Discrimination and prejudice references in the book, Of Mice and Men, reflect on the several characters lives. The biggest impacts of discrimination take its rest on Candy, Crooks, Lennie, and Curley’s wife. All of them are discriminated for different reasons. People are treated worse by the ranch simply because they are different.
Candy is one of the oldest workers on the ranch and struggles to keep up with the pace of the other workers. The other workers are younger, stronger, and more energetic than Candy. Many of the ranch hands get mad at him and call him, “Good for nothing.” They talk behind his back at what a bad worker he is. Candy only having one hand slows him down ever more so. Candy knows that his days are coming and feels like he can’t keep up. Added onto his discrimination, is his “best friend” attitude towards his old, smelly dog. He tells the ranch that the dog has been working with him since he was a pup. He was the best dog he ever had. However, the workers say that the dog smells so bad that they have to leave whenever he’s in Bunk House. This eventually leads up to the point until Carlson tells Candy he must take the dog outside where he will end his misery. Candy, after much persuasion, lets Carlson take the dog away where it is shot. Candy falls into a melancholy because his best friend died. He feels closer to death than ever and then halts his work. Candy’s final summation of discrimination leaves him depressed and friendless. Lennie and George are his best buds since his dog was shot, but they don’t compare. Discrimination takes all the life and sweetness away from Candy.
Crooks, being the only black man on the ranch gets some of the most discrimination. Being the 1930’s, blacks were still considered to be unequal and not as smart as white people. Many prejudice thoughts were fired right at Crooks. Crooks is the ranch’s stable man. He works, sleeps, and lives in the stables. Crook also is handicap because a