Disabilities were not looked upon highly during the 1930’s. If anything, it was the opposite. People during this time did not see disabled people as “equal” or the same as those without disabilities. The article “Year 10 Of Mice and Men” further explains this concept. “People with mental disabilities in 1930s America were treated very unsympathetically by the majority of society. Abnormal behavior and low levels of economic productivity were thought of as a “burden to society”. The reader can easily interpret and acknowledge that people with disabilities in the 1930s were seen as different or as the article said “burdens to society”. They were not treated well. Therefore, people with disabilities during this time were treated differently and looked down upon. …show more content…
An example of that would be from the article, “Double Discrimination”. “Experiencing discrimination based on a disability can lead to many issues, including quality of life and mental health struggles.” From this information, people can see that the effects of prejudice against people with disabilities are very severe, causing mental health issues. So not only does the person who was experiencing prejudice hurt physically, they also hurt mentally. Overall, the effects of prejudice toward those with disabilities are mental health issues. Acknowledging this, the readers can find that within the book “Of Mice and Men” is that Lennie himself has a disability of his own, one example of this could be: “I forgot," Lennie said softly. I tried not to forget. Honest to God I did, George." This example is good evidence for Lennie having a disability because it shows that Lennie has a very hard time remembering things, even though George has told him multiple times before. He is often struggling with seemingly easy tasks as well. Altogether, this proves that Lennie certainly has a
Another trait of Lennie’s is that he is often forgetful, he can’t even remember anything that was told to him twenty seconds before. “‘You remember where we’re goin’ now?’ Lennie looked startled and then in embarrassment hid his face against his knees. ‘I forgot again.’” This quote shows that George repeatedly tells Lennie things but he forgets them from one minute to the next. This happened several times such as the time when he forgot how he got kicked out of Weed. This trait effects Lennie because he often forgets important
In Of Mice and Men the character Lennie is big and has a diminished mental capacity. Lennie is s...
During the course of the novel, Lennie is faced with a variety of challenges. The first impediment he encounters is remembering everyday things in general. For example, at one point he thinks he has lost his working ticket when he was never in possession of it in the first place. George and Lennie are run out of the town of Weed because Lennie had once again gotten himself and George in trouble. He saw a girl wearing a soft
During the beginning, Lennie is characterized as childish. He is very small minded. Steinbeck indirectly states that he has a mental disability. Readers notice this because of his child-like actions, specifically on page 3, “Lennie dipped his whole head under, hat and all, and then he sat up on the bank and his hat dripped down on his blue coat and ran down his back.” This disability forces George to sacrifice his freedom to help survive with his disability. George gets frustrated with Lennie’s playful personality easily, as a father might with his son. On page 11, George lets his anger out on Lennie. “I wisht I could put you in a cage with
Right off the bat, Lennie is described as lesser, and rather than helped he is given a “slap on the wrist”. To begin with, Lennie is always described as less capable or unable to do certain activities to the extent of others. For example, at the beginning of the book George and Lennie were attempting to get a job. George always said, “He can do anything, just give him a try” (22). George implied that the likelihood of Lennie receiving a job is significantly less due to him being disabled. Lennie being less likely to receive a job due to his mental disability shows discrimination and expresses how difficult it could have been for a mentally handicapped person to get a job during this era. Moving forward, rather than George helping Lennie, Lennie is put down and scolded for his mistakes. During a scene between Lennie and George, George exclaimed, “You forget. You always forget, an’ I got to talk you out of it” (23). As it is not necessarily Lennie’s fault, George is in the wrong to put down Lennie for his actions. However, rather than attempting to help Lennie, George puts him down for his mistakes and then is forced to apologize for his own actions later. Lennie is a prime example of oppression against the mentally disabled in Of Mice and Men.
Back in the day far too often people looked down on or took advantage of people with mental or physical disabilities. Those are the kids nowadays that ride the short bus, are in a wheelchair, or their brain or other organs or limbs never completely developed so they have trouble completing simple everyday activities. About 15% of the people in the world today have either a significant mental or physical disability (according to Disabilities of America website). In John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men, Lennie Small displays three common qualities of a person with mental disabilities. Lennie is innocent, loyal, and has amazing physical strength.
In the story Of Mice and Men there were many handicaps that Steinbeck decided to speak upon. One was the fact that Crooks was a crippled stable man, Lennie who was mentally disabled, and Candy who lost his hand in an accident and is always worried about keeping his job (Attel). All three of these characters were left behind for reasons. All three had handicaps that prevented them from getting along normally in society. All three of these characters had handicaps, b...
Lennie has the mental capability of a 6 year old. This limits most every part of his life. Lennie's weaknesses make it difficult for him to have social contact outside of George. He misreads social cues which get him into trouble. He also doesn't know how to be fragile, as much as he loves to pet mice, he usually pets them too hard and kills them. He doesn't only pet mice to hard either. He ended up petting curley's wife so hard he broke her neck and killed her too. Him having this weakness of not being smart causes a lot of issues throughout the story. “He heard Lennie’s whimpering cry and wheeled about. “Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you.” Lennie’s lip quivered and tears started in his eyes,” (Steinbeck 9). Having the words like whimpering and blubbering show how weak Lennie really is. Those words seem like they are meant for a baby, and not a big tough guy like Lennie. His mental capability is a big defining part in who he is which then means it's a big part of his weakness.
His innocence stands out from the grimy coverings of loneliness and hopelessness the other characters wear. The reason Lennie is so innocent is that he has a mental handicap, one that prevents him from understanding complex human emotions such as guilt, or concepts such as death. In addition, Lennie has trouble remembering things, “" I tried and tried [to remember]...but it didn't do not good." Consequently, Lennie has trouble fitting in with society. Ultimately his mental disability is what leads to Lennie's demise at the end of the book. Another trait that is an essential part of Lennie's innocent character is his devotion to his closest friend George. In fact, the only times Lennie is shown to be angry is when George is insulted or threatened. When Crooks, the crippled, black, stable hand, implies bad things about George, this devotion is clearly shown. “Suddenly Lennie's eyes centered and grew quiet, and mad. He walked dangerously toward Crooks. 'Who hurt George?' he demanded"
...ntally disabled people prevented Lennie from being trusted and be respected as a human being. In this novel, discrimination that Lennie had to face prevented him from showing his abilities.
George and Lennie have known each other since they were young, but George hasn’t always been trying to look out for Lennie. Because Lennie would always listen to what he said, George often took advantage of him, almost resulting in his death by drowning. This shows how humans can and will control others simply because they have the upper hand. Mental Disabilities can put people in vulnerable situations, and not all people will respect and protect them. Eventually George sees the error in his ways and becomes Lennie’s somewhat reluctant protector. Lennie wants nothing more than to please George. In Of Mice and Men it says, “George lifted his tick and looked underneath it…Immediately Lennie got up and did the same with his bed (Steinbeck 19).” Lennie wants to surpass George’s expectations and does his best to comply with whatever George wants him to do. This is a very common characteristic in children who want to please their parents. This becomes less apparent as children grow up, but in Lennie’s case it stays a common
In the novel, Lennie faces the adversity in explaining himself to the rest of the world. Thus ,Lennie’s adversity is his mental illness which he is continuously throughout the book trying to overcome.Since ,he is mentally challenged, most people, even George intermittently, underestimates his intelligence and logic skills. At the ranch in Soledad,...
“The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it” -Chris Joseph
...eglected social issues in recent history (Barlow). People with disabilities often face societal barriers and disability evokes negative perceptions and discrimination in society. As a result of the stigma associated with disability, persons with disabilities are generally excluded from education, employment, and community life which deprives them of opportunities essential to their social development, health and well-being (Stefan). It is such barriers and discrimination that actually set people apart from society, in many cases making them a burden to the community. The ideas and concepts of equality and full participation for persons with disabilities have been developed very far on paper, but not in reality (Wallace). The government can make numerous laws against discrimination, but this does not change the way that people with disabilities are judged in society.
Disability: Any person who has a mental or physical deterioration that initially limits one or more major everyday life activities. Millions of people all over the world, are faced with discrimination, the con of being unprotected by the law, and are not able to participate in the human rights everyone is meant to have. For hundreds of years, humans with disabilities are constantly referred to as different, retarded, or weird. They have been stripped of their basic human rights; born free and are equal in dignity and rights, have the right to life, shall not be a victim of torture or cruelty, right to own property, free in opinion and expression, freedom of taking part in government, right in general education, and right of employment opportunities. Once the 20th century