“It is okay to be angry, but it is never okay to be cruel.” In the book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck wrote of many characters who become very angry at each other. As the book goes on and the plot thickens there is many cruel things said to and about them. The book Of Mice and Men, the main characters Lennie, George, Candy, Curley, Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Slim. George and Lennie have an American Dream of owning land and tending rabbits, but they soon discover that it may be harder than they think. Visiting a ranch they have to get through many conflicts such as, dealing with the other characters along with what they have to say.
Through the characters of Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Lennie, Steinbeck demonstrated through his writing that
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They judge her based on what she wears and how she looks, this results in people avoiding her.
The swamper stood up from his box. “Know what I think?” George did not answer. “Well I think Curley’s married...a tart.” Curley's wife is portrayed as a possession. All the other guys call her by other names like "jailbait" or "tart." They all believe she wears too much makeup, and she dresses like a “slut” with red fingernails and red shoes with ostrich feathers. Lennie becomes interested in her the moment he sees her, unable to take his eyes off her, He repeated "she's purty." George decided to warn him to stay away from her.
Much like George, the other people on the ranch stay away from Curley’s wife. After everything, the things said about Curley's wife portrays her as someone she does not want to be known as.
Finally, Steinbeck writes about Lennie, Lennie cannot comprehend as much as he should be able to. Lennie has many cruel things said to him, even though he cannot control what he knows. For example Lennie cannot remember important
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‘I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl.’ For a moment Lennie lay quiet, and then he said hopefully, ‘We gonna work on a ranch, George.’” Even though George hides his feelings, it shows through that sometimes George would rather not have Lennie with him. I believe this would be hard on Lennie, but instead he doesn't realize what is being said. It is okay to get mad at people, but you cannot just say things. If George would think before he speaks, Lennie would not feel bad about himself like he had done something wrong.
To show that even small things could hurt, Steinbeck demonstrates this throughout the characters of Crooks, Curley's wife, and Lennie. In the book Of Mice and Men, Crooks get treated differently because of his appearance. Curley’s wife gets labeled because of how she looks and dresses, and cannot live the way she wants. Lennie mentally cannot comprehend this as the other characters would in the book. After reading Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck has taught everyone that the cruel comments that are said cause a lot of damage and hurt to