Isolation In Of Mice And Men Essay

Of Mice And Men Essay

John Steinbeck's social realistic novella, Of Mice and Men, takes place during The Great Depression in Salinas Valley, California, and explores the lives of two migrant workers, George and Lennie, who are pursuing The American Dream. George takes care of Lennie whose mental capacity is that of a child and he is unaware of his own Herculean strength. This leads to the accidental deaths of animals Curley’s wife which results in Lennies’s death at George’s hand. George was presented with the moral dilemma of killing Lennie mercifully or allowing Curley to brutally murder Lennie. Steinbeck uses the isolation of characters to emphasize normalized systemic racism, misogyny, sexism, ableism, and ageism of the time that ensured that The American Dream would be unattainable for most Americans. In Steinbeck's novel, Of MIce and Men isolation influences the character actions leading to misogyny and abuse.

In Steinbeck's novel, Curley Wifes enters the bunkhouse and asks George, Lennie, and Slim for Curley. After she exits, George tells Lennie “Don’t you ever take a look at her. I don’t care what she says and what she does. I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You Leave her be.” ( Steinbeck 53) George's point is that Curley's Wife can get them in deep trouble. He believes that for the fact he thinks that if Curley finds out that somebody is talking to her then they would be in serious trouble, which can involve a fight. Even if it can be even more like death. In addition to Curley's Wife being isolated all time it then led to her