Of Mice and Men Chapter 4

Of Mice and Men (1937) chapter 4 is a swift departure from the previous three chapters in one big way: George doesn't appear in most of it. Instead, the chapter focuses on the three most disenfranchised characters: Lennie, who has childlike intelligence; Candy, who is aging and missing a hand; and Crooks, who is Black with a damaged back.

Of Mice and Men Chapter 4 Summary

Of Mice and Men chapter 4 opens with a description of Crooks' room in the barn. Crooks is an avid reader, wears glasses, and has a hurt back. He is segregated, works in the stables, and lives alone because he is a Black man.

Fig. 1 - The workers play a game called "Euchre."

Lennie pokes his head in. Lennie wants to come in to see the puppies. Crooks and Lennie are two of the few left on the ranch at the moment, as most have gone to town. No one goes in Crooks's room, but Lennie doesn't understand race or this sort of problem. Seeing Lennie is no harm to him, Crooks eventually lets Lennie in.

For a little while, Lennie and Crooks talk. Lennie talks about his dream of living off the "fatta tha lan'," and how he will raise rabbits. Crooks calls him crazy and tells Lennie that he's seen hundreds like him before. People come by, dream of owning some land, and leave. None of them ever get any. As for Crooks, he grew up on some land with his father. However, since then, he hasn't had much luck, and he's spent years in depression due to racism and a lack of company. Loneliness is making him stir crazy.

Realizing that Lennie doesn't have the intelligence to stand up to him, Crooks takes out some of his frustrations by asking Lennie what he would do if George never returned. Lennie says this would never happen, but Crooks spitefully tells him that anything can happen. He keeps this up until Lennie storms over to him, telling him it's not true. Thinking that the angry Lennie might hurt him, Crooks says he was only kidding and that George is coming back.

Fig. 2 - Crooks and Lennie's conversation highlights the different views of dreams and whether they can be accomplished

Candy enters the scene. Although he and Crooks have worked together for years, he's never been in his room before. Crooks, enjoying the company now, invites him in. Although embarrassed, Candy does so. Candy tells Crooks about the land the three plan on getting, and Crooks renews his doubt. However, if it all pans out, he wonders if he could help out over there.

Crooks's friend gathering only lasts a short time, though. Curley's wife comes by, wanting some company. She asks about what happened to her husband, and due to Lennie's lack of brightness, he more or less reveals he's the one who hurt him. Curley's wife thinks that's great and sometimes wishes she could smack him, too. She's sick of hearing how he wants to beat people up. She also flirts with Lennie during their conversation.

When Candy tells her to head home where she belongs, though, she starts to call the three names. She begins to rant about them and her pent-up life. Candy continuously tells her to leave, then Crooks finally stands up and tells her to get out of his room. Curley's wife tells him she can get him lynched in a second if he talks to her again like that. Crooks goes completely passive and still, sitting on his bed. She leaves.

George shows back up and tells Lennie to come with him. He doesn't think Lennie should be in this place. Before Candy leaves, a defeated Crooks tells him he's no longer interested in coming to the farm with them.

Of Mice and Men Chapter 4 Analysis

The dream of George's and Lennie's is on pause in Chapter 4. Instead, the reader learns about Crooks' dreams. Crooks also provides commentary on George and Lennie's dream.

While few on the ranch have anything resembling a good or easy life, there are three whose lives are the hardest: Candy, Lennie, and Crooks. Steinbeck didn't place these three characters together incidentally, so here's a look at each of them and how they relate to the world around them.

Candy is the oldest ranch worker and has a disability, as he is missing a hand. He's past his best days, not unlike his dog that was shot, and he feels weary because of this. At the same time, people don't take him as seriously anymore. He can't back up his stance with physical strength.

Fig. 3 - This entire chapter plays out in the stables.

While Lennie is very strong, he has the mental aptitude of a child. This makes him enormously easy to exploit and makes him prone to mistakes. Lennie has virtually no ability to put up a fight without George's instruction.

Crooks's disenfranchisement is the most overt of three. Although Crooks is not from the south and his family owned land, Crooks deals with racism, segregation, and the looming threat of lynching every day of the year. This is also despite Crooks's intelligence and reading skills. No matter how smart or accomplished he is, many white people will not treat him equally. This makes him vengeful, and he takes it out on Lennie until he thinks Lennie might hurt him.

Then Curley's wife enters. The new dynamic with the wife is even more interesting than the dynamic between the three, because where does Curley's wife fit in?

Of Mice and Men Chapter 4 Quotes

These are both quotes from Crooks. This first one appears early in the chapter when Lennie asks Crooks why he isn't wanted at the bunkhouse:

The way the white workers on the ranch treat Crooks sets up the reader to understand why Crooks treats Lennie the way he does. The reader feels empathy towards both of them.

The following quote appears before Curley's wife appears. He says this to Lennie and Candy, who are discussing their dream of owning land:

Crooks says out loud what the reader inferred back in chapter 1: that this story is nothing new. People come along following dreams, and those dreams get shattered. There is no lush, heavenly garden at the end of the road, only another hard, back-breaking job.