Of Mice And Men Social Darwinism Analysis

Darwinism is a rather gruesome idea, especially when incorporated into society. This idea is also used in literature, often being as blunt and heartbreaking as real life. A prime example of Darwinism in society is within John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. This novella, set in the early 1900s, is about two migrant workers, Lennie Small, a brawny, mentally disabled man, and George Milton, Lennie’s smaller and wiser caretaker. They had found work at a farm with many other laborers. Three of the farmhands, Candy, the old swamper, Crooks, the black, hunchbacked stable buck, and Lennie tie into social Darwinism. Candy, Crooks, and Lennie, all three with a disability and one with a racial disadvantage, are used to demonstrate the idea of social Darwinism with Of Mice and Men. Candy, “a tall, stoop-shouldered old man,” (Steinbeck, 18), is one of many fine examples of social Darwinism. Rather, it is not Candy himself that is

Lennie Small is a rather large and mentally disabled man. His mental disability is what ultimately kills him in the end, as he has no control over his immense strength. This is shown through the many mice that he had killed, which is proven during Lennie and George’s conversation about mice. Lennie talked about his Aunt Clara, his mother figure in a sense, and how she always used to give him mice. George proceeded to tell Lennie “An’ she stopped givem ‘em to ya. You always killed ‘em.” (9) This, alongside with Curley’s wife’s murder, proves Lennie’s uncontrolled strength. The poor woman’s death is what starts the manhunt after Lennie, and after so many wrongdoings on his part, Lennie is shot by George, just like Candy’s dog was shot by Carlson. Lennie, much like Candy’s dog, is decided by George that he is better off dead, as he has no chance of surviving in the society his in, especially with the pugnacious Curley, the ranch owner’s son, after