Special Needs In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In the classic American novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, power is a recurring theme. Most of the characters have direct ties to power, whether it is physical, social, economic, or intellectual. But the author balances their powers with flaws. Lennie, a main character, has a lot of physical power. Yet due to his mental disability, he does not understand the consequences of his actions. Because of this, he cannot control his strength. His lack of empathy results in unintentional damage to those around him. Compared to other characters, Lennie is not as high up on the social ladder. This is since he is unable to see possible outcomes from his decisions. Through Lennie’s characterization, one sees that in the novel, knowing how

“Only 50 years ago persons with intellectual disabilities were scorned, isolated and neglected. Today, they are able to attend school, become employed and assimilate into their local community” (Nelson Mandela). Prior to the later part of the 20th century people with intellectual disabilities were often ridiculed, treated unfairly, feared, and locked away in institutions. According to Rhonda Nauhaus and Cindy Smith in their article Disability Rights through the Mid-20th Century, The laws of any nation reflect its societal values. The real life issue of discrimination towards people with intellectual disabilities in the United States and Australia is demonstrated in the novel, Of Mice and Men by showing how this issue affects one of the main characters, Lennie Smalls.

Ableism is a dynamic represented in Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men. Lennie a character in the book, is characterized by his mental limitations. Steinbeck writes, “ ‘Jus’ tell Lennie what to do an’ he’ll do it don't take no figuring. He can’t think of nothing to do himself, but he sure can take orders.’” This shows that Lennie has limited capacity to think for himself.

The book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is about two friends that are always working together. One of the three main characters, Lennie, is mentally handicapped, who has a muscular body, strong and tall. His other friend, George, is intelligent but unlike Lennie, he has a small body and he is smart. They move around and work together. Lennie and George try to find new jobs because they have been fired from their previous job that causes them to move to another city. They begin to work in a farm; they help feed animals and other farm works. This book is mostly based on dreams about the characters, so that it can help them keep living. The characters Lennie, George and Candy use the dream as a source of power to gain comfort when they feel uneasy.

People today with mental disabilities are often criticized for not being “up to par” with everyone else in the world. This is true especially in the 1920’s, in which the novel Of Mice and Men takes place. Take Lennie Small for example, a large and hefty man, who has a mental disability. He, as a character, is blamed for the heinous act of murdering the antagonist’s wife, whose name is never revealed. It is true that Lennie does fracture her neck, but he does so without knowing. For this reason, along with many others, Lennie is not to blame in any case involving his acts of violence in this novel, because of various, indisputable reasons. These include the red dress incident in Weed, crushing Curley’s hand, and the aforementioned murder of Curley’s wife, all of which prove Lennie’s innocence.

In the novel Of Mice and Men it is very obvious that there is something wrong with Lennie. He has a childlike demeanor, has memory loss, and seems to panic in stressful situations. Although Steinbeck never mentions what is wrong with Lennie in the novel, all of these symptoms match up to one intellectual disability, Autism.

Scott Hamilton once stated, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” Disability is only an obstacle in a person's life, but it does not set the identity of that person. John Steinbeck's novel shows how disabled people are treated differently by writing about their heartbreak and sorrow. Many individuals with disabilities feel that a disability is a wall blocking them from achieving their goals. In our society, people are told what to be and what to do with their disability, but one should have the choice to carve their pathway to success. In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrayed a political statement by looking at mental and physical disabilities through different characters such as Curley's Wife, Crooks, and Lennie.

Image your a person with a mental disability, and all people seem to do is ridicule you day in and day out. The may call you such derogatory terms such as “retard” or “braindead”. You try not to take these words to heart, and attempt to ignore these people and continue living a life that you want. You may work for a living and try to support yourself, or you may live with a relative that understands and cares about you. You try to live on, and go past the overarching question if people with mental disabilities can live normal lives. This is a question that my book, Lottery by Patricia Wood, seems to strongly imply that it is trying to answer. It seems to succeed very well in eventually answering this utmost question, and paints a picture of

"We're born alone we live alone die alone. Only through love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone” Orson Welles. In John Steinbeck's novel, “Of Mice and Men”, Steinbeck focuses on the struggle of having a disability while struggling to get by during the American Great Depression on a Californian ranch life. Even though one may have to live around their disability, they do not let that become a big stepping stone in the life, whether they know about it or not. In John Steinbeck's novel, “Of Mice and Men”, Lennie Small, Carlson and Crooks are three great examples of how they keep living their lives despite the facts that they each have a disabilities to their lives.

In Of Mice And Men there are so many human rights problems that it makes me wonder how did some people go from dirt poor to wealthy. The main human right problem in Of Mice And Men is that Lennie can’t get the healthcare that he needs because he is poor. After reading the novel and doing some research I have found a solution to this human rights problem that can help lots of people and could help Lennie.

Did you know that 30 states have laws in their constitutions that prohibit the disabled from voting? Unfortunately, many people feel the need to take away basic human rights, because they feel that the disabled ones cannot handle it. Many disabled ones are born with disabilities and they cannot help how they look, talk, or act. Should this be the reason that they should be reduced to below the way that children are treated? In the book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck demonstrates the way that disabled ones are treated in the real world through his character Lennie. Lennie is often treated as a child and is definitely mistreated. Lennie is sometimes bullied by George, his caretaker and so Of Mice and Men demonstrates how people in the real world are sometimes treated. No one should be treated poorly, because of their disabilities. Mentally disabled ones are usually the main ones bullied by their caretakers, they have to live in segregated environments and they also are sometimes treated inappropriately by their caretakers.

The air stands still as you walk around the decaying buildings. The feeling of something watching you is heavily present in your thoughts. An oder, a damp, musty, moldy odor, fills your nose as you try to peek inside and see what 's in these decrepit buildings. This isnt just a place to get a rush of adrenalin with your friends as you go through the grounds of Pennhurst. This neglected, overgrown place that now is sitting while it rots in time, was actually once used to be a high functioning safe facility for the people who were abandoned, mentally unstable, or mentally challenged. Pennhurst has a long list of problems if you dig deep enough into the history of the chilling place. There is the

Jacobs, Charlotte Decores. "Vaccinations Have Always Been Controversial in America : What It Means to Be American." What It Means to Be American. Charlotte Decroes Jacobs, 4 Aug. 2015. Web. 02 Oct. 2015. This is a secondary source through the Smithsonian and Zocala public square. It states how vaccinations have been controversial in America and it states life in that generation.

In John Steinbeck’s 1930’s classic novella, Of Mice and Men, we are introduced to one of the main characters, Lennie Small. Lennie is developed as a mentally handicapped, who doesn’t know his strengths and weaknesses, who forgets everything, and who acts like a child. By this development, Steinbeck dehumanizes Lennie in order to show the mentally handicapped population has no chance of achieving the American Dream.

Imagine being able to tell someone to do something and they did it, no matter how awful it was. In John Steinbeck's emotional novel, Of Mice and Men, a grown man named Lennie is mentally challenged has a hard time telling what is right and what is wrong. He has a caretaker named George who has a short temper, however he tries his best to be patient with him. When George loses his temper it often cause Lennie to want to run away. Through all this they share a dream home where they can leave and go to the circus whenever they want. George and Lennie, have the desire to escape, as well as facing reality, I decided to show this through a drawing.