Prejudice and Misfits in 'Of Mice and Men'

People today judge one another by their appearances, no matter how similar or different they they come across. However, prejudice occurs less and less in our current time period, but during the early 1900s people would discriminate basically anyone that was not like them. A few examples of these “misfits” are people with different ethnic backgrounds and mental disabilities. In the novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, we meet the first characters, George and Lennie, in the clearing by the river, heading to their new job. At the job, they meet many character who, like them, do not exactly fit in. While there, Lennie, who is mentally challenged, ends up getting into many types of trouble, killing mice, pups, and Curley’s wife. This

One example is when Lennie wanders into the harness room, and startles Crooks. Lennie explains that he saw the light and went to check it out. Crooks, who thinks Lennie is just there to yell at him, says,”Well, I got a right to have a light. You can go on and get out of my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse and you ain’t wanted in my room.” (Steinbeck 67). This quote uses tone to show prejudice because the blacks are discriminated upon, they obviously do not like the whites, and treat them like they are treated. Another example of using tone to show prejudice is when George set off on Lennie at the clearing by the river because Lennie made an irrelevant comment. George said,”God, you’re a lot of trouble. I could get along so easily and maybe have a girl.” (Steinbeck 8). This quote clearly shows us that George thinks Lennie is a lesser being, because of the angry and disappointed tone he uses. George is enraged by the fact that he thinks Lennie is a burden to him, and that he can not have his own life. Both of these examples of tone clearly show that people can be looked upon differently in completely different ways and