Of Mice And Men Discrimination

The Great Depression was an ear of hardship for many, and kept several people from accomplishing even the most basic goals and dreams. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck tells a story of two friends, George Milton and Lennie Small. And their search for a better life in rural California. George, a smart but small and wiry laborer, and Lennie, a giant man who is mentally challenged, take jobs bucking barley on a large ranch outside of Salinas and try to save money to get a place of their own. On the ranch, they encounter many who have dreams of their own, but Steinbeck manipulates his characters, particularly Lennie to demonstrate that not everyone gets what they want, even if they work hard for it. Steinbeck’s views on discrimination is presented
For example, George describes Lennie as “‘Maybe he ain’t bright, but I never seen such a worker. He damn near killed his partner buckin’ barley’”(Steinbeck 39). Lennie is mentally challenged meaning he is looked in a different way because others of the story or of Great Depression view him as an isolated being, However, Lennie is overlooked and instead is viewed as the very good and strong worker that has the mindset of a 6-year-old boy. Furthermore, Candy is an old worker at the ranch in which he quotes ‘“ I got hurt four years ago,’ he said. ‘They can me purty soon. Jus’as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunkhouse they’ll put me on the country.”( Steinbeck 60). Candy cannot work as good as say Lennie or George, so he is being compared to those that can work efficiently, which means due to Candy’s age and handicap, he cannot work just as well. This meaning, the higher tier white males can overlook Candy and view him as a dead weight they are carrying and hoping to get rid of. Ultimately, discrimination of others is mainly determined of those who choose to overlook what a person is and instead compare those who have a handicap, race, or gender, to those who are described as
For example, George says to Lennie that, “‘Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place… ‘With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But no us’”( Steinbeck 13-14). The discrimination of other leads to the loneliness of others due to the cause and effect of people isolating one person than those people furthermore isolate themselves. Thus creating this sense of anguish in which those being discriminated not just during the Great Depression but overall in the general society. The discriminated workers become lonely because they are morosely mottled with nothing but discrimination. In this situation, Slim mentions, “‘ Ain’t many guys travel around together,’ he mused. ‘I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”’(Steinbeck 35). Everyone is scared of each other mainly because those who discriminate other feel the pantomime of others, and feel to have to hide and be scared of others to avoid further discrimination. The “alpha” race of white males can then abuse and almost control those of discrimination