Social Barriers In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Have you ever been stuck outside of a locked car or have you ever knocked into a parking meter?  Have you ever banged your head on a long, glass window because of how transparent it was, yet it still stopped you from doing what you wanted to do? These are all barriers that prevented us from access to something. In the case of the characters in Of Mice and Men, their barriers are social barriers. Something that stands in their way preventing them from movement towards the others, isolating them to their own ways and world. The novella, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, paints the simple yet strong images of barriers; racism, disability and even certain people, in the social picture of the 1920s’.
Racism is one of the most prominent barriers …show more content…

One of them is Lennie and his relationship to George. Right from the beginning of the book, the reader can recognize how much of an impediment Lennie really is. This quote was taken from when Lennie asked what had happened in Weed. George doesn’t tell him right away, instead saying this quote “God you’re a lot of trouble, I could get along so easy and nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl.” (George, Steinbeck 1.7) By keeping Lennie by his side, Lennie has created a lot of problems for George, preventing them from stabilizing themselves in one place. George, who said, could get along so easy, yet he is burdened with keeping the promise to Lennie’s Aunt Clara, to take care of Lennie. This is when George and Lennie arrived at the clearing in chapter one, when they are about to fall asleep “Lennie—if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an' hide in the brush… Hide in the brush till I come for you ” (George, Steinbeck 1.15) George already needs to tell Lennie to go to the brush because he already knows that Lennie will cause harm. George knows that Lennie doesn’t mean any harm but the fact is that Lennie does harm from killing mice, to terrifying women, to eventually killing someone, adding all of it up, should George really be protecting Lennie? This creates another barrier for George, always having to run away from …show more content…

Yet none of these characters chose to do something about it. Crooks could have stood up more for his basic human rights, even if everyone would have ignored him, he could have made a little bit of an improvement with his lifestyle if he had. Candy could have worked harder, even if he did have a disability, until he was done and maybe suggested that he take notes of new workers. George could have taken action right from the very beginning, such as putting more consequences on Lennie or punishing him more for doing what was right and wrong. All these characters could’ve done something different to overcome their barriers. Yes, some may be sturdier or harder to knock over… But barriers are something we can all overcome; with the right

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