Lennie Allegorically Represent The Stigmas In Of Mice And Men

An intellectual disability is a mental condition characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior. During the 1930’s, many people were not aware of the effects of intellectual disabilities; they were led to believe that the people who had these mental disabilities did not deserve the same amount of respect as everyone else. Inside the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the character Lennie allegorically represents the stigmas that were associated with people who had intellectual disabilities in the 1930’s through childish behaviors, animalistic qualities and being seemingly crazy. One of the most repetitive examples that explain why Lennie allegorically represents the stigmas associated

One of the most obvious quotes that supports this statement is, “ Lennie dabbed his big paw into the water and wiggled his fingers so that the water arose in little splashes: rings widened across the pool and to the other side and came back again” (3). This particular passage in the novel makes Lennie sound more like an animal than a person. Though humans are technically animals, Lennie is described with much less refined qualities than the average person. Additionally, he is treated with a lack of respect, and is constantly being ordered around. Steinbeck is expressing that people with intellectual disabilities were treated as if they were animals all throughout the 1930’s; it almost seemed as if they didn’t have the same rights as everyone else. Furthermore, Steinbeck is saying that it used to be socially acceptable to treat people with intellectual disabilities less humanely that people without mental handicaps. It is ironic to think that even though it was the people with mental disabilities were treated like animals, the actual animals were the people that lacked human values who treated them so poorly. Being treated as if they are less than human may have been the most demoralizing association, but it certainly was not the most threatening stigma that people with intellectual disabilities were related to during the