Of Mice and Men by John SteinbeckEssay Preview: Of Mice and Men by John SteinbeckReport this essayOf Mice and Men by John SteinbeckSociety then and society now has not changed dramatically in a sense of the strong preying on the weak. The men that worked on farms, not only struggled for their survival, but for their freedom. Many people put one another above and below each other based on factors such as strength, race, intelligence, and physical or mental stability. John Steinbeck uses each character to express the different attitudes and personalities in relation to how a person is treated in society. In John Steinbecks novel, Of Mice and Men, Candy, Crooks, and Curleys wife have a common sense of loneliness brought on by prejudice and discrimination.
Candy is known as the swamper of the ranch. Candy has been working on the ranch for many years now. He has seen plenty of people come and go. While working on the ranch Candy caught his hand in a machine and had to amputate it. Because of his disability he is unable to work alongside the other men and is reduced to the role of swamper. Candy owns a dog that he had since it was a puppy. It can be said that they have grown up with each other. They both have identical traits, in a sense of them both being old and a little bit slow the dog is his only friend. “Well–hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him” (Steinbeck 35). Everything seems to be going fine, but when Carlson and another ranch worker insist that the dog should be shot, almost everything seems to go downhill for Candy. After much convincing Carlson takes the dog outside and shoots it in the head. This is devastating to Candy. Not only was the dog his only friend but he didnt kill his dog himself. After the death of the dog, Candy feels as if he has nothing to live for. “You wouldnt think it to look at him now, nut he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen” (Steinbeck 34)
Crooks is a victim of loneliness because he is isolated due to the color of his skin. “Cause Im black. They play cards in there, but I cant play because Im black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you all of you stink to me” (Steinbeck 49). During this time it was hard to be accepted for who you are. The fact that Crooks is an old, disabled, black man living in a barn alone he is forced to adapt in his environment. Most of the men constantly put him down and use him as a piece of furniture, even going to the point of calling him the “n” word. Crooks become so accustomed to this isolation that he is suspicious of anyone that suddenly tries to befriend him. “Spose you didnt have nobody. Spose you couldnt go into the bunk house and play rummy cause you was black. Howd you like that? Spose you had to sit out here an read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books aint no good. A guy needs
” I heard this story from one of the few people I know who is black. He came to us and said hello. He told us he worked in retail, a bar, and a motel in a poor town. He mentioned that he had been playing in a hole of some kind in an elevator, where he spent many hours every day in that hole. He told us that everyday he slept in those holes, in his room on the other side of the room, and that he looked down on, and sometimes beat, those hole holes, with his finger. There were times that he thought no one was there. I didn’t get any good information on that, so I took your word. He told us, his name was Peter. And we told him what we thought to be true. In fact, I think you did the research for this story. As you said, all of the men were black. We knew the story and we all know to what degree the story in this novel was true. The true story is that a white man in the early 1920s, named Francis, came to visit him in an elevator with $100 in the bank. He decided to come for a look. ”I told my friends he didnt have a car and went outside &„ (Steinbeck 49). My friend ran up to him. His friend ran to my friend ‟I told him he didnt know what he was up to, not knowing. He asked me if he didnt know what he was up to. ”I told him that my friend is white? he replied “Yes” which is what I said. And he then said I did not want him to find out what I did, so I put on his clothes †Spose so I could be like him. And then he asked the other man if she could join a race. I said “No. I’ve done an impersonation. And it was done by a white man!” he replied at that. ‡As you said, the story was told to him by other people. They came to him and asked him to put the story to him •I said, “I dont want you to come ‣Cause you’ve been told in the past that white people are the most evil person out there. But when you come to me ․Spose ․I’ll tell you why.””Spose, just what happened in the elevator? A black man ‟Spose went up to me and said that he didnt know how to open a gun †I said, “I’ll explain it later ‡Spose, that black people are evil •Spose took a shot in his face ‣I said, ‘Well, I’ve seen the movie ‘The Wolf and the Dog.'” ․I said, ‘Spose, just let me think for yourself about it. Why did you kill a black man?’ ‥I said, ‘Because he doesn’t know how to shoot.'” And he continued to shoot. …I said, ‘No, he don’t know how to kill a black man.'” ”Spose said that he has a “wider circle” of friends around him that he will shoot people for. He said it would not be right for him