Arthur+Guan's+Page

=  =


 *  Social Inequalities in the novel “Of Mice and Men” **

Discrimination was a serious social issue at the beginning of twentieth century. It is not just toward black men, but also women and elders. In John Steinbeckʼs novel “Of Mice and Men”, the author shows discrimination toward those people. The victims are Crook, Curleyʼs wife and Candy.

In the past, black people were treated unfairly and they got the most of discriminations. In the novel, Crook is the person who is discriminated because of his skin color. Crook says that, “ʼCause Iʼm black. They play cards in there, but I canʼt play because Iʼm black. They say I stink. ” He were not allowed to play cards with others. Nobody wants to stay and makes friends with him just because of he is a black. Skin color makes him be treaded unequally. He were not allowed to live in the bunkhouse. The only place he can stay is the shack. In othersʼ eyes, Crook just like a virus, they are afraid to be infected and try to avoid him. All of those clearly shows that Crook as a black man has been discriminated by others. Curleyʼs wife is the only woman on the farm and she is a tragedy. At that time, women were considered lower than men. She even does not have a name in the novel. She is fashion, fascinating and flirtatious. She wants to get freedom, but nobody wants to talk to her and they even make fun on her. When George talks about Curleyʼs wife, others response that “Well, I think Curleyʼs married .... a tart.” They never talk to Curleyʼs wife but they make a judgement that she is a tart. That is very rude for a lady. No one wants or tries to understand her; no one talks to her. All of this is just because she is a woman. The discrimination towards women made she misconstrue by others. Candy is an old and disabled man on the farm. He loses one hand when he works. He has a dog, but it is also old and even cannot walk. Others think that the dog is useless and they shout it. That is a foreshadowing for the end of Candy. He is afraid that he will be kicked out from the farm because he is useless. He talks to George that, “You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasnʼt no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebodyʼd shoot me. But they wonʼt do nothing like that. I wonʼt have no place to go, anʼ I canʼt get no more jobs.” He contribute a lot to the farm. But when he is old and disabled, he is forced to leave the farm, and he will have no place to live and no job to do. As a elder, he should be treated fairly, but on the farm, nobody cares about him. He is a victim of discrimination. Everyone should equal and have the same rights. But in the past, it was not like that. There were a lot of discriminations. In the novel “Of Mice and Men”, the author John Steinbeck clearly show the discriminations toward black, women and elder at the beginning of twentieth century.