Comparing John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men And The Central Park Five

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Complications in America Represented Through Literature: An Analysis of Of Mice and Men and The Central Park Five: The Untold Story of One of New York City’s Most Infamous Crimes The 1900’s was another formative period for the United States of America as problems dealing with marginalization surged. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, published in 1937, tackles many themes that are still relevant today. Similarly, Sarah Burns’ Central Park Five mentions various issues, especially ones relating to America’s justice system. Of Mice and Men and The Central Park Five have similar approaches to depicting “The American Dream,” and power dynamics, but tackle the themes of otherness differently. To begin, the two main characters in Of Mice and Men, Lennie …show more content…

On the other hand, the Central Park Five had no one. Lennie says on page 103, "An' I got you." We got each other, that's what, that gives a hoot in hell about us," Throughout the novel, George continuously guides and protects Lennie. Lennie and George were practically family, and George was Lennie’s caretaker in a way. Even when Lennie killed Curley’s wife, George protected him from the lynch mob that was hunting him down and killed him himself. On the other hand, the Central Park Five had no one to protect them from the racial and socioeconomic discrimination that led them to being wrongly convicted. Moving along, Korey Wise served the longest sentence out of all of the boys, his time served being thirteen years. “In late 2001, after being denied parole three times, Korey was still incarcerated at Auburn Correctional Facility, near Syracuse, New York,” the constant news of being denied freedom frustrated, disappointed, and angered Korey (Burns 187). Being advised to admit guilt to a crime he did not commit also contributed to those feelings. In all, Steinbeck portrayed a strong sense of otherness through his two protagonists, while the Central Park Five had no sense of otherness inside of