Acceptance In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Acceptance

¨Stop! You are too dumb to read. Pick someone else,¨ a first grader shouted while the rest of the kids laughed, and the teacher scolded them. That happened in a classroom in 2009. In 1937, it would have been much different. If someone thought someone else was not how that person was ¨supposed to be¨ then they would not go to school. They would stay at home, and live their lives separate from everyone, but John Steinbeck has a different story to tell. In Of Mice and Men, set in the 1930s, John Steinbeck shows the importance of accepting people, with or without a handicap. In the novel people tend to treat Lennie differently because of his handicap, including Curley, George, and Slim. One character who is especially rude to Lennie

He gets brought up and shot down, all by people who call Lennie their friend. Candy, George, and Slim are all people who talk about Lennie quite often. Two more characters who talk about Lennie are Candy and George. They are both rude to Lennie, yet they defend him. Candy first talked about Lennie when he killed Curley's wife. ¨He is such a nice fella. I did not think he'd do nothing like this¨ (95). Handicapped or not, people never expected Lennie to kill anyone. Candy also indirectly talked about Lennie when Candy stayed with Curley's wife after she died. Candy whispered ¨Poor bastard¨ (98). Candy said this because he felt sorry that the farm hands were going after Lennie. The last character who talks about Lennie is Geroge. George is Lennie's best friend yet George talks about him the most. George told Slim ¨He ain't no cuckoo. He´s dumb as hell, but he ain't crazy¨ (39). Even though George repeatedly insults Lennie, George knows what Lennie is and is not and stands up for him. Another time George talks about him is when Lennie kills Curley's wife. Not only does George tell the other workers about Lennie, George also stands up for him saying that it was an accident and Lennie did not do it to be