Elliot's English Journal

Of mice and men By john Steinbeck – controlled assessment.
How do the relationships between characters reveal the impact of prejudice in Of mice and men?
There are many characters in of mice and men by john Steinbeck that have been subject to prejudice throughout the book. Of mice and men was set in 1930’s America and shows how life was back then and how it is compared and changed to now in the 21’st century. The two characters that I will be writing this controlled assessment on will be Crooks and Curley’s wife. I have chosen these two characters because I believe that these two have quite clearly been victims of prejudice and have suffered the most from this throughout the book.
The first character that I am going to be writing about Is Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife is quite clearly a woman and this is already one of the main reasons that she has been discriminated and seen as a minority throughout the whole book. In 1930’s America woman were seen much lower than everyone else and are not seen as equal to men. The first thing that I noticed about prejudice towards Curley’s wife was the fact that she doesn’t have a name. Throughout the whole novel everyone called her Curley’s wife and I think this is because back then woman where not seen worthy of a name because she is just a possession of Curley and is almost as if she is not worthy of a name.
The first time that Curley’s wife was mentioned was when Candy is describing Curley to Lennie and George. After George hears that Curley has recently got married, he goes on to explain about how Curley is behaving aggressively because he is showing off for his wife. “Maybe he’s showin’ off for his wife “. Candy later said to the two of them “wait’ll you see Curley’s wife” and he is saying this Like she has something wrong with her. Further on in the gossip that they are all having about Curley’s wife, Candy tells them that she has the eye for slim, but Lennie and George don’t really seemed surprised as in all girls back then are only after one thing and try to get with anyone to have a better life. George also says “well, I think Curley’s married…a tart” a tart would be what we call like a prostitute almost so they already don’t like Curley’s wife before they have even seen her which Leeds me on to my next points.
George and lennie first get introduced to Curley’s wife on page 34 and the description then sounded like exactly what candy was talking about. As soon as she (Curley’s wife) left the doorway Lennie said “gosh, she was purty” Lennie seemed like he had fallen for the spell of getting lured in by the tarty look of her. And George noticed straight away and grabbed lennie by the ear and said “listen to me you crazy bastard, don’t you even take a look at that bitch. I don’t care what she does. I seen ‘em poison before, but I have never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be” I believe that George is saying this like he has had experience with girls like her and there are a lot of her type around. People’s first impression of Curley’s wife is that she is like a piece of trash because she is so flirty with everyone and she tries to get with everyman she sees. But overall even if she was not flirty or slutty I think that the boys would already think less of her just because she is a woman.
The second character that I’m going to be writing about is Crooks. The character Crooks is an old black man with a crooked back who is a stable buck in the book. Obviously the main reason that he has been discriminated is because he is black. Throughout the whole book he has been treated differently to everyone else. But the one person who treats him the same as everyone else is lennie. Lennie and crooks talk to each other and I believe this is because lennie is a bit simple minded so he does not discriminate against any of the characters unless George tells him too.
The first time crooks is mentioned is when Candy says “ya see the stable bucks a Nigger” and already you know that crooks is black but is a racist way. In the 1930’s sing words like the where casual and people use it in everyday language which shows how discriminated black people were back then.
Chapter 4 is mostly about crooks and his life and about where he lives. In the chapter crooks says he how he is not wanted. Lennie asks why? And Crooks reply’s with “cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me” Crooks is clearly showing his anger as if everyone has discriminated him since he was born and you can tell that all the people that has been racist to him has had a massive impact in his life because he thinks that everyone is out to get him and everyone is going to be racist to him that’s why he says you all stink to me and is aiming it at white people. In the 1930’s crooks would be seen as a Major minority and john Steinbeck portrays this in the book very well.
The two Characters, Crooks and Curleys wife, in the novel really shows that there are many relationships in of mice and men that reveal how discrimination and prejudice was used in the 1930’s. John Steinbeck shows this throughout the novel and it can show really how society has changed for these “minorities” and how people treat them. John Steinbeck uses loads of language techniques like foreshadowing to communicate his idea of prejudice and how this had effects and impacts on different people’s lives in the novel.