ipl-logo

Mental Disorders In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

1207 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Literary analysispaper of mice and men

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

Show More
Related
298 Words | 2 Pages

The 21st Amendment was very crucial in moving forward in the United States society. The 18th Amendment prohibited alcohol while the 21st repealed it. The 18th did more harm to America than it did for the good. The Amendment gave way for organized crime and corruption to development.

Read More
561 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
658 Words | 3 Pages

Did you know in the 1950’s the people of the mentally disabled community were mistreated in our world? The people that were mentally disabled were isolated from the outside world, shocked several times, and locked up and let them starve to death. The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about the main characters George and Lennie, who migrate from one place to the other in search of a new job. The story took place during the Great Depression, and the story mostly took place in Soledad. George did the wrong thing by killing Lennie because he could of run away, let Curley find Lennie, or followed his and Lennie's American Dream.

Read More
652 Words | 3 Pages

“‘No, Lennie, I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want you to know,’” were among the last words George Milton would utter to Lennie Small before breaking the bond that the two shared with a single bullet. All throughout the course of “Of Mice and Men,” the reader is able to learn of the two men, George Milton and Lennie Small, along with their exploits before arriving at the small Californian ranch, moreover they experience the relationship between the two new hires with the rest of the ranchers, and each other.

Read More
584 Words | 3 Pages

"We're born alone we live alone die alone. Only through love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone” Orson Welles. In John Steinbeck's novel, “Of Mice and Men”, Steinbeck focuses on the struggle of having a disability while struggling to get by during the American Great Depression on a Californian ranch life. Even though one may have to live around their disability, they do not let that become a big stepping stone in the life, whether they know about it or not. In John Steinbeck's novel, “Of Mice and Men”, Lennie Small, Carlson and Crooks are three great examples of how they keep living their lives despite the facts that they each have a disabilities to their lives.

Read More
389 Words | 2 Pages

To begin, Lennie Small displays severe signs of a certain mental disorder throughout John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men. The audience can clearly understand there is an issue with Lennie’s ability to think and act. However, the question lies on the actual mental issue, and after research, it is indisputable that the character suffers from a dissociative disorder. For those who do not know, a person with a dissociative disorder experiences immense amounts of stress in uncomfortable situations. “These disorders usually are associated with overwhelming stress, which may be the result of traumatic events, accidents, or disasters that may be experienced or witnessed by the individual” (Marks 17).

Read More
901 Words | 4 Pages

This quote shows that Lennie is incapable of keeping a puppy, nevertheless, rabbits. When it came to the incident with Curley’s wife, that was different. “You stop it now, you’ll mess it all up.” (91). She had invited him to pet her hair, but he started petting it to hard.

Read More
731 Words | 3 Pages

People today with mental disabilities are often criticized for not being “up to par” with everyone else in the world. This is true especially in the 1920’s, in which the novel Of Mice and Men takes place. Take Lennie Small for example, a large and hefty man, who has a mental disability. He, as a character, is blamed for the heinous act of murdering the antagonist’s wife, whose name is never revealed. It is true that Lennie does fracture her neck, but he does so without knowing.

Read More
1678 Words | 7 Pages

This triggers Lennie to react harshly by “bouncing” the pup too hard and killing the puppy onsight. Lennie becomes troubled with the situation because he remember that George will not let him tend the rabbits in their dream ranch, so he proceeds to hide the puppy in the hay when Curley’s unnamed wife shows up to the barn where he is located. Lennie is first estranged to Curley’s wife,but as time passes on they become close and give up information to each other. Curley’s wife expresses the pain she has felt when

Read More
781 Words | 4 Pages

Even though killing another person is never the right thing to do, accidental or on purpose, Lennie’s mental disability creates a slight

Read More
667 Words | 3 Pages

The definition of a sympathetic character is one whom the writer expects the reader to identify with and care about, though not necessarily admire. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife, a main character in the book is blatantly portrayed as an unsympathetic character. This is because they only see her through the men's eyes, who only see her as a tiresome object, owned by her husband. Steinbeck’s portrayal of Curley’s wife is unfair and misogynistic because he only displays her as unintelligent and promiscuous, never has a character have a turning point where they realize she’s more than an object, and he never reveals her true name. The first reason that Steinbeck's portrayal of Curley’s wife is unfair is that he never gives Curley any redeeming personality traits, he only depicts her as unintelligent and promiscuous.

Read More
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 .

Read More
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.

Read More
857 Words | 4 Pages

Of Mice and Men: Lennie’s Mental Illness The novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is a story about two men and their companionship. The story takes place in California during the Great Depression. The two men have a dream to one day own a farm of their own. This dream never comes true and they are forced to work for someone else on a ranch for the rest of their lives.

Read More
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.

Read More

More about Mental Disorders In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Related Topics

Open Document