This is a really fascinating response Berry. Although I will write more via e-mail, these are some of my thoughts. You are absolutely right about the sentence in red being critical to Crooks's response to the threat made by Curley's wife. Intentionally (in other words on purpose),Steinbeck wants to depict (show) the way a black person had to survive in the thirties when white people were around. They had to efface (wipe out) any sense of their own wishes and feelings. So yes "so delicate dignity," especially when you are black and could at the time be killed for showing any dignity. I love too your description of what happened to Crooks as the collapse of his "protective layer." Beautifully said. Your insight into the work is truly amazing!