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Assimilation In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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“Be soft. Don’t let the world make you hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place.” When Iain S. Thomas said this, he may have not been referring to assimilation, but that is one interpretation someone could get from this quote. When the world around you tries to force assimilation it can cause negative feelings and problems. Assimilation is when someone changes something about themselves to fit an ideal society has set out to be the norm. Even in the United States we see people trying to create problems out of people not assimilating. Whether it be Mexicans not speaking English in the states or someone’s clothing not matching the normality of the other people around them, they are not the problem. People forcing others to assimilate is our real problem. I agree with Samuel P. Huntington when he said, “I came to the conclusion that no, while there may be an immigration problem [in America], it isn’t really a serious problem. The really serious problem is assimilation.” Even though some do not like there to …show more content…

Lennie behaves differently because he has a mental disability that handicaps him from being like others. Throughout the novel, his best friend George takes care of him by attempting to hide it from others. He wanted Lennie to assimilate into being normal, so he could be a normal man and live off on his own. Curley’s wife was also a character whom did not conform to normal societal ideals. Continuously, she walked around the farm to flirt with the men and earned herself the reputation of being a tart. Wanting Lennie to assimilate into someone without a mental disability and wanting Curley’s wife to assimilate into a normal woman of class lead to even more problems than the novel began

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435 Words | 2 Pages

Curley’s wife convinces Lennie to stay and talk to her because the guys are playing a horseshoe tournament outside and none of them would leave until it was over. Lennie is still uneasy and tells her to go but she changes the subject to his dog and Lennie talks to her even though he is not supposed to. She keeps him talking even though he isn’t supposed to. She tells Lennie about her dream to become a famous actress. She uses her power to keep Lennie talking and when he tries to talk “she went on with her story quickly before she should be interrupted(pg. 88)

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1313 Words | 6 Pages

This becomes relevant during the tragic ending to the book when Curley hunts down Lennie and vows to kill him. Curley’s dislike of men larger then him only amplifies his rage for Lennie killing his wife. Question’s for the Author: Why does Curley have so much ownership over his wife? Why does Lennie disobey George and speak when he is not supposed to?

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673 Words | 3 Pages

In 2008, Linda Chavez wrote an article for Tucson Citizen, “Immigration policy’s goal should be assimilation”, and in 2009, Laura Marcus participated in a debate under the question, “Should immigrants assimilate?” Chavez, an author and talk show host believes that to be a “successful” immigrant, assimilation is important. Marcus, a student at Yale during the time of her debate, argues that to ask an

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858 Words | 4 Pages

When Curley’s wife is talking to Lennie, she initially judges him and claims, “I think you’re nuts” based off of the way he sounds and the things he talks about (Steinbeck 98). Curley’s wife misjudges Lennie because he talks and sounds different than her, so her initial judgment is that he is nuts. She uses a stereotypical reference to implicate the idea that he is a crazy person. However, after talking to him for a while now she realizes that he is “kinda a nice fella” and came to accept him (Steinbeck 99). Once she really got to talk to Lennie and really understand who he is, she could make the right judgment about him.

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887 Words | 4 Pages

He is one to lie a lot, he is also very diffident. In the book Curley is illustrated as a very hypocritical and insecure character. Again with Lennie there had been a lot of stereotyping with him throughout the book. Lennie had needed lots of

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708 Words | 3 Pages

Loneliness and Alienation in “Of Mice and Men” In John Steinbeck’s novel, “Of Mice and Men”, many characters were plagued with loneliness and alienation, and most characters were in need of acceptance. The harsh time period of the Great Depression affected three characters in, “Of Mice and Men” greatly. Three characters that are plagued by loneliness and alienation and are in need of acceptance the most include George Milton; the protagonist of the novel, Crooks; the negro stable buck with a crooked back, and Curley’s wife; a young woman who just wants somebody to talk to. In this essay, you will learn why George, Crooks, and Curley’s wife were the loneliest and why other characters were not plagued with loneliness and alienation as much as these three characters. George Milton is the protagonist of the novel.

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661 Words | 3 Pages

In Of Mice and Men Steinbeck portrays Lennie, Candy, and Crooks as outcasts, highlighting themes of isolation and discrimination. Throughout the story, the outcasts are consistently mistreated or separated from others because of their differences. Those outcasts are Lennie Crooks and Candy. Considering how Lennie is one of these outcasts portrayed in the story, it is easy to imagine how the event with Curley’s wife might’ve transpired for him. People treat Lennie differently in the story because of his mental disability, making him an outcast.

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880 Words | 4 Pages

We all may have had the feeling of loneliness and isolation, wanting companionship feeling abandonment. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, there are men living on a ranch having their own reasons for loneliness or being isolated. The three characters Crooks, George, and Lennie crusade dealing with own ways of loneliness and isolation. Crooks has no one that likes him because he’s black, Lennie struggles mentally and George struggles with always having to care for him. They all can’t decide whether it is that they want to be alone or not.

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First, Lennie is the mentally disabled character in the novel he is always traveling with his friend George. Lennie is mentally weaker than the other character in the novel and is taken advantage of by those in the novel who are mentally stronger. Curley's wife tries to pick on Lennie not only because she is flirtatious but also because she finds him weaker than the rest. Another person who takes advantage of Lennie is George's pal that he travels around with, George takes advantage of Lennie's disability by make him do things he shouldn't for his own amusement . George also takes advantage of Lennie to make himself feel smarter or more inferior.

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956 Words | 4 Pages

Another reason could be that society could be guilty of buying into statements like Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s "immigration without assimilation is an invasion". Myers and Pitkin summarize this error in thinking stating that, “Many Americans fall prey to the presumption, largely, that immigrants are like Peter Pan—forever frozen in their status as newcomers, never aging, never advancing economically, and never assimilating…people who perpetually resemble newcomers”. Without assimilation, the Nation is fragmented and unstable, or as Bennett states, “A population without a common language, common assumptions, or indeed any means of generating a genuine polity is easier to manipulate and turn into the common day from which a new transnational order can be molded”. This fear of the lack of assimilation threatening National foundation dates back to the 1700s; “[In 1753] Ben Franklin was deeply worried that immigrants of German ancestry would overwhelm America and change its most basic virtues, possibly bringing an end to the fledgling republic. Many of his arguments regarding this community directly mirror those used in today 's immigration debate against Latinos” (Costantini).

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1196 Words | 5 Pages

You can’t escape who you are, how you feel, what others think of you, or what you’ve done; all you can do is live with the consequences. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck explains this through the lives of characters who all have to live with the choices they make. Some of these characters have to deal with the life they never wanted or being different than everybody else or guilt. These people all work on a ranch and through the course of this small but heart-wrenching novel they all overcome challenges many people hope they never have to face. All of these characters, though they have many differences is so many ways, are similar through one thing: living with the person they made themselves become.

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1125 Words | 5 Pages

Loneliness and isolation is an ongoing theme throughout the novel Of Mice and Men, experienced by several characters to different degrees. Some characters are more isolated and lonely than others, yet every character in the story goes through this theme during one point in the story. There are various reasons why each character is lonely or isolated. In general, all the ranch workers feel some sort of loneliness because they move alone from ranch to ranch and do not have real connections with others, Curley’s wife experiences this theme because she is the only woman on the ranch and nobody wants to interact with her because Curley is very protective and hostile of her. Thirdly, Candy struggles through being lonely and isolated after Carlson shot his dog and because Candy does not work with the others since he is a swamper.

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301 Words | 2 Pages

For many new immigrants coming to America, it is difficult to adjust into the new society. Many come to America without the basic knowledge of English, the new immigrants do not have the ability assimilate to American society because of the lack of possible communication between the immigrant and an native. Non-English speaking immigrants that come to America face harsh challenges when trying to assimilate to U.S. society because immigrants are often segregated into ethnic communities away from natives, Americans do not know basics of words of other well known languages, and the lack of government funding education programs. Assimilation into a new society is difficult enough, but when the society pushes any new immigrants to separate part

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1468 Words | 6 Pages

Essentially, comingling will also produce future wars, if not with the dominant culture than between the minorities as a result. Paraphrase: let one in to American society, the rest will follow. Have to keep America pure (Limerick

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501 Words | 3 Pages

Some ways Assimilation can be forced upon minorities or religious groups is by the use of laws and legal boundaries, or by the cultural beliefs and ideas already established. Forced assimilation was very common in the past with the Native Americans. The white minority would set laws and bribe the Native Americans to motivate them to live and resemble the white race. Forced Assimilation is still present today and is most comely seen in immigration. When immigrants move to America some of their culture and beliefs are illegal or viewed as unusual and they are pushed towards or forced

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