Of Mice And Men Research Paper

In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the themes of race and class come together to show the inequalities of society during the Great Depression. The American Dream was something that everybody wanted to achieve in life. It was different for everybody. For some, it was a big house, a loving wife, and a car. For others, it was straight up freedom. Through the lens of race, the book talks about racism toward Crooks, the only African American in the story. The lens of class connects to race in a very captivating way. In the 1930s, the color of one's skin often determined their social class in the United States. White people were in a higher class, and everybody else was at the bottom. It was unfair and not right at all. Crooks, because of the color of his skin, is

Crooks, the only person of color who works at the ranch, faces heavy discrimination, just because of his race. The white men never allowed him to go into the bunkhouse with them because of this. On page 68, Crooks tells Lennie, “They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black” (Steinbeck). This shows discriminatory treatment towards him solely because of his race. By saying that he is unable to join the white men in the bunkhouse, he is conveying that he is receiving unequal treatment from the others. The lens of race heavily affects people in different ways based on the color of their skin. Social class also plays a significant role in Of Mice and Men. Since the book takes place during the Great Depression, there is a huge divide between the wealthy and the working class. Characters like Curley, his wife, and his father, who is the boss, have much more power than other people because of their class. Curley especially uses his power to assert dominance over the workers, On page 63, the book states, “He backed up until he was against the wall, and Curley followed, slugging him in the face” (Steinbeck). Curley just gets to attack people for no