What visual image does Steinbeck create as crooks is mentaly and emotionally defeated by curley's wife?

Answer 1

Steinbeck wanted the reader to find that it wasn't easy for blacks. Curley's wife tells Crooks that because hes black and she is a white woman, she can get him hanged and there's nothing he could do about it because he is 'BLACK'. She also said that she'll tell people that he raped her if he doesn't listen to her.

Now remember where she comes from. She feels lonely at most because first of all her husband, Curley, is treating her like some stranger. He hardly talks to her. Second, some of the guys on the ranch have been calling her inappropriate names that a girl should never be called. This all is a desperate attempt to make Crooks feel horrible about himself like he did when he yelled at Lennie (i think after this) because he knew that Lennie was more powerful than he was. That's what Curley's wife felt, being the only woman on the farm is cruel. Sorta.

Anyways, hope this helped. Try to actually read the book. I only know the answers because i study. Maybe you should too.

Answer 2

Steinbeck creates a vivid image of Crooks as a broken and defeated man, isolated in his room after being emotionally manipulated and threatened by Curley's wife. His posture is slumped, his eyes downcast, and his spirit crushed by her cruel words, which serve to reinforce his feelings of powerlessness and loneliness as a black man on the ranch.