Gender Inequality In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is set in Northern California during the Great Depression, around 1930’s. The main characters, George and Lennie, illustrate the American struggles throughout the great Depression, financially, socially but mostly discrimination. While focusing on the struggles of these times, the theme of this book consists from an exaggeration of total inequality of power between race, with Crooks being segregated and being treated differently because of his skin color, age, with Candy living in fear of getting kicked out due to his increasing age, and gender, with Curley's wife representing the female presence in an atrocious way, serving as morals to the plot. Clearly stating to us that the purpose of this book consist …show more content…
The book of mice and men consists of just one woman in the story, Curly’s wife. She is called various names, like …. but none of those are her real name. We never know her name, she is labeled as Curley's wife throughout the whole story. She socializes and spends time with the people of the farm, but this is assumed and considered as flirting. She is in the book to represent woman presence, however her presence is not a positive one. “I get lonely … You can talk to people but I can't talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to nobody” (page 87) In this quote Curley’s wife, is opening up for the first time to somebody in the story. She opens up to Lennie, but by doing this a chain reaction occurs which results in Lennie petting her to death. John Steinbeck symbolizes to us how when Curley’s wife, only female character in the book, opens up to someone for the first time in the story she is killed. Why is this? It is to show how in the consequences of a woman not doing what she is told to do. The consequences in Of Mice and Men for Curley's wife consists of getting called names, be treated like property and finally death. Which is not the same for the male characters, and expresses to us the exaggeration of gender inequality in this …show more content…
Candy, an older ranch worker with a tough past, represents the inequality towards age in Of Mice and Men. Candy is a hard worker, who spent his best years working at someone's ranch until he suffers an accident, consisting of him losing a hand, and was left with little money. Now he works in this ranch at Salinas Valley, northern California. Candy lives with a fear that the second he is considered not helpful because of his age he will be kicked out and left to die and rot. Like his dog, who is shot once he is old and becomes more problem than help to the ranch and it’s people. Later on Candy asks to become a part of George and Lennie’s dream, in order to find a life where he can live in peace without the fear of getting kicked out once he is not as helpful because of his age. George and Lennie include Candy in their dream of owning their own ranch, but this dream comes to an end in page 94; “His eyes blinded with tears and he turned and went weakly out of the barn, and he rubbed his bristly whiskers with his wrist stump”. Candy realizes that the dream of being in his own ranch and, most importantly, being able to live without the fear of getting kicked out any day due to his increasing age. No one should be treated the way Candy was treated after all his hard work in the ranch, especially if the only reason for him to be treated this way is his increasing age. Of Mice and Men represents age inequality using the