Of Mice and Men Essay

        Discrimination is not just based on skin color, but also on gender and age. A book that shows this is John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, a story about two friends that have a dream to live on their own farm, Lenny and George, who go to a farm where they see discrimination first hand. Many people were discriminated in the novel Of Mice and Men. The victims of discrimination in this novel are: Crooks, a black stable buck; Curly’s Wife, the farm owner’s neglected daughter-in-law; and Candy, an old, disabled swamper.

        The most obvious form of discrimination is skin color. Crooks is discriminated because he was black, unlike George and Lennie, he had no chance to even try to get a new life. He gets yelled at by the boss every time something is wrong. The boys on the farm won’t allow him to play cards because he’s black. Crooks is not allowed in the bunkhouse with the white ranch hands. He has his own place in the barn with the ranch animals. He was stuck as the Stable Buck and could not leave.  Crooks wanted to follow George and Lennie with their plans for the house, but racism got in the way.  When George gets annoyed with Lennie for telling Crooks about their plans, Crooks can tell that he is not wanted.  After hearing this, he becomes bitter again and does not want to talk to anyone.  He feels lonely and has no friends. Because of his position in life, Crooks cannot even have a dream that has the slightest possibility of coming true.

        Both in the real world and in Steinbeck's novel, women were treated as if they are a small part of society. Curly’s wife is the only woman on the farm. Curley treats her like she is simply an object. An example of this is when he tells her to go inside their house very aggressively. This shows his lack of respect for her. Everybody makes fun of her calling her a “tart”. No one ever wants to talk to her because she’s a woman. She’s not allowed to talk to anyone because everybody thinks she’s a tart. They don’t even know what she’s like and they judge her with no evidence. They just think she’s bad because she’s a woman and that’s prejudice. Clearly Curly’s wife is a victim of discrimination.