What Is Discrimination In Of Mice And Men

Improved Essays
Discrimination “Discrimination has a lot of layers that make it tough for minorities to get a leg up” (Bill Gates). In John Steinbeck 's novel, Of Mice and Men, several characters are faced with the struggle of discrimination. When faced with these situations, everyone seems to battle with the injustices inflicted upon them. Many characters in the story are faced with these difficulties and tries to overcome them. During the 1930’s, many people struggled with discrimination because of the Great Depression. Crooks, is one of the several characters faces the struggle of discrimination. “This is just a nigger talkin’, an’ a busted-back nigger. So it don’t mean nothing, see?” (Steinbeck 71). Crooks is separated from all of the other men because …show more content…
She is often begging for attention throughout the novel. During the time that this novel was written, women were seen as a weaker gender and treated differently. Curley’s wife is just supposed to stay in the house because women had no use on a ranch. Repeatedly throughout the book, she talks to the men and is always flaunting herself in front of them. Women were basically used as a wife and to do chores in the house and cook. Curley’s wife can never pack up and move to a new job. She gets sick of being on the ranch, but since she’s married to Curley, she is stuck there forever. This causes her to flirt with all the men and draw attention to herself. Men stereotype women because they only see them as a wife. George is always talking about going down to the whore house, and that’s what women were seen as back then. Curley’s wife says, “Wha’s the matter with me? Ain’t I gotta right to talk to nobody?” (Steinbeck 87). Lennie knows not to talk to her, but she insists he does. George say that Curley’s wife is just asking for trouble and he knows that she is bound to cause something. She struggles with trying to talk to the men because they want nothing to do with her. Clearly, being a woman during the Great Depression was a definite daily …show more content…
Lennie has a mental disability which makes him stand out and be different from other men. At the very beginning of the novel, George tells the boss about Lennie and him. The boss knew that Lennie had a mental disability and was very hesitant about hiring him as a ranch hand. Curley also picks on Lennie several times throughout the novel. Curley doubted Lennie’s ability to stand up for himself. If it wasn’t for George, Lennie would be lost. No one in that time period would want to hire someone like Lennie. The Great Depression caused it to be very difficult for Lennie to be successful on his own. George makes it very clear to Lennie several times that it would be easier if he only had himself to worry about. Lennie says, “If you don’t want me, you only jus’ got to say so, and I’ll go off in those hills right there-right up in those hills and live by myself. An’ I won’t get no mice stole from me.” (Steinbeck 13). George knows that Lennie could not survive because of his disability. Clearly, Lennie battles daily with the struggles of

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    This explains how Curley’s wife feels about her husband, the one person she can talk to and be around. This also explains why she tries to talk to the workers and hang around the bunkhouse, because she is very lonely and has no one to talk to besides stubborn Curley. A fatal consequence of her hanging around the bunkhouse to get attention is Lennie accidentally kills her trying to feel her hair which she tells him to…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sexism In Of Mice And Men

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Sexism, to judge or belittle a person because of their gender or the typical stereotypes that the world has set. For many years, women have been belittle because of their gender. For instance; they are just here to show off and be the house keeper. In the book “Of Mice and Men” Curly’s wife is highly discriminated against because of her gender and because she is currently the only woman on the ranch. In the beginning of the novel we learn that Lennie and George are on the run from their job in weed due to getting in trouble with a woman..…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    This quote proves that discrimination affected Curley’s wife because she became lonely not being able talk to anyone but Curley.She also she wasn’t able to talk to nobody but Curley because she was a married women. This quote means that is Curley’s wife is angry and lonely because she isn’t able to talk to anyone because she is a girl. Another example of discrimination is when a guy at the ranch was talking to George, and said that a ranch isn’t a place for a girl especially since it 's filled with guys. “‘Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain 't no place for a girl ‘specially like her’” (Steinbeck 20). This quote also proves that discrimination affects Curley’s wife because she is a girl and the guys don’t think she should be there and this leads for people not to talk to her.…

    • 1177 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The men ostracized Curley's wife because she has power and for she was the only women on the farm, which shows that she is frustrated and constantly seeking attention. The power of Curley’s wife causes the men to stay away from her out of fear. Often, Curley's wife says that she is looking for her husband as an excuse to try to interact with the men. She looks gorgeous which causes Lennie to…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Loneliness In Mice And Men

    • 1480 Words
    • 6 Pages

    “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?” (Steinbeck 77). Being lonely is sickening to Curley 's wife because she gets too bored doing nothing without nobody. By being lonely, Curley’s wife develops a flirtatious characteristic when she is around the workers of the ranch because she can’t stand being alone without anyone to talk with. Another piece of evidence that explains why Curley’s wife is affected by Loneliness was while she explained to Lennie that she couldn’t talk with anyone except for her husband.…

    • 1480 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The reason the men don 't talk to her is because her husband threatens anyone that talks to her and because all the men think of her as a tramp. The only person she could only talk to is her husband, but in the book she admits that she does not like him. Unfortunately, Curley 's wife does not have a name. The reason Steinbeck did not give her a name is because he wanted to symbolize her as isolation, not having a name takes away the identity and significance of a person. All the men on the ranch think of her as a big attention seeking tramp.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    We do not know what her name in the story for unknown reason most likely that is all she was really all she remembered for being and that is Curley's wife. She would always on a regular basis would leave the house to go and talk with the other men just because she was lonely and lie to her husband so she would not get in trouble for leaving Most of the time when she would go they men would not talk to her because they were scared of curly. Curley's wife american dream was to become an actress and to have a husband that gave her a lot of affection.the reason why she did not achieve it was that her mom had stolen a paper that could have made an actress which washer main dream. We also know that Curley is not an affectionate man and does not really treat her with love, She is also the only one that we can say for certain that she did not achieve her american dream because she did in the book to lennie on accident making it a tragic story of someone who did not achieve their American dream. In the end a lot of people do not get to have their American dream like Crooks, Candy, and Curley's wife that is why it is called a dream.…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (4.102-103). Curley’s wife is a women and during this time women where still going by the cult of domesticity so she was to stay home and be a housewife. While everyone goes out, she stays home and does chores making he extremely bored and lonely. This is one of the reasons of why Curley’s wife flirts with many of the men, to get the attention that Curley cannot give her. Another thing that she says to George the same night is, "They left all the weak ones here," (4.92).…

    • 1159 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    All of the boys avoid Curley's wife so as to not get into trouble. It was one of the first things George said to Lennie after meeting Curley's wife, “‘Don’t you ever take a look at that bitch… You leave her be.” (Steinbeck 32). She can cause trouble for anyone who looks at her the wrong way, so George outright tells Lennie to avoid her. Crooks is treated very different. The boss is physically abusive towards him, and only him.…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    As mentioned before, Curley’s wife is constantly trying to find company. Every single time she walks into the room, all the guys become defensive, rude, and demand that she should leave. Curley’s wife says to the men, “If I catch any one man, and he's alone, I get along fine with him. But just let two of the guys get together an’ you won't talk. Jus’ nothing but mad” (77).…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays