Of Mice and MenChapter 4

True or False?

• Crooks lives in a harness room, where he sleeps in an open box filled with straw.

• With the exception of Lennie and Crooks, all the other farmworkers have gone into town.

• Crooks taunts Lennie with the possibility that George will never return.

• Crooks is fundamentally a very lonely character.• Candy and Lennie indicate that they intend to buy their

own theme park. • Curley’s wife and Crooks have something in common:

loneliness

True or False: Answers

• True• False• True• True• False• True

‘Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody gets to

heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head.’

Suggest the significance of this quotation, with reference to earlier

events in the novel so far.

How the Other Half Live

Compare and contrast the living

conditions in Crooks’ room with

those of the bunkhouse. Who is

‘better off’ and why?

The Character of Crooks• Why is Crooks isolated from

the rest of the farm workers?

• How does this tie-in with the theme of loneliness in the novel?

• How does Crooks treat Lennie when he arrives in the barn? Why do you think this is?

• How does Lennie respond to Crooks? Why do you think this is?

• Who has a ‘chicken head’ in this chapter?• Who are the ‘bindle stiffs’?• Who are the ‘weak ones’?• Is hostility between

characters a feature of Chapter 4, or have you seen it elsewhere in the novel?

Curley’s Wife• Does the reader

have any sympathy for Curley’s wife?

• Do you think she is justified in the way she talks to the men in Chapter 4?

Consolidating Your Understanding

1. What are the main events of the chapter?2. What do you consider to be the most important event in the chapter

and why?3. Suggest one thing this chapter shows us about the relationship between

George and Lennie.

H o m e w o r k A c t i v i t i e s

• Write a diary entry for Curley’s wife, describing how you feel about your husband and life on the ranch.

• How does Steinbeck use language to effectively portray the character of Crooks and his living situation?

• How does Chapter 4 give us an insight into the social and historical context of the novel?