Prejudice in “Of Mice and Men” Essay

Prejudices are the ch per tidingsals forged by ignorance to n single work force apart. Marguerite Gardiner. In society, both modern and in the onetime(prenominal), loss has been a beast of thinking and labeling a group of race, people, class and nicety in order to distinguish ones superiority and dominance from one a nonher, sole(prenominal) is simply a way to judge without gathering valid facts. In Of Mice and hands by John Steinbeck, we see that preconceived idea was just as rampant in the 1930s. In the novel, prejudice is demonstrated on 3 different levels racial, sexual and well-disposed. It is shown how these prejudices generate false perceptions that although meant to aid, do no such levelheaded as their end result is clouding the truth.Racial prejudice is most signifi goatt when describing Crooks, who happens to be the steadfast buck for the farm. Crooks is also a down(p) man with a back disability, hence the reason he is c altogethered Crooks. While most of the different shapeers live in the same heavens and attend to jobs that are quite similar, Crooks is forced to live by himself, work alone in the stables and is almost never in contact with both of the other characters. People such as curlys married cleaning woman go as far as to ridicule Crooks and even relish down at him simply for the fact that he is a Black man with a disability who is a laborer. In one instance, curlings Wife threatens Crooks by telling him Listen, Nigger, you cognize what I smoke do if you open your trap, I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it aint risible (Steinbeck, 98).The open brutality of this comment shows that even a woman, who would normally not have much or whatever say during this time in the 1930s, is still considered higher in social class than an African-American man. vigour is known about him as a person by any(prenominal) of the other farm attendants, save the prejudices that in this case are tout ensemble false support propel a gap surrounded by them, when one does not need to be. Although he may be physically handicap, he is just as capable as any of the others. As a result of being an outcast at the farm, Crooks has become very stranded and disengaged with the other members.When Lennie enters Crooks cabin in order retrieve the puppies, Crooks lashes out and tells Lennie I aint wanted in the bunk room and you aint wanted in my room (Steinbeck,124). This comment shows that Crooks has become bitterly and alone because of the prejudice constantly being aimed at him when there is no reason for the way he is treated. He is a great boilersuit example of racialprejudice in Of Mice and Men and society, both past and present, in which a African-American male, who is as capable as any man of another color is denied the same opportunities because of stereotypes and perceptions which can only be supported with biased false facts.Sexual prejudice is strong when Curlys Wife is a part of a scene. Curlys Wife also happens to be the only female that is currently occupying the office staff of work that the novel is set in. Curlys Wife is presented as a character who tends to be very friendly with all the men on the farm and enjoys the attention she gets because her hubby, Curly does not give her the list of attention that she wants, so she finds it with others. Curlys Wife is often avoided by all other who work at the farm because she is a woman who could get them in a lot of trouble. Curly is the boss son and Curlys Wife being the daughter-in-law always gets her way and can have any man in the farm fired without reason. She got the gist goin all the time on everybody. I bet she even gives the stable buck they eye. I dont know what the hell she wants (Steinbeck,51). cosmos a woman, there is already significant amount of sexual prejudice directed to her and the fact that she is very flirtatious with the other men come along strengthens their perception of her. They all try to remain as calm as possible, careful not to give her the wrong idea cause they know the trouble that she could get them in. In actuality it appears that Curlys Wife only craves attention from the other men and nothing sexual because of the lack of her husband to give her the attention that she wants. The idea of her wanting something only sexual and not spiritual shows the prejudice associated with gender in this novel and how its falsehood prevents a lonely woman from engaging and connecting with others on a mental level. evenly important is the Social prejudice towards characters such as glass over and Lennie in Of Mice and Men. Candy is very old and not capable of doing much slightly the farm but is still kept around to do the wide-eyed chores that the others are seen as more of a waste of time for others. These unreserved chores are envied by others and this jealousy helps create a division between Candy and the others. Candy also has a dog that in some ways is similar to him The dog aint no good to himself. I wisht somebodyd shootme if I got old an a cripple (pg. 45). They are both described as being old, withered, missed and in many ways more of a nuisance who would do more good dead than alive. Socially being hated by the majority of the men at the ranch shows the prejudice that is directed without any reason, but simply motivated by jealousy.In the instance of Lennie, social prejudice is strongest evident in the perception others have of him because in their eyes, all they see is a big oaf incapable of accomplishing anything intelligent and only kept around for his strength. Before meeting Lennie and even engaging him in conversation, his position has already been established at the Ranch. With Curly we see that Hes uniform a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. Hes alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like hes mad at em because he aint a big guy (pg. 26). Regardless of his ability to be of help at the farm, Curly already establishes his posi tion on Lennie even though he has had no significant direct contact or comely time to accurately depict Lennie as a person and not just a big man physically.Not only Curly, but other members of the farm also have decided Lennies touch at work before fully knowing him. He is left-hand(a) out of card games, left back at the ranch when George and the others go out to hand more important jobs. Being considered a elementary minded men with little use who spend their days vie with and day dreaming about rabbits or sweeping after others, Lennie and Candy have become outcasts in the sense that one of them is perceived to be mentally unstable and added to the fact that he is physically strong, while the other one is a nuisance who many could live without, make them both isolated and all the more reason to be avoid and singled out.Of Mice and Men is a brilliant novel in demonstrating that prejudice is a tool that people use to become more familiar with other individuals in order to overco me the fear of uncertainty. However, the ending result is that it puts distance between the person and the one they judge because it is not fact, but perception that is altogether untrue. Prejudice is simply the reasoning of a fool to make themselves timbre secure.