Lemons In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Lemons

“Treat others the way you want to be treated” is something burned into the minds of
children from a very young age that- while has a good intent behind it- is never something that is
applicable. This is shown throughout the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. The story
takes place in the 40s, following two men who are nearly opposites trying to survive together.
One of the men, Lennie, unfortunately has a mental deficiency which impairs his ability to
comply to the societal norms and mannerisms expected from someone of his physical age of
around 30 to 40, which often causes Lennie and his companion and caretaker, George, to live
like fugitives and take refuge at a ranch house, where they work for money, food, and shelter

for
the majority of the story. In society of late, the idea has been that if life gives you lemons give
someone else the rotten ones and keep the best for yourself. This is because the natural order of
chaos is maintained through categorization and discrimination, because society values and
rewards those with power, despite how they get it.
This idea is displayed through a character in the story called Curley’s wife, who is a
lonely housewife of the ranch owner’s son- and is described with her struggles to fight against
sexism and isolation. As said by one of the ranch hands, she is deemed a “tramp”, even though
she is simply looking for some company (Steinbeck 32). It is evident throughout the story that
the categorization of this woman because of her sex and gender hinders the idea she will ever
have an equal standing among others because her lack of conformity to society’s expectations of
her as a woman poses a threat to the ranch workers’ power. And if the mental battering of
Curley’s wife wasn’t enough, the ranch hands had to physically shun her as well with “Don’t you
ever take a look at that bitch”, said by George warningly to Lennie (Steinbeck 32). The men on
the ranch take no consideration to the harm they are doing to Curley’s wife because they only
care about how her actions affect their own social standing rather than how their actions affect
her mental health. These people feel the need to call Curley’s wife names and reject her offers of
conversation because that would show compassion and understanding; two things society
considers punishable signs of weakness and lack of power.
Another character in the story is a victim of ageism and segregation. This is seen with
Curley’s wife, exclaiming, “…bunch of bindle stiffs…and a lousy ol’ sheep….” for a cathartic
reciprocation of the hurt feelings she felt when Candy, an old and disabled ranch worker,
rejected her reach for conversation (Steinbeck 78).

Instead of being respected, Candy is treated
as helpless as a child- given no benefits of someone viewed as an equal because people are only
seen for their valued properties. Candy is not only categorized against for his age, but is also
discriminated against; displayed by Candy himself with, ‘Soon as I can’t swamp out no
bunkhouses they’ll put me out on the country”, even though he has no family or home to go to
(Steinbeck 60). When Candy becomes too old to benefit the ranch, he become useless in the eyes
of the owner, and will be tossed aside as if he wasn’t a person or being of any kind
but just some resource of work and power and nothing more- for Candy’s age prevents him from
aiding others in their power struggle. Candy is only seen for his age, which is a sign of
weakness- and a component to a rotten lemon.
Another character is Crooks, an African American stable worker with a bad back, who is
racially categorized and excluded. This is shown with another of Curley’s wife’s remarks, calling
him a “nxgger” when referring to Crooks in a demeaning manner (Steinbeck 78). The tiny bit of
control she gets from casual release of such a deprecating swear word is enough for

her
rewardingly feel able to elude the rest of the things spiraling unorderly out of her reach (like her
marriage and social life). Exclusion is also expressed towards Crooks, and in his own words “I
can’t play because I’m black” when explaining to Lennie why he can’t play cards with everyone
else (Steinbeck 68). Any abnormality is viewed as a threat to authority positions; his easily
noticeable variance of skin color is one that renders him unworthy. Crook’s skin
determines his lesser status and weaknesses by others- making him a rotten lemon.
Chaos is a force that cannot be stopped, but mans’ unnecessary welcoming of the feature
is shown through the self-deprecation of its own species via discrimination and categorization of
others. The danger can sprout from hate, jealousy, envy, etc. and is expressed through the novel
as sexism, ageism, and racism. The more realistic motto that represents this society is
“wrong others the way you were wronged” as chaos will always ensue from those who seek
power .