Alienation In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Have you ever seen a person being made fun of because of their physical and mental attributes? It's a big issue that happened all the way throughout history. In the worst of times, the alienation was on a high scale of mistreatment. In the novelette, Of Mice And Men, alienation was shown throughout the characters Lennie, Candy, and Crooks. Alienation was not only shown through race, but through the physical and mental attributes of a being; Lennie, Candy, and Crooks.
The first character to be alienated, was Lennie. Lennie was separated from the others in the book because he had a mental disability, and society made it very hard for him to get, or keep, a job, which was already relatively hard to do in the Depression Era. “...God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble…” (Steinbeck 11). George felt as though lennie’s mental ability made it hard for him to keep his job, because people with abilities weren't allowed to have jobs. Another way Lenne was picked out of the bunch, was of how big he was. This made Curly very unhappy, and start to step on Lennie's foot as soon as he got there. "Never did seem right to me. S'pose Curley jumps a big guy an' licks him.... Then ever'body

Crooks was african american, and discrimination was still a very big part of life in the depression era. "…You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in th e bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room."(Steinbeck). Crooks was very emotionally affected by his prejudice, that he fought it with the same fire. In addition, Crooks had a crooked back. "This is just a nigger talkin', an' a busted-back nigger. So it don't mean nothing, see?"(Steinbeck). Not only was he black, but he had a physical issue, causing him to be more separated from the others. Crooks probably got the worst of all of the negativity, so he was the very mentally affected by this, and affected other physically in the same