Universal Truths In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

729 Words3 Pages
Of mice and men was such an important text written about the time of the Great Depression, and shows the disturbing truths about how cruel society can be. Steinbeck wrote this novella to portray how harsh and environment it was during the time of the depression, and he wants the reader to know that it was so much harder if the person was seen to be different. The universal truths about human nature and society are expressed throughout the text of mice and men, this very point is one of the fundamental ideas Steinbeck is urging the reader to understand. He has shown this idea throughout the text by using the themes of loneliness, racial discrimination and people with differences being ostracized by society. One of the prevalent themes explored…show more content…
There are numerous characters in the novella that are ostracized because of their position as minorities. It is implied that lennie is intellectually disabled and George frequently has to tell, “So we don’t get in any trouble …”. Besides being African American Crooks is handicapped, as is the old swamper candy. Steinbeck shows how the three men are shunned because of their differences, but are tolerated because they are considered useful. Both candy and crooks express their fear of being kicked off the ranch. That fate is foreshowed when candy’s old dog, which was considered to be no longer useful, was killed by fellow ranch hand Carlson. In the end George realizes that the rest of the world isn’t as understanding of lennie, and he is thus forced to shoot lennie to save him from a horrific fate. Although they are good people most of the time, many people with mental or physical disabilities are forgotten or punished by civilization. The most obvious punishment is loneliness as being “different” is a sufficient cause for them to be cut off from the rest of the world. George and lennies relationship is a wonderful example of people who are willing to help those who are unable to help
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