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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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