In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there are many diverse characters. Every single character portrays a different aspect of the human nature. The naïve, the protector, the calm, the manipulative, the rage filled, the shunned, and the hopeful. Each character is dynamic in their own way. This is a small glimpse into what traits Steinbeck thinks the human race has, embodied into each of his characters’ personalities.
Our society tends to disregard the need to have an open mind. This has caused our current perspective to be tainted with discrimination. In the novel Of Mice and Men, Discrimination is present when an individual accepts appearance rather than personality.This present through the character of Crooks, who choose to comply to racism. Crook’s character is being discriminated due to his skin color which soon caused him to be disregarded. Although at a certain point, Crooks stood up but no good has come to him. Challenging discrimination is strenuous, however it is necessary in order for an individual to advance.
In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men Steinbeck describes the lonely life of migrant workers going from farm to farm. These workers go from farm to farm surviving with nothing except themselves and their dreams of a better life/ While the protagonists of the novel are close friends, most of these migrant workers are quite lonely and are without a friend to lean on when times get hard. Steinbeck explores this isolation as one of the major themes in Of Mice and Men through two stereotypes that were arguably the most discriminated against during this time: the black male, symbolized by the stable buck, Crooks, and the depression-era female, symbolized by the attention-seeking woman, Curley’s wife.
The novellas Of Mice and Men and The Pearl are both often noted as social criticisms. The author, John Steinbeck addresses real-life issues that society is facing. Whether through direct statements and comments, or through a fictional characters’ situation, Steinbeck criticizes just some of the problems of society. He shows the way people are discriminated against, and why. He shows the issues society faces. Author John Steinbeck explores multiple real life issues in both works, and provides a message of how unfair the world is, as well as show how cruel humans can be to differences.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a story about two workers named George Milton and Lennie Small who are working in a ranch outside of Soledad, California. George takes care Lennie ,who is mentally disabled, throughout their adventure. Throughout the book, there is profound language, racism, and sexism found. These factors make people question if it is appropriate for high school students to read and analyze this book. Even though it includes these factors, Of Mice and Men should not be banned.
Oppression is a circumstance in which individuals are treated unfairly and are prevented from having opportunities and freedom. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck’s characters are caught in a vicious cycle of oppression. Lennie and George travel to Soledad, California to work on a ranch. Through incitement of the other oppressed characters, Lennie, who has a mind of a child, is pushed to his limits. In the end, Lennie’s intellectual disability gets the best of him when he kills Curley’s wife. In Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, the theme of oppression and the effects by showing how it limits what someone can accomplish, how it minimizes their importance, and how everyone does it.
John Steinbeck was born at the beginning of the twentieth century and experienced the turning point of many eras that are evidenced throughout his writings. Steinbeck lived through the strong economic years during World War I, the dirt poor years of the Great Depression, and even saw the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s; all of his dreams for these decades are evidenced in his works, more specifically, Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men is set in the 1920’s in the Salinas Valley of California. Other writers, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, char-acterize the 1920’s as a fun decade with a booming economy filled with men rising from rags to riches, but Steinbeck shows how life was for men
In conclusion, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck furthers Steinbeck’s speech by illustrating how dreams can be crushed, as well as people feeling lonely and worthless when they are discriminated against, whether it be racism or sexism. By illustrating what happens when these isms are present in society, Steinbeck is demonstrating exactly why they should not be existent. Discrimination has lasting negative effects that can only be prevented by treating everyone as equals. To end, a n unknown wise man once said “Treat the janitor with the same respect as the
In the novel “Of Mice and Men” the theme of social injustice is presented by John Steinbeck through the characters of Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Crooks. By examining the theme of social injustice one can be taught that treating someone based on their mental capability, gender, or race is wrong. Rather treat them base on the person they are on the
Martin Luther King stated that “hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” Both love and hatred played a role in John Steinbeck’s novel, but in the end cruelty and hatred brought George and Lennie’s friendship to a tragic ending. Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men during the Great Depression of 1930’s. He was a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning author. Steinbeck was once a manual laborer. Steinbeck was familiar with the time period and could connect with the feelings of the migrant workers. His writings were about social and economic concepts. This novel illustrates the culture of violence and cruelty of that time. Steinbeck 's characters show different types of inhumanity. Every character feels isolated and lonely, which causes some to attack those who are weaker than they are. Loneliness and the cruelty of others caused George and Lennie to stick together during many hard years, but the violence of their fellow workers overcame George’s good intentions to care for Lennie.
Discrimination and loneliness always been a problem even in the olden days. John Steinbeck is the author of the novel Of Mice and Men. The main characters of this novel are George and Lennie. This is a novel about two men who travel together in a time when most men would travel alone. There are multiple way to prove that there has always been fascism, segregation, discrimination and loneliness even in the olden days.
During the early 1930s, after a series of unfortunate events that caused the Great Depression, the United States economy plummeted. This, in turn, caused difficulties from severe unemployment to widespread poverty in the US. Racial discrimination was not uncommon because tensions between opposing races skyrocketed after the abolishment of slavery. Prejudice because of gender was a usual everyday thing; women recently received the right to vote along with working paying jobs. However, women were still treated similar too property. John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men was set during the Great Depression, where it featured two protagonists through their journey to achieve their dreams. However, the minor supporting characters were the ones who suffered from social discrimination because of the historical, economic, and political forces during that period.
The author Dean Koontz once said, “...the most identifying trait of humanity is our ability to be inhumane to one another.” Although there are many hopeful aspects in people, the inhumanity of people is inevitable. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Lennie Small and George Milton discover the hardships and the hope in life as migrant workers during the Depression era. Though their hope for a better life dwindles throughout their journey, Lennie and George’s dream of owning their own farm help to distract them from their harsh reality of despondency. Steinbeck reveals the bitter nature of mankind due to weakness and vulnerability through his use of symbolism, characterization, and imagery.
Examine how far George and Lennie are loyal to each other throughout 'Of mice and men'
As society has become an integral part of the world’s culture, the opinions and misconceptions of others have dominated the way people live. Throughout history, certain groups and ideas have been suppressed by the ones in charge. These actions have sprouted an almost universal indifference to those deemed less than ideal, and therefore created a divide in the way society sees race, age groups and even gender. Coupled with the Great Depression, these beliefs are the driving force for the majority of problems individuals experience in the text. In the novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses the device of conflict to portray the external struggles of characters living in the era of the Great Depression.