Reasons In John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

What could be so terrible about a book, that it has become one of the most frequently banned/challenged books? Of Mice and Men is a fictional book written by John Steinbeck in 1937. The book has been banned in many schools due to racism, profanity, foul language, violence, and for seemingly promoting euthanasia. The book was usually read by high school students around the age fourteen or fifteen, however many parents have gotten upset when hearing about what their kid was reading. Many parents have stated that this book is not age-appropriate and should not be read in school. However, in my opinion there is no reason for this book to be banned.

The biggest reason Of Mice and Men has been repeatedly banned and challenged is because of the impression …show more content…
Euthanasia is the act of killing someone to end their suffering. This can be seen twice throughout the book. The first time this is seen is with Candy and his old dog. As seen in the text ““Look, Candy. This ol’ dog jus’ suffers hisself all the time. If you was to take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head-” he leaned over and pointed, “-right there, why he’d never know what hit him.””(44). As seen in this quote Carlson says that Candy should just shoot his dog to end his suffering. In the end Carlson is the one to shoot Candy's dog and bury him. This is definitely an act of euthanasia. However it’s not exactly promoting it. It’s not saying you should kill someone just to end their suffering. Candy clearly does not agree with it at all. Candy clearly is hesitant about the idea until he finally gives in to Carlson who won’t stop pressuring Candy to kill his dog. The second time this occurs is at the very end of the book when George shoots Lennie. It does not directly state that George is doing this in order to end Lennies suffering, however it is implied that George shoots lennie to end his suffering and to make his death painless unlike how it might have …show more content…
This goes along with racism. It was said commonly in the 1930s when this book was made. However things have changed and it's not used as commonly. It’s not like just because the word is in the book students are just going to start saying it as well. Most if not all students probably know what the word means and knows not to say it. Either way I don't think that just because it's used in the book means that kids will say it to. It's a common misconception that kids will repeat everything, while that true in some cases, it all depends on age and what's being repeated. Obviously young kids shouldn’t be reading this book. They would probably repeat the n word because they don’t know any better, however the students reading this book are 14-15. They know the n word isn’t good. It’s really stupid people really think teens would repeat something they saw in a book. Almost as crazy as the people who claim video games make you violent, it's the same scenario people really think that teens don’t know what's wrong. Sure, teens are known for making bad choices but, that doesn't mean we would kill someone just because it was in a book or movie. People who do usually have a mental disability that they really can't control. The point is that the book isn’t promoting racism and the n word while used quite a bit, shouldn’t necessarily be a problem in itself. Its seems like people just hated the parts about euthanasia and needed more thing to