How Does Steinbeck Present Discrimination In Of Mice And Men

John Steinbeck’s Concept of Discrimination In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the protagonist George Milton and Lennie Smalls are travelling ranch hands working to save up money for a rabbit farm, but Lennie’s disability proves to be a major obstacle in the way of their American dream. John Steinbeck depicts different views of discrimination ranging from mentalism, racism, and sexism and uses characters like Lennie Smalls, Crooks, and Curley’s wife to represent these forms of discrimination. One example of a form of discrimination portrayed in Of Mice and Men, is mentalism. Lennie Smalls is an example of mentalism because he is mentally disabled and depends on George Milton to take care of him. Throughout the novel George berates Lennie

This is also significant because the other ranch hands consider Curley’s wife to be a harlot because she attempts to talk to the other workers and they say that she has “the eye” (26), when in fact Curley’s wife is talking to the other ranch hands because she’s lonely. Steinbeck also shows how Curley’s wife is an example of sexism when she goes to talk to Candy, Crooks, and Lennie and she says that she doesn’t like staying in the house by herself, and that she gets lonely not having anyone to talk to and Crooks tells her that she has “floozy” ideas and that she has no right to come into his room and talk to guys (74-76). This is essential because it shows that Curley’s wife is talking to the other ranch hands because she feels isolated living alone with Curley, and Crooks response confirmation that the other ranch hands don’t think that Curley’s wife belongs on the ranch, and that as a woman she shouldn’t be speaking to them. This conversation is vital because it illustrates the stereotypically view of women that was present in the early 1900’s, that women should remain at home, taking care of their household and their husband’s