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Mental Disabilities In Allison L. Baer's Of Mice And Men

1471 Words6 Pages

Books have been challenged in schools for decades all over the world; of those books, Of Mice and Men has been one of the most challenged. This book is about two men traveling together in search of work during the Great Depression to try to reach the American Dream. One objection to Of Mice and Men is its portrayal of African-Americans and individuals with mental disabilities. The most common reason Of Mice and Men has been constantly challenged is that the repeated use of profanity and racial slurs throughout the book might desensitize students to those words. Although Of Mice and Men includes frequent use of profanity, the overall subject matter should be included in high school curriculum because it gives students insight into the Great Depression period-an important part of American history-and allows for a safe …show more content…

This book presents an accurate portrayal of life during the Great Depression in which many topics are introduced such as mental and physical disabilities, the American Dream, and race. Learning about these topics through a narrative can give students an understanding of the social and economic implications during that time. As said by Allison L. Baer, an associate professor at the University of Findlay, "[b]y reading...trade books[books intended for general readership], students collaboratively gain understanding as they delve into issues and topics more broadly and deeply"(284). Reading a piece of literature that incorporates important parts of history can create more of an impact of the reader due to the storytelling nature; students may be more inclined to understand the historical context of the book when they are more connected to the characters. Although the main focus of Of Mice and Men is not on the Great Depression, the setting of the book is during that time period, so glimpses into the life of the characters, who represent men looking for work and striving for the American Dream, are shown. Based on these

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Of Mice and Mental Impairment Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a fiction novella set in the time of the Great Depression. It follows George Milton and Lennie Small, two itinerant workers with the same dream; they hope to someday get a farm of their own. However, Lennie has a severe mental disability, so George constantly has to tend to Lennie and help him get out of messes. In the novel, George and Lennie travel to their new job on a ranch in Salinas Valley, California.

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913 Words | 4 Pages

John Steinbeck’s novel, ‘Of Mice and Men’ explores the life of itinerant workers during the Great Depression. The realistic plot represents the dreams of many workers during the depression and struggles they faced to achieve them. The text is supported with various literary techniques such as, foreshadowing, animal imagery, symbolism and the intertextual meaning of the title itself. The novel’s success relies heavily on the author’s ability to interweave literary and stylistic devices to stimulate the reader’s interest in the novel. Steinbeck’s writing style in the novel, ‘Of Mice and Men’ draws heavily on light and dark imagery as a literary device.

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1355 Words | 6 Pages

“Only 50 years ago persons with intellectual disabilities were scorned, isolated and neglected. Today, they are able to attend school, become employed and assimilate into their local community” (Nelson Mandela). Prior to the later part of the 20th century people with intellectual disabilities were often ridiculed, treated unfairly, feared, and locked away in institutions. According to Rhonda Nauhaus and Cindy Smith in their article Disability Rights through the Mid-20th Century, The laws of any nation reflect its societal values. The real life issue of discrimination towards people with intellectual disabilities in the United States and Australia is demonstrated in the novel, Of Mice and Men by showing how this issue affects one of the main characters, Lennie Smalls.

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992 Words | 4 Pages

In this essay, I am going to look at what ways the Great Depression affected the American people with examples from John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. Available jobs and high wages had been

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452 Words | 2 Pages

Imagine not being able to think, feel, and process information the same you do now. This is what it is like to have a mental illness. Everything is different, including the way you are treated. Like in the story Of Mice and Men, mental disabilities are a big issue that people don’t always understand, and people sometimes treat those with mental disabilities different than us.

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435 Words | 2 Pages

The Great Depression was very crucial in history with some of its major events: The Stock Market Crash of 1929, and the Dustbowl of 1934 which caused many droughts and affected farms causing food shortage and major migration. Therefore, it seized about 3.2 million farmers to lose their livelyhoods and become known as migrant workers.. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men it portrays the hardships of the depression and how it affected the characters, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife. In this piece, Crooks is darker skinned, so he has to be separated from the others in his own room. Candy is an old man and has lost family, friends(his dog), and is working as a Swamper .

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715 Words | 3 Pages

In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the era of the Great Depression in the 1930’s is revealed through a simple story of ranch workers who hope to improve their lives. Migrant workers, George and Lennie, have a friendship that is based on trust and protection. The other workers lack the companionship and bond that these two men have. In the novel, the absence and presence of friendship is the motivation for the characters’ actions.

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745 Words | 3 Pages

To better understand the novella Of Mice and Men, the background of the story must be elaborated. The setting of the story takes place in the Salinas Valley, California during the The Great Depression in the 1930s. John Steinbeck, the author, tells about the protagonist, George, and the antagonist, Lennie, and their journey of constantly finding new work to pursue George’s dream to own his farm and “live off the fatta the

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833 Words | 4 Pages

John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men, is a compelling story that has captured and embodied the struggle and loneliness felt by many during the Great Depression. While desire for the American Dream is prominent in the novel, Steinbeck is able to demonstrate the wants from different social classes through the construction of characters such as George Milton and Curley’s wife. With these characters, Steinbeck successfully displays the difference in ideas, values and attitudes of certain social classes in the 1930’s and the illustrates the rarity of achieving the American Dream. Steinbeck wrote this novel during the Great Depression, when America was suffering greatly by the disastrous crash of the stock market. From this point in time, separation of the different classes became

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1723 Words | 7 Pages

Since 1931 when James Truslow Adams first created the phrase “the American Dream”, people believed that America continuously offered everyone an equal opportunity to be successful. John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, was set during the Great Depression. Farms were struck hard during the Depression, and the two main characters George and Lennie were farm hands during this time. They had experienced the misunderstandings of other farm hands in terms of Lennie’s mental disability, but they were trying to earn enough money to buy their own farm. The idea of this farm drove Lennie and George to keep working, and like many others during this time they hoped to achieve this dream.

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1187 Words | 5 Pages

In 1937, John Steinbeck wrote the novella Of Mice and Men. In the novella Steinbeck showed the audience how the Great Depression affected people, but in partially two men and the people around them. The Great Depression challenged many families in economic, social, and mental ways. The Depression affected family of all shapes and sizes, the annual yearly income for a family went from being an average 2,300 to being 1,500 yearly. The novella Of Mice and Men, it is about the journey of two men, George and Lennie, and how their lives are affected by the Great Depression.

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1262 Words | 6 Pages

The novel contains different themes which help to present Steinbeck’s view of social issues during the Great Depression. From idealism to reality, alienation and loneliness, prejudice and discrimination, “meanness” and class conflict, race and racism, “handiness” in violence and sex, women and sexism. However, the American Dream and loneliness are without doubt the main themes in Of Mice and Men, in parallel with social fitness. How can ageing, weak or physically & mentally disabled humans and animals fit into

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579 Words | 3 Pages

In many high school curriculums, the book “Of Mice and Men” has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years due to its use of racial slurs. In a poll by KFF.org, 7-10 black Americans said that they have experienced racism in their life. If more than half of all black Americans have experienced harmful words against them something should be done about it, such as limiting their exposure to harmful words. The novel features several instances where characters use derogatory terms towards people of different races and ethnicities, including the N-word and the C-word. While some argue that using these slurs is necessary for historical accuracy and authenticity, others believe that they perpetuate harmful stereotypes and contribute to a culture

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441 Words | 2 Pages

“No matter how much sometimes you dare to dream, send happy thoughts into the universe, no matter what you do some of your dreams will never come true” (Unknown). In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, at the time of the Great Depression, two men, George and Lennie, venture to California in hopes to find work. Because Lennie is wanted for raping a woman, George and Lennie must escape the “law” by fleeing to the next town. Through the character of Lennie, Steinbeck shows that issues outside the control of an individual often limit the achievement of his dreams. “‘But he never hurt her.

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573 Words | 3 Pages

The book Of Mice and Men is full of puzzling examples of the human condition, from Lennie and his mental disability to Curley only caring about his social appearance. With characters like these two, the book exploits the human condition that concerns circumstances life has given you. John Steinbeck brings to life what being a laborer in the American depression meant to the men and one woman who had enough personality to stand out. Steinbeck shows the human condition of men while they survive in the American depression.

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