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Mental Disorders In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Schizophrenia. They are all mental illnesses or disorders and most people know this, but what are they really? How do they affect people who deal with them on a daily basis? What is it like to be treated differently by society over something you cannot control? And most importantly why should we care? In John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella, Of Mice and Men he explores some of these thought-provoking questions through one of the most infamous characters in American Literature -- Lennie Small. Although Lennie does possess qualities from a plethora of mental disorders and illnesses -- the leading being Sotos syndrome …show more content…

His lack of control, child-like innocence, obsession with rabbits, and overbearing need to pet soft and or nice things are all related symptoms. Even though not every case is the same, several people who live with it have the same or similar characteristics as Lennie does. In a conversation with Curley’s wife, Lennie talks about the rabbits he wants to tend to in the future, yet it seems to be the only thing he really talks about for the majority of the conversation. Curley’s wife angrily addresses his obsession: “‘Don’t you think of nothing but rabbits?’”(Steinbeck 89). Within a short amount of time during her first true conversation with Lennie, Curley’s wife is easily able to pick up on Lennie’s obsession with rabbits. This obsession is a “lasting intense interest” that stems from Lennie’s …show more content…

Unfortunately, the mistreatment Lennie experiences is similar to the mistreatment of lots of other people with mental illnesses and disorders. George’s overbearing control that leads to Lennie’s demise is a direct call out to the fault of people who think they need to control people with mental health conditions lives’ to help them. In addition, Lennie’s mistreatment works to directly call out the faults of American society when they treat people with mental illnesses and disorders

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