“Of Mice and Men” Prejudice and Alienation Essay

Prejudice of many groups of people was prevalent in the States during the Great Depression era. In the 1930s when the account book as wellk come in, there was an extremum amount of racism and sexism, little to no knowledge of workforcetal disability, and assumedly a great deal of ageism. In _Of Mice and Men,_ John Steinbeck uses prec erstwhileived opinion to illustrate the authorship of alienation by means of ageism, racism, sexism, and ableism. edulcorate was an old man who lived on the provoke who lost his hand in an accident while working. The ranch pass constantly tortured edulcorate by telling him that his frankfurter was too old for his bear good, and that he would be better off dead. Candy fathers this personally, assuming that they were insinuating that he was also worthless to the ranch, and too old for his own good. The old man forms that this is the only job hell ever have, considering he only has only had one hand and is too old to do hard labor and said, Wh en they can me here I wisht somebodyd shoot me I wont have no place to go, an I cant get no more jobs (60). The former(a) men understand this and exclude Candy for his differences. Slim, another ranch hand, lecturing of the town about Candys dog said, I wisht somebodyd shoot me if I got old and a cripple (45). Candys dog is an obvious parallel to Candy and his physical conditions that prevent him from working.To show racism, Steinbeck uses the case Crooks, a black stable buck who lives on the ranch. Although sometimes in the book it seems that Crooks isolates himself, it is clear towards the finish of the book that the other men lift associating with him because of the color of his skin. Many of theother ranch hands refer to Crooks as nigger, an extremely offensive term, instead of his actual name. Crooks avoids getting into squabble by staying in his room (which is in the barn with the animals) and staying out of the guidance of the rest of the men.At one point, Crooks aggra vates Curleys wife, and as a reaction she threatened, Well you keep your place then, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so fast it personalt even funny (87). When Crooks is talking to Lennie and Candy, he confides in them about his loneliness, admitting, A jest at sets alone here at night, maybe readin books or thinkin or coerce alike that. Sometimes he gets thinkin, an he got nothin to tell him whats so an what aint so (73).Sexism is another major part of the fabrication, and it is shown through the character of Curleys wife. Curleys wife, is who she sounds like she is, because shes married to Curley, the son of the head of the ranch. She is never given a name, which was probably to show the commentator that the only relevance she had was that she was Curleys possession in a way, because she was his wife and was not allowed to talk to anyone but him. Curleys wife constantly cries for fear because she, like many of the other characters in this novel, feels lonely m ost of the time. The men do not understand why she does, and take it as vox populi she is just being slutty in a sense because she didnt like Curley.George is talking to Candy when he says his first impression of Curleys wife. George said, Well, seems Curleys married a tart, because he didnt empathize Curleys wifes loneliness (28). In turn, Curleys wife is alienated for her g give the sacker, and admits to Crooks, Lennie, and Candy that she wishes she had people to talk to and have conversation with. While talking to the collar other outcasts on the farm she admitted, I cant talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad (87). It is more and more apparent throughout the book that the other ranch hands wearyt emergency to make Curley upset by talking to his wife, but in the end she is still alienated because she is a woman.The most recognizable prejudice in this novel was the ablelism toward Lennie. Lennie, the main character of the book, had some type of mental disturbance that pr evented him from remembering things and also from controlling the motor function and decision make concerning his hands, but of course inthis time period there was no knowledge of such diseases. Lennie was the most kind-hearted, innocent character in this book because he doesnt understand superficial alienation or prejudice toward someone because of their sex, race, age, etc. He cant take alimony of himself, so his best friend George tells him what to do. During one part of the book when George is talking to Slim, George talks about how he apply to treat Lennie I used to have a hell of a lot of fun with him. utilise to play jokes on im cause he was too dumb to take care of imself (40). Soon after, George told Slim that he stopped messing with Lennie because he told him once to jump into a river, and Lennie almost drowned and died because he didnt know how to swim, and didnt know any better than to just listen to what George says. At the end of the book when Curley found out that Lennie had killed his wife, he took it out in angriness because he did not understand that Lennie couldnt control himself, ordering, When you see um, dont give im no chance, shoot for his guts (97). Lennie is alienated in this novel because of his disability and is isolated (and killed) as a result.In sum, Steinbeck uses ageism, sexism, racism, and ableism to hold the theme of alienation in _Of Mice and Men_. In the scene with all cardinal of the alienated characters in Crookss room, Curleys wife said in frustration with the fact that she has not one to talk to, Standin here talkin to a bunch of bindle stiffs- a nigger an a dum-dum and a lousy ol sheep- an likin it because they aint got nobody else. (78) This line is very significant because it shows that even though they are all excluded from the majority of the ranch hands, and from society in general, they realize that they can turn to each other when they feel lonely.