It is often said that literature is a voice for social commentary. How is this true? Many books go straight to the point and thoroughly explain an issue, yet other books hide these problems inside of the story for the reader to find themselves. Of Mice and Men, a novella by John Steinbeck, presents many different problems in 20th century United States, that the country is still struggling with today. The author targets these controversies, and lets the audience search for them while reading the book. The issues Steinbeck presents in Of Mice and Men are sexism, racism and discrimination. Of Mice and Men is considered a voice for social commentary as it presents the topic of racism. The only black person to ever appear in the story is Crooks, …show more content…
After a short conversation with the farmworkers where she asked if they knew Curley’s location, George called her a tramp or basically a woman who has sex often. It is later revealed during her conversation with Lennie that she truly wants to talk with someone, that she feels lonely and that she isn’t only a pretty woman to look at. However, after her first conversation with George, he already thinks of her as the stereotypical woman who would have sex with anyone. No one in the whole ranch thinks seriously of Curley’s wife, which is why she is the symbol for sexism in the …show more content…
They are aware of his problems, yet instead of helping him, they push him away to cause less trouble for themselves. Lennie is one of their friends, however they treat him the same way as they treat Crooks because he has a mental disability which he can’t cope with by himself. The only person who truly cares about Lennie is George, who has been with him throughout everything. Slim also understands Lennie and is one of the few people that knows about the relationship between him and George, yet even he does not attempt to help
One of the reasons why George should have killed Lennie is to keep him out of an institution. It is clearly not on the bright side for Lennie to be put in an institution. This is backed by Slim saying “…An’ s’pose they lock him up an’ strap him down and put him in a cage. That ain’t no good, George.”(pg. 97) Lennie would obviously be miserable without George anyway, his only kind friend. Without George, Lennie wouldn’t know a lot of things he does now, or what to do in situations. Lennie has one of the rare mentalities that always needs someone by their side. These are all good reasons that it would be a good thing for George to put Lennie away rather than in an institution.
Lennie is broken and incomplete in many ways. He has a mental disability which differentiates him from the others. He depends on George for everything and cannot do things on his own even though he is a grown man.
As Slim and George arrived at the bar, neither of them said a word. Slim looked at George but George avoided his attempt at making eye contact. They walked in and sat at a round wooden table that looked to be a decade old. George sat down at one end and Slim sat down on the other directly across.
The character of Curley’s Wife is very hard to unravel, as throughout the book, Steinbeck’s representation of women through characters such as George and Candy, is very harsh. This is because the sociological opinion at that time was that they were either, mothers, sisters, or prostitutes, as the audience soon see, George and other ranch workers refer to her as “bitch” “loo loo” and “tramp”. There were also a growing number of prostitutes during the Great Depression period, as they would offload their services to those whom were able to pay and have some decent income during the Depression. Other aspects that may make Curley’s Wife seem like a tart, is Curley’s “Glove Fulla’ Vaseline”. Curley literally keeps a glove full of Vaseline, in order to keep his hand soft, possibly for a sexual act. Curley boasts to Candy that the hand is for his wife, which tells us that she gives him consent to do these acts to her, and also, Curley’s nerve to inform fellow workers about his glove shows that he believes that his own wife is a tart, which is very controversial today, but back then, women were seen as nothing more than possessions, yours to do what you will. George informs Lennie to avoid Curley’s Wife at all costs, and not to talk to her, because of her promiscuous behaviour, he believes t...
John Steinbeck’s creative and carefully planned writing expressed the difficulties of oppression in this Era. Of Mice and Men explored the effects of systemic oppression on women,
Lisca, Peter. "Of Mice and Men." The Wide World of John Steinbeck. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1958. 130-143. Rpt. in Children's Literature Review. Ed. Jelena Krstovic. Vol. 172. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
George, like all other men, see women as exchangeable objects that satisfy certain needs with the exchange of money. Women were either seen as this type of stereotype or as nothing more than a stay home wife. This is shows how so call “men” can be seen as cowards because they think they have all the power in the world. “George said,’She’s gonna make a mess. They’s gonna be a bad mess about her. She’s a jail bait all set on the trigger. That Curley got his work cut out for him. Ranch with a bunch of guys on it wint no place for a girl, specially like her’” (Steinbeck 93). George is setting an example of how women are seen as weak and have no mean to be in a man's work place. Curley’s wife soon becomes like an animal in Lennie’s hands, for women were considered as
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 mentally disabled individual. This prevented the characters from reaching their full potential and causes tragedy.
excited one. He now has hope of doing something and it came from the "dream
Of Mice and Men, by Steinbeck, shows many different views on society. This book has a lot different messages you can take and apply to real life. All the people in the story can relate to someone today and also to some stuff that still happens all around the world. When reading this book you can really start to understand and connect with the characters and identify their weaknesses and their strengths. Some things you really start to notice is how powerful some people are and how they use that power in everyday living. Many characters had power, because of that it helped some get by, helped some take advantage and boss people around, but power also hurt them.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck brings out the themes of Lonliness and companionship, and strengths and weaknesses through the actions, and quotations of the characters. Irony and foreshadowing play a large roll on how the story ends. Lennie and his habit of killing things not on purpose, but he is a victim of his own strength. George trying to pretend that his feelings for Lennie mean nothing. The entire novel is repetitive in themes and expressed views.
The daily struggle of the working class, fear of loneliness and the reality of putting all your energy into plans that fail are the different themes relating to John Steinbeck's novel, "Of Mice and Men". The characters depicted by the author are individuals who are constantly facing one obstacle after another. The book illustrates different conflicts such as man versus society, man versus man, man versus himself and idealism versus reality. The book's backdrop is set in the Salinas, California during the depression. The two main characters include two men, George and Lennie. Supportive characters include a few ranch hands, Candy, Crooks, Curly, Slim and Carlson.
After reading the two books for my world literature, of mice and men and the outsider I decided I will compare the two books on the topic choice; portrayal of society in the literature studied. This includes points such as: Meursault and Lenny not being accepted in society for who they are because they are different then others; another point would be there is a lot of violence within societies.
Lennie to take care of. The next day George convinces the farm boss to hire
Throughout Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck displays how isolation through sexism and racism causes one to crave attention, and he helps the reader to understand the problems in society about racism and sexism through portraying Curley’s Wife and Crooks both craving attention in their own ways and experiencing various setbacks.