Of mice and men was written in a period when mentally disabled people were treated like outcasts Essay

Of mice and men was written in a period when mentally disabled people were treated like outcasts. They were treated like that simply because they were different. Mental people were thought to be almost like a different species. Black people were considered outcasts because they had different skin-colour to white people. Also women were treated like property that belonged to men. The novel was written during the Great Depression, where jobs and employment were scarce. The USA was quite a poor country back then. Lennie is considered an outcast because he is mentally disabled. Mentally disabled peopled in that time were treated badly. They were locked up and separated from the rest of society. This is known as segregation. They also use to be sterilised. This means that they weren’t allowed to have babies or reproduce. Those are all very horrible. However, lennie was not treated like any other mental people. This is because he has George to look after him, and many other mentally disabled people didn’t have anybody to care for them or to look after them. But Lennie had that someone, and it was George, so that is what’s different about Lennie. In the ranch, however, lennie was considered an outcast. We know this because lennie says to crooks, ‘Ever’body went †¦ slim, George and ever’body. George says I gotta stay here.’ This shows that Lennie is not allowed to go into town like the rest. He’s not considered good enough do anything with the lads. Lennie is not allowed to play games, such as horseshoe, with the others. ‘From outside came the clang of horseshoe†¦ only Lennie was in the barn.’ This shows that while the others played their games lennie was made to stay inside the barn. He is like an outsider or a refugee. Crooks is considered an outcast simply because he is black. In those days, black people were treated very badly. They were treated differently from white people. Black people were often never called by their first names. Crooks is considered an outcast on the ranch because he’s black and isn’t referred to his real name, it’s either ‘crooks’ or ‘nigger’. Crooks also has his pride ‘he is a proud and aloof man’. This means that crooks is not allowed inside the bunk house because he’s black. He’s allowed to play sports outside the bunk house, but not inside it, which is why he had a separate room. ‘I ain’t wanted in the bunk house †¦ cause I’m black.’ This shows the racial issue of how black men did not mix with whites. Crooks is being segregated in this way. That is also another reason why crooks is an outcast. Curley’s wife is presented as an outcast. This is because women in those times were treated as a piece of property by the men. They may have also been treated as a sex object by their husbands; there to cook, clean and have babies. In the ranch Curley’s wife is considered an outcast because she’s a woman. Also she is related to the boss. She is not allowed to play horseshoe or go into town or even talk to anyone. We know that when she was in the barn with lennie, ‘I get lonely†¦ you can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curly’. This shows us that everyone else can talk with whom they like, but she can only talk to her husband. In conclusion, 1930’s America is presented as a racist country who thinks black should be separated in terms of class. It is presented as a country that thinks mentally disabled people should be separated from the rest of society. It was also a sexist country who treated women very badly. A very uncivilized country.