What the Reader Learns About American Society from

             What the Reader Learns about American Society from 'Of Mice and Men'
             The novel 'Of Mice and Men' was written by John Steinbeck, it was published in 1937. In the 1930s people were very racist and sexist towards women. Racism originated from where the white Americans used black people as slaves. Also in the late 1920s early 1930s the Wall Street Crash happened which led to a huge amount of unemployment otherwise known as the Great Depression, after that there was the Dust Bowl. The Dust Bowl was due to the fact that people were farming so much that the soil would turn to dust and when the wind blew it went everywhere. As a result of all of this there was itinerant workers this is where workers move from job to job. Everyone wanted their own little ranch, which is like the American Dream.
             In 'Of Mice and Men' the two main characters, George and Lennie, were itinerant workers, so were most of the other men on the ranch. They kept moving around to find work and they did not carry many possessions because they only had a 'bindle'. One of the reasons they did not work over a long period of time was because they had short-term contracts. Most of the workers were lonely and they did not trust anyone but themselves, George and Lennie were different they travelled together. Slim had a permanent job on the ranch, he was admired as he had status 'his word was taken on any subject.'
             In the bunkhouse the workers did not have many possessions '... shelves were loaded with little articles, soap and talcum powder.' and that was most of their possessions. It was very cramped in the bunk house and there was no privacy 'Against the walls were eight bunks.' It was mostly men on the ranch apart from Curley's wife; she was treated like a sex object. There was a small range of food it was just the basics. A lot of the men were lonely and suspicious of each other, they got the...

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What the Reader Learns About American Society from. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 17:02, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/12393.html