Examples Of Prejudice In Of Mice And Men

If being unique and not jumping into the bandwagon is pushed in society, why is it that those who take the challenge are so harshly judged? Throughout the novella Of Mice And Men, many of the characters experienced prejudice because they either chose to not fit the mold or they just were not able to. Lennie, who was mentally retarded, had struggled to fit into society and his life had been significantly affected by his disability. Crooks, the stable hand, was not naturally accepted into society at the time only because he was black. And finally, Curley’s wife was treated as if she was dangerous because of her persona around the men. In Of Mice And Men, by John Steinbeck, prejudice is displayed through the treatment of and interactions with

characters who were of divergence.
Crooks, the stable buck, despite his strong work ethic, was treated ridiculously throughout the novella only because of his race. In one instance, Crooks explained how “[the white men and workers] [played] cards in [the bunkhouse], but [he could not] play because [he was] black” (Steinbeck 68). Although Crooks carried a huge load for the other men and was a valuable contributor to their daily jobs, he was still disdained by his racist co-workers, thanks to his color. He received little respect or acceptance because the men agreed with societal beliefs that African Americans were unacceptable. In another situation, Crooks was defending his right to his own personal space when Curley’s wife stepped in. In response to Crooks’s plea for space, Curley’s wife quickly retorted, “You know what I could to do you if you open your trap?...I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” (Steinbeck 80-81). Even though Crooks had every right to privacy in his living quarters, he was threatened and faced cruel and unusual punishment because he was thought of as dirty and lowly because of his skin color, despite his service that was a beneficial asset to the other.
Likewise, Lennie was often omitted and degraded as a result of his mental incapabilities thanks to his mental retardedness, which made Lennie’s emotions and responses to a variety of situations inflated compared to an average person, thus making him divergent.

At the beginning of the novella, an argument left Lennie “Blubberin’ like a baby!” (Steinbeck 9). according to George. Despite the fact Lennie was an adult, his reaction was equivalent to a child in the eyes of George. His mental retardedness had placed him at a lower level in the eyes of the other men considering his intelligence. Curley’s wife was more direct with Lennie in telling him “I think you’re nuts!” (Steinbeck 93) as he explained his fixation of soft objects. Lennie had previously faced a problem in another town with touching soft things, and it is what caused him and George to travel away. This strange obsession was out of Lennie’s control and all he could do about it was to embrace it. The prejudices against Lennie were all based off of his condition because it medically made him unique and uncomfortably different to the other

characters.
Finally, in Curley’s wife’s case, prejudices and judgement were based off of her interactions with the other men, her persona, and her status as the only woman on the farm. George noticed Curley’s wife’s toxic character right away and warned Lennie right away to not ever “take a look at that bitch….[and] leave her be” (Steinbeck 32). This instance was George and Lennie’s first encounter with Curley’s wife, and George promptly placed a large judgement on her behavior because of how she interacted with him and Lennie. This showed that George expected women to act more modest and not place themselves above the status of a man. Later in the novella, Lennie recollected what George had warned him when he was alone with Curley’s wife. His first words to her were “George says I ain’t got nothing to do with you - talk to you or nothing” (Steinbeck 86). Lennie only treated her with this dismissal because of what George had told him, but he would later realize they both were experiencing similar prejudices because of their personalities. The prejudices over one character in this novel also resided over other characters, and it allowed them to sympathize with each other.
John Steinbeck used the confrontations between characters and the treatment of atypical characters to demonstrate prejudice in the novella Of Mice And Men.

Crooks was undeserving of the neglect and ignorance of the other men, but received it anyways because his race was detested in his society. Gender and personality was the source of Curley’s wife’s discriminatory treatment from the other men. Lastly, shameful prejudice was directed toward Lennie, caused by his mental incapabilities and his strange social skills. Today, like all three of these characters, people experience prejudices caused by characteristics that they have no control over. People are judged because of their beauty, skin, gender, and capabilities, but that is just what makes them unique, and that is what makes prejudice wrong. Being unique is what brings out a person’s character, and it should not be detested by society, especially if society promotes

individualism.