ipl-logo

The Role Of Disabilities In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

705 Words3 Pages

Scott Hamilton once stated, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” Disability is only an obstacle in a person's life, but it does not set the identity of that person. John Steinbeck's novel shows how disabled people are treated differently by writing about their heartbreak and sorrow. Many individuals with disabilities feel that a disability is a wall blocking them from achieving their goals. In our society, people are told what to be and what to do with their disability, but one should have the choice to carve their pathway to success. In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrayed a political statement by looking at mental and physical disabilities through different characters such as Curley's Wife, Crooks, and Lennie. Curley's wife is used to represent how women were treated during the 1930’s and almost treated with a disability. Women were portrayed as the help and they were supposed to stay home and work while the strong brave men went out and got money to support the family. By Steinbeck not giving Curley's wife a name he is showing how she is connected to Curly with an Invisible rope. This treating her with a disability because she …show more content…

Mental and physical disabilities are shown through how the different characters interact with their environment. Disabilities can create obstacles in a person's life but they also allow for other people to create an identity for them. Steinbeck shows that disabilities can create a political statement. They all had dreams to be something better than what they were but the tag that society gave them they were unable to pursue their thoughts and ideas. All these characters possed the same characteristic of being hopeless but in reality if they were given hope they may have been able to achieve their ambitions, prospects, and

Show More
Related

Analysis Of Mental Impairment In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

561 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Disabilities In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

584 Words | 3 Pages

"We're born alone we live alone die alone. Only through love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone” Orson Welles. In John Steinbeck's novel, “Of Mice and Men”, Steinbeck focuses on the struggle of having a disability while struggling to get by during the American Great Depression on a Californian ranch life. Even though one may have to live around their disability, they do not let that become a big stepping stone in the life, whether they know about it or not. In John Steinbeck's novel, “Of Mice and Men”, Lennie Small, Carlson and Crooks are three great examples of how they keep living their lives despite the facts that they each have a disabilities to their lives.

Read More

Intellectual Disability In The Novel 'Of Mice And Men'

1355 Words | 6 Pages

“Only 50 years ago persons with intellectual disabilities were scorned, isolated and neglected. Today, they are able to attend school, become employed and assimilate into their local community” (Nelson Mandela). Prior to the later part of the 20th century people with intellectual disabilities were often ridiculed, treated unfairly, feared, and locked away in institutions. According to Rhonda Nauhaus and Cindy Smith in their article Disability Rights through the Mid-20th Century, The laws of any nation reflect its societal values. The real life issue of discrimination towards people with intellectual disabilities in the United States and Australia is demonstrated in the novel, Of Mice and Men by showing how this issue affects one of the main characters, Lennie Smalls.

Read More

Special Needs In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

846 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the centuries the growth in special needs children and adults have increased dramatically. Although there isn’t many statistics nor many records of how many special needs people there were in the early 1930’s it’s still apparent that they were there. The book “Of Mice And Men” written by John Steinbeck he uses the characters Lennie, who appears to be special needs, and George, Lennie’s caretaker, to show the contrast between the two mental capacities and the role of dependency on another. In Steinbeck’s “Of Mice And Men” the character Lennie Smalls shows that the actions and consequences differ from people who have special needs or mental disorders from those who don’t.

Read More

How Does Steinbeck Present The Mentally Ill In Of Mice And Men

566 Words | 3 Pages

John Steinbeck shows how the mental ill are treated, and the issue is mirrored in

Read More

The Sympathetic Character In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

667 Words | 3 Pages

She was only written with negative character traits which made it so characters or readers were never able to sympathize with her. Next, no character ever had a turning point where they saw Curley’s wife as more than exactly that, Curley’s wife. And finally, he never gave her a name. There was a great imbalance between sexism and making the readers question the sexism. If Steinbeck had chosen to give the woman some justice the message against sexism would have been stronger.

Read More

Of Mice And Men Critical Lens

1106 Words | 5 Pages

As recognized, “One of the fundamental issues regarding the portrayal of Lennie in Of Mice and Men lies in the way that Steinbeck position the reader from the very beginning to identify with George” (Lawrence). Once readers have their views aligned with a different character, it is hard to create that empathy, especially if the main character doesn’t support disabilities themselves. However, when empathy is created it can completely alter the audience’s perception of the character and often the entire disability itself. This idea is supported in

Read More

The Lame Shall Enter First Analysis

945 Words | 4 Pages

The Religion of Disability: How Flannery O’Connor Uses the Concept of Disability in “The Lame Shall Enter First” In her short story, “The Lame Shall Enter First” Flannery O’Connor shares the tale of a self-righteous reformatory counselor, Sheppard, who forgoes the raising of his own son to embark on a quest to improve the life of a young miscreant, Rufus Johnson, who has a clubbed foot. Eventually after devoting all his time and effort to the saving of this young boy, Sheppard realizes the selfish nature of his actions, but it is too late to save to save his own son. O’Connor employs disability perceptions through the contrasting ideas of confinement and freedom as well as the idea of moral superiority.

Read More

Of Mice And Men Analysis

719 Words | 3 Pages

Of Mice and Men book analysis Argyri John Steinbeck uses the novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ to portray life in the Great Depression Era. The novel tells a story about two men George and Lennie, and their struggles as migrant workers. George cares for Lennie as a he is mentally challenged, this is a burden on George because this is unwanted responsibility and it takes away his freedom to live a normal life. Being mentally challenged in 1930s was not widely accepted by society. This essay will analyse how Steinbeck represents his ideological agenda through his characters.

Read More

Themes In Flowers For Algernon

886 Words | 4 Pages

The novel Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes effectively explores the complex human experiences of disability and the impact that it has on individuals and society through its three major themes; Self-realisation , Alienation and loneliness and treatment of the mentally disabled by society. Through these themes this response will highlight the difficulties experienced by people with disabilities and the people in their lives. The first theme in Flowers for Algernon is self-realisation. Charlie’s new found knowledge has allowed him to have the ability to voice his needs and wants for understanding, acceptance, and love.

Read More

Ableism In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

146 Words | 1 Pages

Ableism is a dynamic represented in Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men. Lennie a character in the book, is characterized by his mental limitations. Steinbeck writes, “ ‘Jus’ tell Lennie what to do an’ he’ll do it don't take no figuring. He can’t think of nothing to do himself, but he sure can take orders.’” This shows that Lennie has limited capacity to think for himself.

Read More

The Theme Of Autism In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

229 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More

The Role Of Mental Disabilities In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

441 Words | 2 Pages

“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.

Read More

Mental Illness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

857 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

Social Injustice In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

513 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck portrays the theme of social injustice throughout the story in the lives of several characters that include Lennie, Curley’s Wife, and the stable buck, Crooks. All of these characters are mistreated in some way, shape or form. The hardships that these characters faced help guide us to see the social injustice that is prevalent in the story. Lennie is a victim of social injustice due to the fact that he is mentally disabled. He is not treated fairly when he was accused of rape.

Read More

More about The Role Of Disabilities In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Open Document