How Does Steinbeck Present Social Injustice

Social injustices in literature are often used as a plot device, by which authors utilize in an attempt to convey a deeper message to the reader. By detailing forms of discrimination - against race, against gender - through characters and incidents that develop throughout a story, authors are able to speak volumes about times of societal unrest and injustice. Specifically, the motif of racism during the Great Depression era is portrayed through works of literature, such as Of Mice and Men and To Kill a Mockingbird, in order to depict the oppression and discrimination that African Americans faced during that era. Through the characters of Tom Robinson and Crooks, authors Harper Lee and John Steinbeck are able to provide an in-depth perspective
of the prejudices of racism in a historical time period.
Racial segregation in the past had caused African Americans to harbor feelings of loneliness and dissociation, which was a result of their physical and emotional isolation from others.
This is brought into perspective in Of Mice and Men, where Crooks faces segregation from the other workers on the ranch, due to him being an African American and thus being racially different from the others. For example, he is confined in a room separate from the bunkhouse where the other workers resided, forced to be alone, simply because the others do not want him in the bunkhouse. Steinbeck shows this in chapter 4, when Crooks tells Lennie, “‘You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room.’” (Steinbeck 68) When Lennie asked why, Crooks responded, “‘Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink.’” (Steinbeck 68) Since Crooks was a black man and all the other workers were white, he was never given chances to interact with them, because they looked upon him with disdain and regarded him as a lesser human being. This establishes the fact that there was some sort of “social hierarchy” which formed the basis of racism in that time period, where whites determined themselves as “higher” than Negroes. This “social hierarchy” must have been prominent for decades, because even as a child, Crooks faced isolation being part of the only African American family in his hometown. The feelings of loneliness that
Crooks harbored as child follows him throughout his life, because as an adult, he still faces segregation from the white workers, being the only African American on the ranch where he works. Crooks tries to convey his perpetual feelings of loneliness to Lennie, as seen chapter 4 when he says, “S’pose you had to sit out here and read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you get to read books. Books ain’t no good. A guy needs somebody - to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.” (Steinbeck 72) Crooks was trying to convey how lonely he would get at times on the ranch, at the times when he was only able immerse himself in books, because he did not have anybody who would listen to him nor anybody to comfort him. When he says, “I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick,” it was like a desperate outcry of how much he was suffering, and how his mental and emotional state had become sickly, due to forever being a victim of the racial segregation and to the lonely depression that confined him.
Because of racial discrimination and oppression in the Great Depression era, African Americans were unable to speak out about their feelings and convey their truth against the prejudiced views of others.
As seen in To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is falsely accused and unfairly discriminated against simply because of his skin color. Like the other African American characters in the novel, he is unable to communicate his feelings due to the complexity of the issue of racism at the time. As soon as the false rape accusation was made against Tom, he was almost certainly done for, since the bigoted view that the town had against African Americans meant that the people were more likely to believe Bob Ewell’s false claim, rather than even bothering to listen to Tom Robinson’s truth. An instance of prejudice is seen during chapter 19 in the trial scene, when it says, “‘You're a mighty good fellow, it seems—did all this for not one penny?’ ‘Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more'n the rest of 'em-’ ‘You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?’ Mr. Gilmer seemed ready to rise to the ceiling. The witness realized his mistake and shifted uncomfortably in the chair. But the damage was done. Below us, nobody liked Tom Robinson's answer.” (Lee 127) In this scene, the same “social hierarchy” makes an appearance, even though it is not explicitly stated. Tom Robinson is unable to communicate his reasoning and true feelings to the audience without eliciting a
negative response, because according to social constructs, Negroes were too low in the hierarchy to have the position to feel sorry for anybody. This scene essentially highlights the bigoted perspective that the white people of Maycomb viewed African Americans in, because as long as Negroes remained at the bottom of this figurative hierarchy, society would have continued to take their opinions and feelings with a grain of salt. Another example of the biased perspective that society had would be in chapter 4 of Of Mice and Men, when it says, “‘Well you keep your place then, n*****. I could get you strung up on tree so easy it ain’t even funny.’ Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego - nothing to arouse either like or dislike.’” (Steinbeck 81) In this scene, Curley’s wife acts contemptuous towards Crooks because she knows she has the upper ground, and thus is able to flaunt the fact that she is “higher up” in the social hierarchy than Crooks. Crooks is aware of the obvious disdain in Curley’s wife’s derogatory statement, and doesn’t even attempt to respond or defend himself. Either way, he would not have been able to convey his feelings of loneliness and desire to be treated as an equal, to the incredibly unjust and ignorant views of Curley’s wife - who in this scene, is representative of society as a whole at the time.
One of the most prominent aspects of the historical oppression against African Americans, was in fact the verbal abuse that was often directed at them, which unfortunately appeared to be a typical part of the average Negro’s daily life during the Great Depression. In fact, it appeared that in many instances, African Americans in that era had become accustomed to the incredibly derogatory names that they were being called, and the consequential emotional damage as well. For example, in Of Mice and Men, the aforementioned scene where Curley’s wife berates Crooks and calls him “n*****” in a condescending manner, is one of the several instances of verbal abuse that Crooks has to tolerate as a Negro. His silence and lack of desire to defend himself after the harsh vituperation suggests that he knew that there was no point in retaliating, since he knew that African Americans did not really have a voice in that time. He also felt that it would be better to remain silent and to accept the verbal attacks, out of fear that greater harm might be inflicted upon him if he spoke. Despite Crooks’ silence, Curley’s wife’s words evidently had an impact on his emotional well being.
Both To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men are able to highlight the aspects of racism from the perspective of African Americans during the Great Depression and pre-civil rights era, by emphasizing the damaging aspects of the social hierarchy that formed the basis of racism in a historical context. However, this social hierarchy formed the essence of other social injustices seen throughout history as well, not just pertaining to racism.