fairly neat, for Crooks was a proud, aloof man. 
                                                                                                                   

Focusing more on the 'Civil Code', almost versus mistreatment. This gives a sense of being powerless purely because he is black. Although the 'Civil code' that Crooks owns is out of date, he still reads it, the reader guesses so that he doesn't get into trouble and he doesn't make any 'mistakes'.

When Lennie describes the place that George dreams of, Lennie doesn't realize but Crooks actually lived his and Candy and Georges dream! Until at least for a little while.... When Crooks describes where and what it was like, he says 'White chickens', I feel this is very idealistic that the Black people were owning the whites instead of the other way around. This is a very ironic quote.