Examples Of Social Injustice In Of Mice And Men

Throughout the book, Of Mice and Men there were many examples of social injustice, with multiple characters who each had their own quality in which was treated unfairly. The author, John Steinbeck, realized that society is often unfair to those who are different. In knowing this, he took the inevitable fact and made examples in the book a symbol of only one aspect of our society and lifestyle. These following examples portray three, of many, different walks of life and how they may be treated unfairly in society during the past.
Towards the beginning of the book Candy, the swamper, was introduced along with his “ancient” dog who limped around and never ate. Because of his age, the dog smelled profusely and was much unwanted. All the other

men on the ranch agonized Candy about the smell and condition of the dog. Eventually, the men were so tired of the smell, they proposed the act of shooting the dog to put him out of his misery. Candy immediately explained that he had a great connection with his dog and wouldn’t even think about ending his life. “”Well-hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him.” He said proudly, “You wouldn’t think it to look at him now, but he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen.”” (p. 44) When saying this, Candy was not yet convinced to end the life of his own. Candy was standing up for the dog while explaining that he had been through everything with him and was proud of his work. Yet, soon after his explanation, Candy repeatedly had excuses thrown at him by the men to support why the dog’s life should be ended. This was completely uncalled for in that, the men could have handled the situation a completely other way. Instead, they chose not to look at it from Candy’s prospective and see why he had such a great friendship with his dog. They didn’t see how much Candy loved him and cared for him throughout his lifetime. They didn’t, and weren’t willing to see the connection Candy had made with his life-long friend. Through all of the badgering the men had done to Candy, he finally gave in and allowed Carlson to shoot his dog. Although the dog was in bad shape, Candy could have had a little while longer with his dog therefore the shooting was not necessary. This represents the social injustice in someone’s life where the outsiders aren’t willing to see the situation from the victim’s eye. Instead, they look at what’s best for them and not the outcome of the situation for the victim.
Another character who is greatly treated unfairly is Crooks; an African American man who is crippled and has a crooked back. Because of his race he lives in the barn by himself, away from all the other men on the ranch (who are white). While talking to Lennie, Crooks says this, “’Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me.” This clearly shows that the other men look at Crooks as a person of lesser value than themselves. He is always working and doing little jobs around the ranch for the other men because he is found as a slave due to his race. Not only is he discriminated for race, he is discriminated for being a cripple and having a crooked back. Later he refers to things the other men have said by saying "This is just a nigger talkin', an' a busted-back nigger. So it don't mean nothing, see?" (p. 69) In saying this he meant that the others had told him before, whatever Crooks was saying or doing, it didn’t matter. Both of these quotes show the poor quality of treatment Crooks received simply because of his race and physical being. This is another example of social injustice in society from the past, only a different form and feature that has been discriminated.
Throughout the book, one of the main characters, Lennie, is teased for his mental disabilities.

He is mentally retarded and has issues with memory. Because of this, he gets himself into trouble multiple times with George and other men on the ranch. Before George and Lennie move to the ranch, George lectures Lennie on how things will be when they get there. “If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won’t get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk, were set. Ya got that?” (p. 8) This quote shows two sides of the unfair treatment. One side being that George had the courage to call Lennie a bastard because he knows Lennie’s disabilities yet he never refrains himself from letting his anger overrule that knowledge. The other side being the fact that George was correct when he said that the boss wouldn’t give him a job if he heard Lennie talk. Even though they did get a job, the boss did doubt Lennie’s abilities because George was speaking for Lennie until Lennie said something and made the boss doubt him even more. Throughout the rest of the book Lennie is misunderstood and teased about his mental issues which is unfair considering his conditions are not his fault. The men, once again, never looked at the situations from Lennie’s perspective and disabled mind so they never understood his

struggles.
These different examples all showed a social injustice situation in the book Of Mice and Men. Each situation had different characters and qualities that were discriminated, which shows just how much our society finds in life to judge. Even though social injustice has changed from the past to now, it still has kept its name in our society and lifestyle. It has never left and unfortunately never will because society is often unfair to those who are different. So as long as people are being different others, people are judging and treating them unfairly with the devilish name of “Social Injustice”.