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.
In the novel, ¨Of Mice and Men,¨ the author, John Steinbeck, develops complex characters which opens the story up for interpretation. Steinbeck uses both direct and indirect characterization, which forces the reader to infer important traits about each characters. An example of a character is Crooks, a colored man working on a ranch during the Great Depression. Being the only black man on the ranch, Crooks is often looked down on as a stable bunk, and is not respected as the other men are. Because of this, Crooks is perceived as powerless.
A BIG KIDDISH BRAIN-LIKE GUY WHO FORGETS ALMOST EVERY TIME Why did George kill his friend, who was a mentally minded guy? In the book, “Of Mice and Men” the author shows the fair and appropriate charge for George Milton in the death of Lennie Small is manslaughter because George killed Lennie on purpose but without malice. To start, without malice, George reminds Lennie–like a parent–what he is not supposed to be doing and what he should be doing because of Lennie's forgetful mind.
George asks Lennie is he knows where they were going and Lennie couldn’t remember, despite have being told recently. Lastly, Steinbeck shows rather than tells that Lennie doesn’t have much common sense. When George blows up at Lennie on page
Of Psychological lens “The bravest of all individuals is the one who obeys his or her conscience.” --J.F. Clark In the novella Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck a psycological lens is perfectly demonstrated by J.F. Clark in accordance with conflict and characterization.
Lennie Smalls one of the main characters in the novel of Mice and Men, is impacted by the human rights issue of discrimination and living with an intellectual disability. “Intellectual Disability, formerly referred to as "mental retardation, is characterized by "significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which covers many everyday social and practical skills” (Death Penalty Info). Lennie exhibits several signs of having an Intellectual disability, for example, he has problems remembering things. George is constantly giving Lennie directions that he has to repeat several times to help him remember.
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.
“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.
George scoffed. "Lady, huh? Don't even remember who that lady was. That was your own Aunt Clara.” said George. This just goes to show that Lennie is a grown adult in a child's mindset that can’t remember prominent things. One time he couldn't remember prominent things is when he couldn’t remember if he had his work card when George had it the whole time.
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.
The novel takes place during the Great Depression. During this time period in the early 1900s, many people disliked and sloughed others who had mental illnesses. As a result, George had to make sure nobody would find out he had a mental illness. The mental illness that Lennie has is not specified in the book, however, the reader knows that Lennie has some kind of mental illness because Steinbeck puts many examples of Lennie's mental retardation throughout the novel.
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.
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 .
According to the World Health Organization, over 450 million people worldwide suffer from some kind of disability or neurological problem. These illnesses are diseases such as depression, schizophrenia, and dementia. Despite this crazy fact, people with these diseases do not receive fair treatment. The 14th amendment of the United States of America states that no state shall deny the equal protection and equal treatment of all people. Although this amendment and many other laws of protection are trying to protect the rights of the mentally ill, it is not working.
In the novel Of Mice and Men it is very obvious that there is something wrong with Lennie. He has a childlike demeanor, has memory loss, and seems to panic in stressful situations. Although Steinbeck never mentions what is wrong with Lennie in the novel, all of these symptoms match up to one intellectual disability, Autism. The first symptom of Autism is sensory issues.
