Examples Of Social Injustice In Of Mice And Men

Social Injustices have been illustrated through literature for many years, these injustices present hidden morals. The time of the Great Depression was a budding of many social injustices- gender inequality, migrant workers, treatment of the elderly, and racism. The most concerning injustice during the time of the Great Depression was the discrimination portrayed against African Americans. This racial injustice was demonstrated through the novel Of Mice and Men. The story characterizes the hardships and struggles of the life of a black man. The novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, focuses on the injustice shown towards the black community, by introducing the character of Crooks with the description of his race. Steinbeck's intention of

Since Crooks was a black worker, nobody would accept him into their bunkhouse. “Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say I stink…”( Steinbeck 68). Due to Crooks isolation from his workers, he had faced many years of isolation and loneliness. Racial injustice applied a great amount of hardship on many African American lives. To depict what African American truly went through during the Great Depression, Steinbeck includes the character of Crooks. Not only did Crooks face exclusion and discrimination, but he also dealt with barbarism. Crooks had endured some sort of racial hatred each time he would even open his mouth to talk. For example, while Crooks was standing up to Curley’s wife, she bluntly countered with, ”Well, you keep your place then, N*****. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny”( Steinbeck 80). Crooks learned to live carefully and to not think rashly, since if he made one mistake that could result in him losing his job, or worse, he could lose his

In the city of Elk Grove they are many acts of racism targeting the black race. An article in the Sacramento Bee by Anita Chabria and Diana Lambert, stated that, “Francois said the N-word is commonly used on campus. She has had it screamed at her from a car filled with white kids while walking home from school. She listed other incidents when the word was used and, in one case, threats were made against African American students”(Chabria and Lambert). As shown in the novel, Crooks was usually not called by his name but he was acknowledged as n*****. “They let the n***** come in that night” (Steinbeck 20). This is not the only case where African Americans were targeted for their race. In the school, U.C Davis, a student shouted racial slurs at an innocent black women. According to Sacramento Bee, Benjy Egel, stated that,“three men reportedly shouted racial epithets at a 21-year-old African American student...”(Egel). This is similarly portrayed in the novella, Crooks’ boss would yell and treat Crooks horribly when the boss was mad. Crooks explained how, “The boss gives him hell when he's mad” (Steinbeck 20). Crooks was treated as an object used for venting out anger. Starting at the Great Depression to this current day (1929-2018), so many black communities have been facing constant racial hatred. As Steinbeck