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Of Mice and Men Analytical Essay
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“People are always going to stereotype others… it may be without conscious thought, but it still has the same negative effects.”- Author Unknown. In the book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, he includes many stereotypes; for example, Lennie was mean and dumb and Curley had small man syndrome. Other characters were stereotyped as hot headed, a tart, and a leader. Labeling and stereotyping influence the world by how others judge people before even knowing them. Lennie looked large that is why they stereotyped him as mean. When George was talking about them being kicked out of weed he mocked lennie saying, “‘Jus’ wanted to feel that girl's dress - jus’ wanted to pet it like it was a mouse’- well, how the hell did she know you jus’ wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin’ for us, and we got to …show more content…
Even after George told him numerous times to let go Lennie still would not let go. “ George shouted over and over, ‘leggo his hand, Lennie leggo. Slim, come help me while the guy got any hand left.’ Suddenly Lennie let go his hold. He crouched cowering against the wall, ‘you tol’ me to, George’ he said miserable’”(Steinbeck 64). Since Lennie did not know what the right option was, he kept holding on to Curley's hand. He did not know that he should have listened to George and let go. Lennie is stereotyped as dumb because of theses situations. All in all John Steinbeck included many stereotypes in the book “Of Mice and Men”, including; Lennie as mean and dumb and Curley with small man syndrome. Lennie was stereotyped as mean, because of his actions in weed. Curley was stereotyped with small man syndrome because he was small and angry. In addition, Lennie was also stereotyped as dumb, because he did not know right from wrong. Therefore, people will forever stereotype other
In chapter one, George and Lennie are introduced onto the scene and you get to know them a little bit and you get to see how they are related/ their relationship. When I read this first part, I could tell that George was pretty much Lennie’s caretaker and it was his job to find Lennie a job and make sure he ate enough and stayed a live. He kind of resented having to drag Lennie around (pg 11~12: “Well we ain’t got any!” George exploded. “Whatever we ain’t got, you want. If I was alone I could live so easy… But wadda I got? I got you. You can’t keep a job and you loose me every job I get.”), because Lennie’s a bit slow and he messes up a lot. He tries really hard to be good and listen to what George tells him to do, but in the end of every situation, Lennie forgets what George told him beforehand and sometimes it creates a little trouble (pg 45~46: “Well, he seen this girl in this red dress. Dumb like he is, he likes to touch ever’thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do. Well, this girl just squawks and squawks. I was jus’ a little bit off, and I heard all the yellin’, so I comes running, an’ by that time Lennie’s so scared all he can think to do is jus’ hold on. I socked him over the head with a fence picket to make him let go. He was so scairt he couldn’t let go of the dress. And he’s so strong, you know… Well, that girl rabbits in an’ tells the law she’s been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie. So we sit in an irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day.”). But when you look at them, you can tell that George is...
The characteristics of mice are simple and feebleminded. A mouse is helpless, timid and oblivious. Few characters in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men possess such characteristics. Throughout the novel, Lennie exhibits the qualities associated with mice.
Although Lennie was unattractive and has the tendency of accidental violence, compassion was still something readers had for him. Steinbeck constantly reminded us that he has a mental disability which automatically makes someone feel pity for him. Additionally he was ignored and made fun of by other characters, “Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you”(Steinbeck 10). Him getting in trouble was beyond his control because of his mental disability which is something else that makes a reader feel sympathetic for him. Also, the readers are solicitous towards Lennie because of how much he looks up to George. This is portrayed when Crooks asks Lennie what he would do if George never came back, “Well, s’pose, jus’ s’pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then?”(Steinbeck 70). Because of his inability to comprehend information, he got extremely defensive and said, “George is careful. He won’t get hurt” (Steinbeck 70). This scene is crafted in such a way that it automatically
In the Salinas River Valley, after the Great Depression, there were a large number of unemployed workers seeking jobs. In the fiction novel "Of Mice and Men," by John Steinbeck, Lennie Small is among one of those men. Lennie and his friend George both have just received jobs on a ranch as farm workers. What brings the two together is their dream to someday own their own land. Lennie has a lot of character and personality traits that define him. One trait that he has is he is very forgetful. Another trait he has is he is very curious. A final trait he has is that he is very reliant. Although he might not be the intelligent person in the book, he has a very well developed personality. Lennie demonstrates his personality and character traits throughout the novel.
In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, Curley’s insecure character is shown through what other characters say about him. One instance in which Curley’s insecure disposition is shown is when the other men are talking about him after he verbally attacks Lennie. When George demands to know why Curley disrespected Lennie, one of the other men responds saying Curley tends to pick fights with big guys like Lennie and furthermore explains, “Kind of like he’s mad at ‘em because he ain’t a big guy” (26). A great deal of Curley’s insecurity stems from his size. Despite superficial efforts to make himself appear bigger, Curley knows he will never amount to the size and strength of the other men on the ranch. To compensate for his size, he often times tries to prove himself through fighting.
George really helps him through problems that keep happening during the book. Lennie is incapable to live because he does not know his strength and George has to play the role as a living assistant for Lennie. Lennie does not mean to harm but because of his condition he essentially harms people. In the book it explains the trouble in weed and George explains “Well he saw a girl in a red dress and a red dress and he just wanted to feel it and when he touched it the girl just starts yelling and all he can think to do is hold on” ( Steinbeck 41). The quote states or explains how Lennie can scare or harm people.
Lennie is not so much stereotyped, but rather trapped because of his size. Because Lennie is so big, Curley thinks he has to prove something by beating up Lennie. Lennie gets on Curley’s bad side when he didn’t do anything wrong. Lennie is then forced to fight. " ‘I don’t want no trouble,’ he said plaintively.
At the beginning, the author describes his movement using a metaphor, as Lennie “[drags] his feet… the way a bear drags his paws” (p.2), to show that he is much alike a bear physically. In addition, Steinbeck uses a simile to emphasize Lennie’s animal-like behaviour, as he “[drinks] wit long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse” (p.3). By comparing his physical and behavioural characteristics, this can foreshadow that the author implies that Lennie is seen as more animal than human because of his metal disabilities. George further makes it evident when he infers that “somebody [would] shoot [him] for a coyote if [he] was by [himself]” (p.12). This shows that people are scared of him and his unpredictable, animal-like behaviour because of the lack of understanding about mental health during the early 1900s. Furthermore, this can be the foundation for the theme where the lack of communication and understanding with the mentally disabled can lead to dire and tragic
In the book Of Mice and Men, the author,John Steinbeck, uses stereotype characters to convey his message. He wants to empathize with his characters as human beings. He uses stereotype characters such as Lennie, George, Curly, Slim, Candy, Crooks, and Curly's wife. Steinbeck's goal is to inform people how life was like for a migrant worker in the 1920's to 1930's.
Right off the bat, Lennie is described as lesser, and rather than helped he is given a “slap on the wrist”. To begin with, Lennie is always described as less capable or unable to do certain activities to the extent of others. For example, at the beginning of the book George and Lennie were attempting to get a job. George always said, “He can do anything, just give him a try” (22). George implied that the likelihood of Lennie receiving a job is significantly less due to him being disabled. Lennie being less likely to receive a job due to his mental disability shows discrimination and expresses how difficult it could have been for a mentally handicapped person to get a job during this era. Moving forward, rather than George helping Lennie, Lennie is put down and scolded for his mistakes. During a scene between Lennie and George, George exclaimed, “You forget. You always forget, an’ I got to talk you out of it” (23). As it is not necessarily Lennie’s fault, George is in the wrong to put down Lennie for his actions. However, rather than attempting to help Lennie, George puts him down for his mistakes and then is forced to apologize for his own actions later. Lennie is a prime example of oppression against the mentally disabled in Of Mice and Men.
Throughout the novel Of Mice and Men, Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Lennie could not reach their potential because of the discrimination against them. In Depression era, people discriminated African-American people by using derogatory terms, physically assaulting them and limiting their socialization. They discriminated women by calling names and making offensive assumptions. The mentally disabled people were target of brutal actions, stereotypes, and betrayals. Steinbeck was warning to people not to discriminate others by showing various conflicts and tragic ending that caused by discrimination.
MOST, IF NOT ALL, OF THE CHARACTERS IN OF MICE AND MEN CAN BE SEEN AS
“‘…That was your own Aunt Clara. An’ she stopped givin’ ‘em to ya. You always killed ‘em.’” (Page 9, Paragraph 7) George also knows that there is nothing he can do for Lennie’s mental and physical state. After they learn about Curley’s wife and meet her, George warns Lennie to stay away from her: “‘Well, you keep away from her, ‘cause she’s a rattrap if I ever seen one. Glove fulla Vaseline,’ George said disgustedly.” (Page 32, Paragraph 11) George is probably worried that Lennie might want to touch her and be accused of rape again. However, George is aghast when he sees Curley’s wife dead on the ground. He knows that Lennie did not mean to kill her, but he also knows that accidentally killing a human is still an unforgivable crime. George probably thinks of Lennie as a danger to him, to his future ranch, and to other humans as
Often people treat him poorly because he is always with George. Everyone there, including george at some points in the book get angry about how stupid they think he can be. “God a’mighty, if i was alone i could live so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble.” (1.4) He often get’s mad at Lennie because he always forgets things and always gets them into trouble, and he often gets treated like this by everyone around him. Curley’s wife also treats Lennie poorly, but when she began to feel lonely, she went to Lennie to talk to him.
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. Curley’s Wife, who persistently talked with every man on the ranch besides her husband, displays how sexism is portrayed on the ranch. Steinbeck proves this by showing a differing view towards women in the time period that the book was written, because, as Carleson states, “Why’n’t you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs?” (Steinbeck, 62).