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In the literary work Of Mice and Men, the reader is introduced to the ranch as a world of its own, within which prejudice plays a significant part. The characters in this novel act as a community in a world of their own, having no connections to any other type of society. A strong point, enforced through many examples in the book, is the constant ability of the stronger to overcome the weaker. The prejudices of the majority towards the minority, at the ranch are the white-males, who retain power over the lesser groups of people. This inequality, as well as the influence of the time period, causes discrimination against people of color, women, and those that are disabled, either mentally or physically.
The crippled, African American stable hand, Crooks, is the victim of racial discrimination on the ranch. He is given his own room off the stables as if a privilege, but in truth the white-male majority of the ranch wants to have as small an amount of contact with Crooks as possible. Crooks understands this, as is shown when he explains it to Lennie in a simple statement, ?They play cards in there, but I can?t play because I?m black. They say I stink.? (p. 33) As a result of this separation, Crooks becomes incredibly bitter and lonely. Through his request of having a part in George and Lennie?s dream, it becomes obvious that he searches for a friend, struggling to be recognized as a human being.
Curley?s wife is the typical example of discrimination based on misunderstanding. Because she is never given the chance to express her point of view, the men have a strong opinion on her based only on their interpretations of her actions. In the men?s opinion, she does not belong around the ranch, and should stay...
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... to share a farm with George and be allowed to tend the rabbits, and he does not seem to understand why people stand against him. Lennie?s failure to recognize his own strength unfortunately leads him to harm many living things, eventually Curly?s wife, which leads to his death by the hand of George, who only did what he thought was best.
The novel Of Mice and Men presents to us the unjust causes and painful results of discrimination. It clearly shows the loneliness of those that fall victim to the harsh judgement of others in the world of the ranch, as well as the way the strong overcome the weak. As in the world itself, the existance of the ranch hands is based on survival, and in this case, a dream had to be surrendered by George in order to survive. As Slim said in the end while comforting George, ?Never you mind. A guy got to sometimes.? (117)
All through the book Curley’s Wife is very “open” to everyone she meets. The reason for this can be interpreted by her and Curley’s “so-called” marriage. The relationship between Curley’s Wife and Curley seems to be somewhat unstable as he is always asking “Any you guys seen my wife?” (pg. ). This also shows how protective Curley seems to be as he is always checking up on where his wife is. Curley’s insecurity seems to cage in his wife from having any kind of a friendship with any other men. In turn, the wife gets so sick of being isolated like this and relieves her loneliness by conducting secret conversations with many other men on the ranch. As a result many of the ranch hands see her as a tramp but it can be viewed that all she really wants is a person to talk to.
Steinbeck clearly shows that Crooks never has any say on the ranch. No one cares about him. He’s just a “negro stable buck” (66). In this novella, No one ever talks to him except for candy. Lennie finally finds himself going into his room. While in there they speak about racial profiling. Crooks tell lennie that he’s the only African Americans on the ranch. He tells Lennie how he’s “alone out here at night” (73). He has nobody to talk to all he does is read books and think. The people on the ranch care less about his needs and wants, all they want him to do is to continue his work...
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses stereotypes and discrimination to convey a message of how the characters feel. A lot of the stereotypes and clichés are just common beliefs of the times, but a few are situational. To quote a quite distinguished reader, "Characters are ‘trapped’- either by what others think of them, or by their situation." A lot of the character’s feelings about themselves and what others think of them will lead to loneliness.
Novels that exhibit what the life is like for the people at ranch can help readers reflect on how they might react in comparable situation. George and Lennie who struggle to transcend the plight of inerrant farmworkers are followed by the novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck. Readers are positioned to respond to themes through Steinbeck’s use of conventions that are dispirit. Themes such as Freedom and confinement, loneliness, and racism are pivotal in the novel and draw out a range of responses from the readers.
Several characters in the novel Of Mice and Men are presented with additional obstacles throughout the book. Whether because of color, sex, or disabilities, John Steinbeck purposefully did this to illustrate oppression. Of Mice and Men explores the effects of systemic oppression on women, African-Americans, and people with disabilities.
Crooks, the most isolated character, is treated differently by everyone on the ranch. They treat Crooks with less respect than they do each other. They call him names, which might not have caused uproar, but still disrespectful. In fact, when Curley was looking for him, he demanded to know where Crooks was. Curley asked, "'Where the hell is that god damn nigger?'" (Steinbeck 29). Curley's harsh words, are some of the reasons Crooks...
Of Mice and Men is novel that was written by John Steinbeck that describes the journey of George, and his mentally disabled friend, Lennie, as they travel and work together on a ranch in California. The story of Of Mice and Men accounts for the experience of George and Lennie as they encounter different people on the ranch who live in solitude, such as Crooks the negro stable buck, and the wife of the boss’s son, Curley. Crooks the stable buck is always alone because he is black, and during the time period of which the novel takes place, people with colored skin were discriminated and excluded from white social activities. Curley’s wife is alone most of the time because most of the men on ranch stay away
Curly’s wife was someone who experienced sexism and loneliness. Towards the end of the book, before she gets killed she talks to Lennie about this. “‘ I get lonely.’ She said. ‘You can talk to people, but i can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody. (87)”’ She is talking to Lennie about how lonely and depressing her life is, due to her only being able to talk to her husband. Since Curley gets angry when she talks to other men. At the time, this demonstrates that women were not equal to men. Her feelings were that she was not a part of everyone else, and could not do a lot of things. Such as have just a simple conversation with other men due to her genders, nor play cards or games with everyone. Crooks on the other hand experienced racism. He was the only African American working on the farm and injured his back severely when getting kicked by a horse. Around the end of Chapter 4 Curley’s wife is disrespecting Crooks. “Well, you keep your place then, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny.(81)” After Curley’s wife gets angry at him and then even threatens him, Crook begins to obey what she is saying and stops talking. This quote proves that African Americans had to obey what everyone else said like slaves, and were considered at the very bottom of the social class during that
Discrimination was one of the issues that caused conflict in the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. One example of discrimination in the novel comes in the form of racial discrimination against Crooks, as he is an African American. Another example of discrimination is gender discrimination against Curley’s wife. Finally, there is discrimination against mentally disabled people, which is evident in Lennie’s character. The ranch hands' actions and conversations demonstrated the racial discrimination against Crooks for his skin colour, gender discrimination against Curley’s wife for her gender, and prejudice against Lennie, who was a mentally disabled individual.
Throughout the course of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men the way others react to Crooks, Candy, and Lennie are all examples of how being perceived as weaker and different can lead to being alienated from others. Due to the disadvantage Crooks, Candy, and Lennie are all shown to have during the book, Steinbeck shows how being perceived as weak can distance one from others, as well as limiting
An example of how the men are discriminative towards Crooks is that he is forced to live in a shack away from the bunkhouse and also Crooks says that "They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say "I stink" and "I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse." An example of when Curley's Wife is critical towards Crooks is when she looks into his room to see what Lennie and Crooks are doing and then she states, shaking her head, that they left the weak ones behind. Also, she threatens to have Crooks hanged because a black man should never talk to a white woman the way he just had. As a result of all of these discriminatory acts against him, Crooks feels unwanted and lonely because of his color and placement on the farm.
As a result, Curley’s wife begins to explain how lonely she is, and she cannot talk to anyone except for Curley. Many people think she’s a tart and someone who isn’t worth anything. “I get lonely.’ She said ‘you can talk to people,and i can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?” (5.87) She get’s lonely because of she talks to anyone else then he will get mad and will punish the men, and the men think she’s a tart. With this example, it shows that even someone with so much power, can get treated with discrimination because she’s a
Sexism is a type of discrimination due to gender. The character that faces this type of discrimination is Curley’s Wife. She is the only female at the ranch and is discriminated against frequently by the other men. An example of sexism in the story is when we are told that Curley’s wife is constantly ignored and is treated poorly by the other men. When George and Lennie meet Curley’s wife for the first time, George tells Lennie to stay away from her because he thinks that she will cause trouble for the two of them. “‘Don’t you even take a look at that b**ch… You leave her be,’” (Steinbeck 32). This quote shows that men can be prejudice towards women. They can discriminate them before they actually meet or talk to them. This relates back to the theme of discrimination because Curley’s wife was discriminated against before some of the men actually met her. Another example of sexism in the story is when the men talk about her behind her back. “She ain’t concealin’ nothing. I never seen nobody like her.. I don’t know what the hell she wants,” (Steinbeck 51). This shows sexism because they are judging her behind her back and continue to do it throughout most of the story. This relates back to the idea of sexism because men were constantly judged by men. One of the less obvious examples of sexism is the fact that Curley’s wife’s name isn’t actually said in the book. The author of the story may be telling the
Discrimination is a problem that plagues those whose qualities are vulnerable. There are many examples of discrimination in the novel, Of Mice and Men. The characters face discrimination in many different ways including racial, age, gender, and disability. Crooks, the black stable buck, is the victim of racial discrimination. Candy, the old swamper, is a victim of the age discrimination. The victim of gender discrimination is Curley's wife because she is a woman. Life of the victims is hard because of the things they have to go through. Lastly, Lennie is mentally handicap so he discriminated against because of that.
Curley’s Wife, who persistently talked with every man on the ranch besides her husband, displays how sexism is portrayed on the ranch. Steinbeck proves this by showing a differing view towards women in the time period that the book was written, because, as Carleson states, “Why’n’t you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs?” (Steinbeck, 62). Carleson is exemplifying just a small fraction of the negative