The Theme Of Adversity In Of Mice And Men

Adversity Throughout Time Imagine working a 9-5 job, doing everything you’re told, but end up getting paid less for all you do just because of your gender or skin color. This is just one of the ways that some people are facing adversity in our world. Some hardships one might face could be poverty and racial segregation. People may even encounter adversity through racial discrimination as well as physical or mental illnesses or disabilities that cannot be changed. Adversity, such as discrimination, can affect one’s ability to achieve their dream or goal because being disfavored in our world can take a toll on one’s mental health, it could also discourage people from pursuing their dreams. Some qualities that can help one overcome adversity

Curley’s Wife dealt with adversity throughout the novel, specifically discrimination based on gender bias. She did not overcome the subjugation, and it wasn't possible for her to do so in the world that she lived in because women were viewed as less than men as well as property in that world. In the novel George asserted, “Don’t you even take a look at that bitch… I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her.” (Steinbeck 32) Steinbeck used this quote to express the discrimination against Curley's Wife, indicating that people thought poorly of her because she was a woman. Lennie is another character that Steinbeck wrote to deal with discrimination, but instead of gender bias he dealt with disability discrimination. He did not overcome this adversity, and it wasn’t very possible for him to do so because of the way people with mental disabilities were treated during that time. George emphasized, “You jus’ stand there and don’t say nothing. If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won’t get no job…” (Steinbeck 6) This shows the prejudice that Lennie faced because even his own friend was talking to him as though he was not on his level just because he had a mental

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech suggested the theme of adversity through his word choice, especially the use of literary devices. King used allusions, similes, metaphors, and imagery to convey the theme of adversity to the audience. In the speech King implied discrimination through declaring, "Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood." (2) This displays how comparing discrimination and quicksand exhibits the power that adversity has on our world. He is not directly speaking from personal experience in this speech, as in he is not using personal pronouns. Instead, he uses “the Negro” to symbolize the African American community in the United States. In his speech King emphasized, “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” (1). This quote shows how he used synecdoche to show how not just some people are affected by the subjugation, but all of the African American community