Of Mice And Men

As one traverses through the journey of life, he becomes confronted with many obstacles. One such obstacle becomes apparant through the illusion that society has taught him that all men are created equal. However, there comes a day in every man's life where he is discriminated by his peers, and he learns the reality that all men are not created equal. It may be because of his behavior, or even just because he has a disability. His actions can cause an inconvenience to his peers, and to society as a whole. At times, the way he communicates can be frustrating to those who he deals with. In John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, the author portrays how people with disabilities have to learn how to blend into the society that mocks their differences. In his Of Mice and Men Steinbeck portrays characteristics of people with disabilities to be outcasts to society. Steinbeck conveys this theme by using symbolism, and parallelism. One example of parallelism is shown by this quote "I been around him so much I never notice how he stinks." Herndon 2 "Well I can't stand him in here," said Carlson. "That stink hangs around even after he's gone." Parallelism is shown between the Candy's dog and Lennie. People mock the dog's horrible stench, which is symbolic to people mocking Lennie being an idiot therefore the dog's death foreshadows Lennies death.

In some cases Lennie's disability causes an inconvenience to those drawn in with him. "Well I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy" represents George and Lennie trying to get the job on the farm (Steinbeck 25). The boss implies that Lennie is holding George back due to the inconvenience Lennie puts on George. Steinbeck illustrates an inconvenience as George becomes frustrated with Lennie: " you get right up and take this pup back to the nest. He's gotta sleep with his mother. You want to kill him? Just born last night an' you take him out of the nest. You take him back or ill tell Slim not to let you have him." That is