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The Role Of Societal Order In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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“Keeping our eyes on journey's end is what we need - the place where we see at last the world that is greater than the world, the new creation that cannot be contained in present thought or social order or piety.” Parents tell their kids that dreams come true, but the societal order in the world ends childrens’ dreams early. Societal order plays a big role in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Starting at a lake with the hopes of a decent life, Lennie and George find a job on a nearby ranch. A quick turn in the story brings Lennie and George back to the start, and unfortunately, a fatal blow ends their dream. In Steinbeck’s book, strength dictates the order of society: men superior to women, women superior to African Americans, and African Americans inferior to everyone. This dictates the actions and words of the weak and subjects the powerful to prevail. …show more content…

He shows male dominance by making people or animals, which should have names, a man’s possession. Quoted on page 55 Steinbeck makes Curley’s wife a possession of Curley and does not give her a name, “‘Did you see that girl.’’You mean Curley’s girl.’” Steinbeck also showed white male dominance by separating Crooks, the African American, from the rest of the group. Crooks, not allowed to live in the same area as the white men, had to live in the harness shed that leaned off of the barn. Considered weak, Crooks did not mingle with the strong. Within the male social order contained the weak too, which includes Lennie and Candy, but white men still had more power than women. When strong white men went into town to drink, they left the weak on the ranch. Candy and Lennie shared many of their powers with Curley’s wife, proving that women could gain a miniscule chunk of

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820 Words | 4 Pages

She is portrayed as a beautiful and promiscuous women and throughout the book, she is treated like an animal by the men on the ranch. She is described in the book as a pretty women that the men are fascinated by. Infact, Steinbeck does not even give her a real name, but rather is referred to as an object of her husband’s possession. Curley’s wife is a character that completely embodies the typical role women are thought to hold. Bossypants versus Of Mice and Men shows the difference between male and female authors, as they portray women differently in each text.

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521 Words | 3 Pages

In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the author uses the motif of barriers to show that causes that lead into the failure of these character hopes and dreams. The ability to own your own land is the main dream held by four of the characters in the book. The idea of owning your own land is a simile for a life of happiness. There are two other unattainable dreams which are held by Curley's wife, and Crooks. Curley's wife once had an offer to become an actress in Hollywood, however the person never bequeathed the job to her.

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252 Words | 2 Pages

John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, depicts race as a critical factor to the dominance of people during this time period. Racism is presented most evidently in chapter four by the treatment of Crooks, the stable buck. Crook’s and his fellow workers discussed ambitions in his quarters, which happened to be separate from the others clearly due to his skin tone. As the men conversed topics regarding the near future, Curley’s wife abruptly barged into the area searching for her husband. Noting the peril with which Curley’s wife is associated with,

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312 Words | 2 Pages

George from George Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” made the right decision of killing Lennie in the story, while other might disagree. George shot Lennie in the back of the head to save him from the suffering and humiliation from a mad and revengeful Curley. George did this not out of hate, but out of the love of their friendship. “George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again” (Steinbeck). George is struggling to come to terms that he is going to shoot his best friend.

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625 Words | 3 Pages

Lennie Is treated differently just because of his mentality and Curley’s wife is treated differently because of her gender. She is the only woman on the ranch. Lennie dreamt of having a farm just to tend the rabbits. And curley’s wife had a dream of becoming a movie star. Both of their dreams didn't come true.

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572 Words | 3 Pages

The reaction derived from Crooks is rather peculiar and shows how Curley’s wife, a woman without a name, even still has power because of her relations to the man in charge. Another example of Crooks’ privileges is: Crooks could leave his things about and being a cripple, he was more permanent than the other men, and he had accumulated more possessions than he could carry on his back (Steinbeck 66-67). Therefore as a cripple he has the bittersweet privilege of deserving work out of pity, but was also pinned to the same position for the rest of his

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645 Words | 3 Pages

Wrongs of Society Unfortunately in today's society, elderly people are mistreated along with handicapped people seen as unfit and useless. In Steinbeck's novel, they show a great deal of unfairness to both humans and animals when they are no longer useful or productive to society. Although, older generations helped raise us, in society we generally do not take care of them. Animals are put down, or killed when they no longer have a purpose to their owner. Also, in the novel handicaps are looked down on because they take time to care for and are not seen as good workers.

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976 Words | 4 Pages

Singer’s Solution Good or Not? Who wouldn’t want to find a solution to end or reduce poverty in the world? A utilitarian philosopher, Peter Singer stated his own solution in his essay called “The Singer Solution to World Poverty”. Singer’s solution is simple: people shouldn’t be spend their money on luxuries, instead they should donate their money to overseas aid organizations. Peter uses two characters in his essay in hope to get to the hearts and minds of the people, and encourage them to donate.

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Crooks was required to be reclusive because he was not wanted around. Racism was an extreme issue in the world in the 1930s and in America alone. All in all, power has important roles in the relationships in Of Mice and Men. Power is shown through the relationships of Lennie and George, Curley and his wife, and crooks and society. This bias power is determined by competence, gender and race.

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1271 Words | 6 Pages

In the days of the Great Depression, many people lived in a harsh environment. people’s hopes were to get a job and be able to support their family through these rough times. These hopes and dreams are known as the American Dream, which is still alive today. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, this topic is explored. The book illustrates the day to day life of George and Lennie, ranch workers who are living in the time of the great depression, who have a dream of owning their own ranch one day.

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833 Words | 4 Pages

John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men, is a compelling story that has captured and embodied the struggle and loneliness felt by many during the Great Depression. While desire for the American Dream is prominent in the novel, Steinbeck is able to demonstrate the wants from different social classes through the construction of characters such as George Milton and Curley’s wife. With these characters, Steinbeck successfully displays the difference in ideas, values and attitudes of certain social classes in the 1930’s and the illustrates the rarity of achieving the American Dream. Steinbeck wrote this novel during the Great Depression, when America was suffering greatly by the disastrous crash of the stock market. From this point in time, separation of the different classes became

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261 Words | 2 Pages

Steinbeck’s moral conclusion talks about the injustices in different social classes. The novella could have ended by kino possibly getting money for the pearl and getting everything that he desired for himself and his family. However if this were to happen then the novel would have not shown the reader the huge division between classes. An example of the division of classes is the relationship between the wealthy doctor and the poor indian families. The doctor would not at first help Kino because Kino was poor and he despised kino's race.

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1262 Words | 6 Pages

His characters can be described as fit or unfit for their social roles on the basis of their physical and intellectual abilities. Candy, for instance, is an aged man with a missing hand, who is thus relegated to a low place in the social hierarchy - he is a “swamper”. Whereas Slim, the most respected and impressive worker on the ranch, is described as "ageless." Similarly to Candy, Crooks - named for his crooked back - works menial tasks. Steinbeck suggests that both characters are cruelly relegated to unrewarding jobs in order to keep them isolated, thus implying that they are unjustifiably treated as "sub-par" people and being treated disrespectfully.

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1644 Words | 7 Pages

Author John Steinbeck explores multiple real life issues in both works, and provides a message of how unfair the world is, as well as show how cruel humans can be to differences. Sexism is an important topic when one discusses society. The issue of sexism has always been prominent. With the definition of prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex. In Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck showed how men thought about and treated women through the character Curley’s wife.

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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.

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