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Social Hierarchy In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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OMAM Essay Yay John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, is a story of struggle in the hope of achieving The American Dream. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck creates a social hierarchy with rules and expectations, creating a world where some have more opportunities than others. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses Crooks’, Lennie's, and Curley's Wife’s position on the social hierarchy to show that not everyone can achieve the American Dream due to their race, intellectual capacity or gender in comparison to other characters in the novel. Race, gender, and intellectual ability are important because in the time period of the book, they are all disadvantages to achieving the American Dream. All of the characters are treated unfairly, but Crooks is despised since he is African American. Because he is African American, he has less power. …show more content…

The essay focused on Race, gender, and intellectual ability because in the time period of the book, they are all disadvantages to achiving the American Dream. The social hierarchy in Of Mice and Men is a powerful force that shapes the lives of the characters. The characters are split into two main classes, the powerful and the powerless. The powerful are people who have money, power, and influence, while the powerless are those who are poor, and without influence. The powerful are able to manipulate the powerless, while the powerless are unable to do anything to change their situation. This power imbalance is a major theme in the novel and is used to illustrate the harsh realities of life in the Great Depression. In the real world, people should not be treated differently just based on how much money they have or how poor they are. You should be the

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