Similarities Between Of Mice And Men And To Kill A Mockingbird

The two novels To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men are better understood and more comprehensible with a bit of background knowledge of the 1930s. For example, racial injustice/ inequality in America in the 1930s can help the reader view these two novels from a different perspective; such as the laws, customs, and racism which took place back then. To begin with, these two very engaging novels have many similarities. They both share themes of courage, prejudice, racial injustice, and loneliness. They also both share topics that have to do with Jim Crow Laws and “mockingbird”- like characters such as Lennie, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson. Some characters throughout these books show the trait of courage such as: Atticus, Mrs. Dubose, and

George.

Back in the 1930s, life was hard.

After the stock market crashing in 1929 America went into “The Great Depression” era. People were challenged in everyday life and acquired a great number of struggles (loss of income, unemployment, starvation, and homelessness etc). During this hard time, some of the many Americans who struggled were families who starved and became homeless. Young children even had jobs to support their needy families. This wasn’t the only struggle of many, in western United States there also was a drastic drought known as the “Dust Bowl”. Although the 1930s were a rough time to go through, the people struggling still made the best out of their situations and still looked to things that made them happy like listening to comedy radio broadcasts and going out to the movies. Money was definitely tight back then but simple activities helped to make people less miserable and seemed to help them temporarily forget or push aside the hardships most Americans were going

through.

Both Tom Robinson (To Kill a Mockingbird) and Crooks (Of Mice and Men) both undergo consequences of segregation from whites having to do with Jim Crow laws.

They both get involved in conflict having to do with white women. According to Mayella Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird: she states, “I went in the house to get him the nickel and I turned around and ‘fore I knew it he was on me. Just run up behind me, he did. He got me around the neck, cussin’ me an’ sayin’ dirt---I fought’n’hollered but he had me round the neck. He hit me agin an’ agin---” (241). Mayella is accusing Tom of raping her when really he was just passing by and decided to help her; because of how little anyone ever cares or helps her being the oldest with only an always drunk father and disrespectful siblings. I feel like Mayella sort of betrayed Tom because he is completely innocent and was just passing by normally, decides to help her, and then she accuses him. This also is an example of a “mockingbird”-like character because Tom did nothing wrong and Mayella pretends to be the victim knowing no one would believe Tom’s side of the story because of his race so she accuses him of something he didn’t do. Now this ties back to the topics of racial injustice and prejudice because of Tom being black most people back then would expect a black man like him to be untrustworthy and unsafe or threatening. This is unfair to Tom because he is nothing like that; the people on Mayella’s side are just too caught up in this

whole thing of judging a person on one story or what they thought or heard about him. Also, It’s not like they would really believe anything he’d try saying to defend himself. He pretty much doesn’t even have a say in this situation. As a result, Tom is said to be guilty and sent to prison and eventually shot while trying to escape.

Just like Tom Robinson from To Kill a Mockingbird, Crooks from Of Mice and Men gets into trouble with a white woman as well. Crooks is a lonely black man who lives by himself in the harness room next to the barn. Crooks isn’t the luckiest of them all; to start, he has a crooked spine from when a horse kicked him, he is often treated with judgement, and he is forced to live in a separate room even though he is good at his job. Curley’s wife is lonely white woman who isn’t satisfied with her relationship with Curley. She is in an abusive relationship and doesn’t love Curley. She wants to end the relationship. So, she is a flirt. She is always overdressed and makes it an effort to impress almost every guy around. This shows her inability of loyalty towards Curley and in general. But, if Curley catches flirting with her by or being reeled in or tempted by her flirtatious ways, it could affect their jobs and cause them to be fired. Which continues her lonely life. This is obviously a trait that appears to be shared by both Crooks and Curley’s wife as their lives have different issues in them. The conflict between Curley’s wife and Crooks began when she was in his room causing unneeded drama, saying that they are all scared of each other and just all around annoying, so Crooks told her to leave. He is then told to shut up because she could have him lynched. Crooks says “You got no rights comin’ in a colored man’s room. You got no rights messing around in here at all. Now you jus’ get out, an’ get out quick. If you don’t, I’m gonna ast the boss not to ever let you come in the barn no more.” (80) Angrily, Curley’s wife replies with, “You know what I can do to you if you open your trap? (80) Crooks kept trying to defend himself and tell her to leave because she was invading his privacy and being exceptionally rude as can be. Curley’s wife was just not having it. She would not put up with a single thing he said. I feel like this example almost goes back to the whole thing about racial injustice. Crooks is black, therefore is not allowed to tell Curley’s wife what to do or what he wants.

In conclusion, The two novels: To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men have many similarities like both taking place around the 1930s and the different themes of prejudice, courage, loneliness and racial injustice. Each novel has characters who carry out the main messages and help us understand the significance of these important themes. Another important similarity is their relation to the 1930s and how background knowledge from this miserable problematic era in which many people were struggling and at a loss of hope can help the reader better understand the idea and what the author is trying to communicate through the many characters throughout the two fantastic novels.