How Does Steinbeck Present Juxtaposition In Of Mice And Men

The American dream is the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Even though the dream does not discriminate, people during the 1930s did. During this time period multiple groups of individuals were excluded from this iconic dream. In John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men he exposes the ageism, sexism, racism, and ableism in the 1930s. Steinbeck’s use of allusion, metaphor, symbolism, and juxtaposition create archetypes of the most commonly discriminated against people during the 1930s.

In the Poem “To A Mouse,” Robert Burns writes about how a mouse spent the bulk of his year building a house to protect the mouse from the cold, frail winter. A farmer accidentally plows the tiny house over while working in the fields. The farmer states “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”(Burns). About two hundred years later John Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men. Through the title referencing the the poem an audience can infer that this is an allusion that foreshadow plans ending badly. In this case the widely established American dream is

unrealistic, especially for the unequalized archetypes. Which is well described through his explanation and storytelling of each mistreated archetypes dream going astray.
Each character in Of Mice and Men represent a distinct archetype. In fact on the second page there is an introduction to the archetype of someone who is mentally disabled, Lennie. At that time people had a limited understanding of mental disabilities; often this archetype was mistreated and criticized by society. Through steinbeck’s use of metaphor the audience can identify this disablement and the mistreatment of the archetype Lennie is representing. An example of this is “...dragging his feet a little (referring to Lennie), the way a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely”(Steinbeck 2). Another example is “His huge companion dropped his blankets and flung himself down and drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse.”(Steinbeck 3). With comparing Lennie to animals Steinbeck reveals that disability through dehumanizing. Through the dehumanization he brings attention to the poor treatment toward Lennie.
A dog is a man’s best friend. However in Of Mice and Men a dog is a man, symbolically of course. Symbolism is a literary device defined as symbols to represent ideas or qualities. “‘That dog of Candy’s is so God damn old he can’t hardly walk. Stinks like hell, too.Ever’ time he comes into the bunkhouse I can smell him for two, three days’” (Steinbeck 36). Through this example the audience can identify that society's view on elderly was uncivil. Steinbeck makes it a point to illustrate the disrespect toward Candy through the scorn toward his dog. The symbolism Steinbeck uses to portray Candy and his dog reveals an understanding of how older people were viewed in society. Appalled by this, Steinbeck’s tone is very unimpressed with society's treatment towards elderly while they should be valued and appreciated.
Curley’s Wife is remarkably unequal; She doesn’t even receive her own name. Again, steinbeck represents the mistreatment and inequality of others through symbolism. The fact that throughout the entire book Curley’s Wife is not given a name but she is a possession of Curley is intended to bring surprise to the readers. The author’s purpose is to explain the sexism between men and women because every other discriminated archetype was given a name. Relatively speaking, women’s rights had just been granted. This novel has clearly proven that, during the 1930s, women were generally still unrespected by men and Steinbeck wanted to bring attention to that fact.
Lastly, the African American archetype, Crooks, had the longest description.

Specifically Steinbeck used juxtaposition to expose how racism was ignorant. Juxtaposition is the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect. Crooks was juxtaposed because his room was described to have a lot of books and items; while during the 1930s African Americans were viewed having limited material items and little to no education. An example of the juxtaposition from the book is, “Crooks possessed several pairs of shoes,a pair of rubber boots, a big alarm clock, and a single barreled shotgun.”(steinbeck 67). The purpose of the juxtaposition was to characterize crooks differently from how minorities were typically perceived, which seemed to be difficult to do during this time

period.
In the novella Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck illustrates how Americans mistreated certain archetypes; he does this through his use of allusion, personification, symbolism, and juxtaposition. Although Steinbeck’s characters were more relevant in the 30s, society still tends to discriminate against African Americans, mentally disabled, women, and elderly. With nearly an eighty year difference, times have changed. However people still generalize African Americans involved in criminal activity, the mentally disabled weren’t legally able to attend a public school until 1975, women have lower pay wages than men, and society still treats the elderly as if the are enable. Isn’t that what makes John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men such a captivating piece of literature? Although he died in 1968 he addressed topics that are still important today in 2015.