How Does Steinbeck Use The Power In Of Mice And Men

Of Blacks and Whites

“It is not what an author says, but what he or she whispers, that is important.” -- Logan Pershall Smith (adapted)

Authors have the power to influence readers not only with what they say but with what they imply. Authors can, and often will, use this power to bring light to darker times. John Steinbeck wields this power in his novella, Of Mice and Men to tell the public of the cruelty and prejudices that were directed towards minorities during the 1930s. The words of Smith ring true when analyzing the characterization and language of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men through a race lens. Steinbeck’s novella brings light to the harsh cruelty and segregation towards minorities in the 1930s.

The obvious example of segregation is Crooks. Crooks, being the only non white on the

‘So you forget that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again do I? Jesus Christ, you’re a crazy Bastard!’

‘I forgot,’ Lennie said softly. ‘I tried not to forget. Honest to God I did, George.’” (Steinbeck 4)

Lennie blames himself for his own mental illness and George reinforces that idea with verbal abuse and threats of physical assault. When first arriving at the ranch, a man asks why Lennie doesn’t talk. George explains that Lennie was kicked in the head by a horse when he was younger. Afterward, Lennie Inquires: “‘I wasn’t kicked in the head by no horse, was I George?’

‘Be a damn good thing if you was’, George said viciously. ‘Save ever’body a hell of a lot of trouble.’” The way minorities deal with abuse depends on who is abusing. Often times, verbal abuse is used to degrade by superiors. Crooks is often called racial slurs and is abused to a point where he refers to himself as these slurs. He says: “This is just a nigger talkin. A busted back nigger.” Even the narrator refers to him as slurs: “Crooks, the negro stable buck, had his bunk in the stable room.” (Steinbeck