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Discrimination In 'Of Mice And Men'

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‘Of Mice and Men’ is a novella set at the time of the ‘Great Depression’, this time period was extremely tough for all Americans due to the lack of stable jobs. Unfortunately, discrimination against black people was extremely prevalent as America was a very racist place. ‘Of Mice and Men’ highlights the discrimination towards black people through Crooks, a black stable buck.

One way Steinbeck demonstrates discrimination towards Crooks is through Candy’s explanation of the boss’s attitude towards him. In chapter two, when George and Lennie arrive late at the bunkhouse, Candy tells them about the boss giving the stable buck “hell” as they did not arrive on time. George questions the boss’s anger as it had nothing to do with the stable buck. Candy replies, “Sure ya see the stable buck’s a nigger.” This answer seems to be a justification for the boss’s anger although it was not the stable buck’s fault. This meant that every time the boss was furious, whether it was the stable buck’s mistake or not, because of his race, the boss had every right to act acrimoniously towards him. This illustrates the extreme white supremacy present during this time.
Furthermore, discrimination is also displayed when Candy uses the word ‘nigger.’ This was and is an exceedingly offensive and racist term. Candy uses this word comfortably and George does not react to it reinforcing the fact that discrimination against black people was not seen out of the ordinary. Steinbeck highlights the fact that
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